Gadget Graveyard: 10 Technologies About to Go Extinct

Fox News ^ | April 15, 2009 | Mariel Bird

[EveningStar]

Looking back at the 20th century, it's clear that even the biggest and baddest gadget sensations will one day fall victim to technological evolution.

[ArrogantBustard]

9. Dial-up Internet access: It's hard to see why anyone would use a phone line to connect to the Internet when there are so many feasible alternatives.

Obviously written by an effete, urban pansy.

[raccoonradio]

I’ve got a mini disc around here somewhere but don’t really use it.
I still do have a VHS but only for converting to DVD.

[JWinNC]

Probably right about all except wristwatches.

Landlines will fade away very slowly.

[randog]

Hmmm, landline phones is at the top of the list. Yeah, right. When they figure out how to get cell coverage into my house I might consider that a real possibility. Until then, I'll keep the trusty twisted pair. In my house it's "dial 911 on a cell phone and die". And, no, I don't live out in the weeds. Smack in the middle of a cozy middle class neighborhood.

[Southack]

Faxes

[capydick]

I had an uncle who owned two type writer repair shops back in the day. He made a real nice living from the business and went on very big vacation trips every year. Hard to believe in this day and age.

[Southack]

Copy machines

[Disambiguator]

I’ve got a mini disc around here somewhere but don’t really use it. I still do have a VHS but only for converting to DVD.

Do you have a DVD Rewinder?

[Dallas59]

I use DVD’s for long term data storage and recording shows off the dish. I still use my VCR for quick captures of news stories.

[llevrok]

11. Liberals

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Hey, I still got a rotary dial phone and it still works. AT&T was charging my F-i-L about $2.50 a month rent on it. When he closed down his house, I took all his AT&T phones to the phone company. They didn’t even want the old black beauty back. Couldn’t even be bothered to crush it.

Remember when the phone company charged you for each extension line? Now I have two phones in some rooms.

BTW, you should absolutely have a corded phone (if you have a land line) in case of a power failure.

[rdax]

I agree about wristwatches - they will stay

or more phones will come with a wrist strap.

[KarlInOhio]

2. Floppy disks: Considering the state of computer technology at the end of the 1970s, it's no wonder people were astounded by the usefulness of the 5 1/4-inch wide, 360-KB floppy disk.

5 1/4 inch? Hah, puny storage. Real programmers used 8-inch floppies.

3. Wristwatches: - no subtle way of sneaking a peak at your cell phone when your boss is yammering at a meeting.

[raccoonradio]

Nope and never had one; but when I donated my old (play-only) DVD player to my father and stepmother I had to point out to them that when they borrowed DVDs from the library, etc., they could just eject when done. No need to rewind.

[Perdogg]

The DB25-type printer cables are going to be gone by 2010.

[Sunshine Sister]

Exactly right. I live in an area where you have to go outside to use a cell phone. Not very practical. I use a VCR to tape Limbaugh. That's not going any where for a while. That lets me listen when I want without tying up my phone line to listen on my dial up computer connection.

I have a cell phone but use it to call the tow truck when my vehicle dies on me. To my knowledge it doesn't have a clock so I wear a wrist watch when I have to be somewhere at a certain time.

[KarlInOhio]

peak->peek.

In the future no one will use spell checkers because the brain-to-computer interface will always pick the right word.

[raccoonradio]

Like many of us I moved from manual typewriter to electric typewriter to word processor to computer. My first computer was a huge and heavy Royal, I believe; then a very lightweight Brother manual, Sears electric (”The Scholar”) then on to Canon WP, etc.

Typewriters really were bigger back then...
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/mags/PopularScience/11-1937/huge_typewriter.jpg
(would have posted pic but it was huge too)

[martin_fierro]

1. Landline phones: Walk into any college dorm room and ask to use a landline. You'll be met with blank stares. With cell-phone technology continually evolving, it seems that these days only a handful of people are still moving into a new house and having the landline turned on

Not if you live in the mountains like moi. Cell phone signals can be sketchy, and teh Intarweb cable frequently is down during heavy winds/rain.

Agree, some effete metrosexual wrote this.