I always tweak a small but vocal group when I talk about the end / extinction of vinyl, tape, CD, DVD and such. So I was pleased to see a link to this posting from Committed Sardine.
11 Technologies in Danger of Going Extinct
The list is:
1. Fax Machines
2. Landline Phones
3. Beepers
4. DVD players
5. Film Projectors
6. The Computer Mouse
7. Cell Phone Chargers
8. Plasma TVs
9. Credit Cards
10. E-Book Readers
11. iPods
Read the explanations on the post.
As for my vinyl-loving friends I point them towards this neat use for vinyl (and their final ashes):
Vinyl Really Is a Dead Format
“With that in mind, a British entrepreneur by the name of Jason Leach has launched a company called “And Vinyly,” a company that will press your ashes into a vinyl record. No lie.”
Music rights are extra. Now there’s a meme. What song would you be for ever after?
Stephen
9 Responses
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Beepers? In “danger of” or “are already.” Seriously, does anyone actually have a beeper anymore?
Yep – I still see beepers all over the city. Seems silly to me too but I’ll bet they’re -issue and they could be an indication of cheap, non-creative, poorly financed, slow adopting companies that you shouldn’t invest in or do business with.
I can’t see mice becoming extinct for quite some time.
I agree with Neil about computer mice. Tech mavens have been crowing about the rise of touch so much lately and they tend to neglect the fact that it is not the most comfortable or most efficient interface mode for long-term computer use. I would like to see a biomechanical engineer do a study between the amount of movement needed to do a set of computer tasks on a traditional mouse&keyboard setup and on a touch screen. There are reasons why the mouse and keyboard have been the primary interface for computers for as long as they have.
It’s probably just my world but I haven’t used a wired mouse in many, many years. I do have a drawer full of them though. I also don’t see anyone in my world of laptop users using them either. Then again my folks tend to be mobile and live on netbooks and various smartphones. This is travellers, mobile execs, students, ublic library users, and people in airports, train/bus stations and cafeterias, etc. I see a few people with wireless mice at the airport but they admit to rarely using them and only for production, longer term keyboarding (and long airport waits if a table is available and they’re not restricted to their lap!).
I suppose that a big wired mouse is best for cubicle dwellers and I might use it again if I get filed there.
Stephen
Original article here: http://www.livescience.com/technology/1–technologies-going-extinct-100802.html (it’s linked in the blog post that Stephen linked to).
Fax machines: will decline, but not disappear yet due to requirement for physical signatures.
Landline phones: *should* disappear, but at the moment (at least in the UK) it’s seemingly impossible to get broadband without also getting a landline subscription. So I have a landline phone that isn’t plugged in…
DVD players/plasma TVs: agreed.
Cellphone chargers/film projectors: interesting but seems like they’re splitting hairs a bit – we’ll just have different chargers (mats) and different projectors (digital).
credit cards: can’t really comment on the new tech, but basically my only use of CC’s is over the web – presumably the new tech can support this? (Also suspect a large number of people will be using non-smart phones for a long time – there’s no way my parents are ditching CCs for smart phones).
e-book readers/iPods: I think they’re correct, here. A single use item seems preferable to multiple dedicated devices.
Mice: the touchscreen on my phone is great, and I use a laptop with trackpad at home, but for intense work, my desktop with mouse is better than any alternative (can’t really use a touchscreen when the monitor is arms-length from me). I suspect that most/many workers will still be office-bound for the immediate future anyway (and it’s surely not a zero sum game – most staff at my firm have blackberries or laptops and work on the go, but equally they use desktops when in the office…).
I bet we’ll be surprised at what *actually* disappears ove the next few years though, I’m sure there’ll be something we’ve all missed…(what about GPS systems? My phone does that perfectly well…)
The “DVD player” item is a trick. In one sense, it’s right: It’s almost impossible to find a midpriced DVD player any more; you either get an entry model ($60 or less) or a Premium Model (many hundreds or thousands of dollars)…but that’s because Blu-ray players, which are, of course, DVD players, have taken over the $120-$250 midrange. (The item mentions “HD discs.” Really?)
I really don’t understand the Cell Phone Chargers going away. It still have to charge them
You won’t plug them in. You’ll just lay them on surfaces that’ll chanrge any battery.
Stephen