[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.

[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.

[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.

[Perdogg]

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

[edge10]

DVDs aren’t going anywhere anytime in the near future. Their
low cost and simplicity make them an obvious choice for most
people over HTPCs or watching movies on your computer.

If Hollyweird made movies worth watching, perhaps their sales
would increase.

[meowmeow]

Nooooooo!

[19th LA Inf]

I'm not sure when the Mimeograph machine and its stencils for making copies disappeared. The "stencil" went into the typewriters of the day, which had a ribbon setting which allowed the keystroke to hit the stencil directly without the ribbon in place, thereby "cutting" the shape of the key character and allowing ink to be pressed onto the copy paper in the print machine. If you hit the wrong key, "correction fluid" could be applied to the stencil like "whiteout" in later times. This stuff had a high ether content and could be sniffed by early dopeheads.

A common term from those days probably still survives in the military: "Cutting orders". Every order in the 1950s went through the Mimeograph process, with many recognized acronyms; "EM WP, TPA auth" (Enlisted man will proceed . . . Travel by personal auto authorized, etc). The most dreaded one in 1951 was FECOM (Far East Command).

I have no idea what orders look like today, but I bet they are still "cut".

[ken5050]

What about the 8 track...ands my personal favorite...the bulb powered overhead projector..

[ctdonath2]

Landline phones? Haven't had one in 4 years. Like pay phones, they'll hang on indefinitely where there is a need to have a phone right here always; nothin' like not finding your cell phone, or finding the battery is dead, when you really really need it.

Floppy disks? The technology is passe, but the idea isn't. Those no-suitable-name USB thumbdrives, and pocket-sized USB-powered hard drives, keep the concept of in-hand physical data retention & transport alive.

Wristwatches? Aside from knowing the time when there isn't a clock (or six) around, it's largely jewelry at this point. People still wear rings & necklaces, even though not for transport of precious metals for value.

VHS tapes? Just one step in the long line of audio/video media, all eventually abandoned. I keep my VCR to play kids videos bought at a library 10-for-a-buck get-rid-of-'em sale; cheap way to get Disney movies that will probably be wrecked eventually anyway.

Beepers? Proto-cell-phones.

Film cameras? One of the few technologies on the list that really is going dead, not just evolving to the next form.

Typewriters? I was at Smith Corona when they went under (long story about a short time). One technology that SHOULD have lasted longer but for shareholder demands. Neatly filling in a paper form still needs a tool as easy as a typewriter.

Walkman/discman/minidisc? Evolved accordingly. Hello, iPod.

Dial-up internet? Networking using a system not designed for networking. A hack-job until proper networks arrived (and I'd contend still not really arrived).

DVDs? Physical pre-loaded data storage is fading in favor of broadband. CDs, computer program media, etc. - bye bye. Blu-ray still holds out for that last vestige of high-bandwidth content.

[a fool in paradise]

6. Film cameras: When Polaroid announced in February 2008 that it would stop selling its famous instant-developing film, people ran out to buy up the remaining stock in order to preserve this unique form of photography. Kodak and Fuji still make film, but they, like Polaroid, are counting on their digital-camera lines to keep them afloat.

Just like cameras did away with pencils and paintbrushes, right?

Digital cameras do not offer the same response as film.

[urtax$@work]

1. Landline phones: // Nope. Wait till natural disaster or even some power outages.

2. Floppy disks: Storing something on an external device? C'est possible? // why French , ok thats one.

3. Wristwatches: // nope, You cant see time/distance/movement with digital.

4. VHS tape and VCRs: // that was a manufacturer decision Walmart still sells them but w/o the tv tuner built in.

5. Beepers: // ok , thats two.

6. Film cameras: // Nope. Degradation of digital image and same for the paper prints.

7. Typewriters: // ok thats three. until the power goes.... then i have a nice smith-corona portable manual.

. Typewriters did have drawbacks — smudged fingers, only two or three copies at a time // no problem with a mimeograph machine dufus!

gallons of whiteout //still usefull .

8. The Walkman, //still use my panasonic for walks. but switching to mp3 player. .

9. Dial-up Internet access: // writer must be urban.

10. DVDs: What's that, you say? //if not DVD - then what ?

[a fool in paradise]

And inventions like the CRT television and filament light bulb aren't going away because of technological evolution (and a changing marketplace). They are being legislated out of existence.

[TexasRepublic]

I read stuff like this and then realize my house looks like the Smithsonian museum.