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Gadget Graveyard: 10 Technologies About to Go Extinct
Fox News ^ | April 15, 2009 | Mariel Bird

Posted on 04/15/2009 9:51:45 AM PDT by 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.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Science; Society
KEYWORDS: change; consumerism; disposableamerica; prophecy; technology
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To: randog

Over-relaiance on modern technology is a double-edged sword. My wife takes pride in paying bills and keeping records on-line. We argue every time tax season comes around because she has tossed some important paper records. One year, after chiding me about getting certain records on line, the sysytem she accessed was down for several days. Another time, our home network was down. Paper records would have been nice then.

In the same vein, it still makes sense to have a landline, in case of emergency and your cell coverage has problems or your cell batteries are low and cannot be recharged. I keep an old rotary phone in the basement in case the power goes out.

Of course, I used to wear suspenders and a belt just to make sure my pants didn’t fall down.


21 posted on 04/15/2009 10:09:22 AM PDT by neocon1984
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To: randog
Until then, I'll keep the trusty twisted pair. In my house it's "dial 911 on a cell phone and die".

In California, 911 calls from a cell phone were automatically routed to the California Highway Patrol, not the local police department.

This may have changed in some locations as the use of GPS in cell phones, and the ability to route the call based on the cell tower receiving the call are implemented.

-PJ

22 posted on 04/15/2009 10:12:18 AM PDT by Political Junkie Too (You can never overestimate the Democrats' ability to overplay their hand.)
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To: EveningStar

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.


23 posted on 04/15/2009 10:15:29 AM PDT by edge10 (Obama lied, babies died!)
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To: EveningStar

Nooooooo!

24 posted on 04/15/2009 10:15:38 AM PDT by meowmeow (In Loving Memory of Our Dear Viking Kitty (1987-2006))
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To: Southack

For HIPPA regulations, private medical records cannot be sent via e-mail, unless encrypted. They must be faxed or snail mailed.

Sending records by e-mail with encryption only works within the physical boundaries of systems (e.g., the VA) and it requires some experience and effort to set up the appropriate encryption protocol. Maintenance is also a problem.

Hospitals must own half the fax machines in the US, and they are very slow to change.

Ergo, the fax is here to stay for at least another 15 years.


25 posted on 04/15/2009 10:16:41 AM PDT by neocon1984
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To: neocon1984

12. cheap cigarettes and ammo


26 posted on 04/15/2009 10:17:50 AM PDT by Edizzl79 (you want my guns..come and get em...I dare ya....)
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To: EveningStar
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".

27 posted on 04/15/2009 10:19:43 AM PDT by 19th LA Inf
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To: JWinNC
Probably right about all except wristwatches.

I can't understand why people still wear them. I have a drawer full that I never wear.

There is a clock on my cell phone
There is a clock on my cable box
There is a clock on my kitchen wall
There is a clock on my living room wall
There is a clock on my car's dashboard
There is a clock on my MP3 player
There is a clock on my computer at home
There is a clock on my two computers at work
There is a clock on my bedside table
There is a clock on my microwave oven

We are surrounded by clocks!
Why wear a wristwatch?

28 posted on 04/15/2009 10:22:11 AM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts (I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for something I ain't.)
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To: Disambiguator

“Do you have a DVD Rewinder? “

Everytime I take back a video, I apologize for forgetting to rewind it. They mostly say (without thinking), “That’s ok.”


29 posted on 04/15/2009 10:23:44 AM PDT by laweeks
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

Well for one thing those clocks don’t tend to agree, with your watch you have “your” time which you can construct you’re life around. Then sometimes you’re not near any of those other clocks, stores and bars are pretty good about hiding the time from you.


30 posted on 04/15/2009 10:25:45 AM PDT by razorboy
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To: EveningStar; raccoonradio

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


31 posted on 04/15/2009 10:27:01 AM PDT by ken5050 (Obama wants a 900% tax on Aspirin. Why, you ask? It's white, and it works...)
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To: randog

I had a friend that lived in a nice area of Phoenix- in fact just a few blocks from Nancy Reagan’s mother. Cell phones worked in half of her home and not in the other half. Service there may be better now but we used to laugh about that. You could make calls from the living room and most of the bedrooms but not the kitchen or office.


32 posted on 04/15/2009 10:27:32 AM PDT by Tammy8 (Please Support and pray for our Troops, as they serve us every day.)
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To: EveningStar
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.

33 posted on 04/15/2009 10:27:35 AM PDT by ctdonath2 (John Galt was exiled.)
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To: EveningStar
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.

34 posted on 04/15/2009 10:28:20 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (IRONY - we know more about the First Dog's historical papers than we do of President Barack.)
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To: EveningStar
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 ?

35 posted on 04/15/2009 10:28:48 AM PDT by urtax$@work (The best kind of memorial is a Burning Memorial.........)
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To: raccoonradio
I still do have a VHS but only for converting to DVD.

Ditto that....but in the garage, for the radio part of it, I have a functioning 8-track tape player.

I used to have a buddy who was the finance guy for Warner Records, and he'd give me huge boxes of tapes.

36 posted on 04/15/2009 10:29:00 AM PDT by ErnBatavia (Real "arrogance" is enslaving MY grandkids for Zero's utopia)
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To: Southack

They’ve been saying fax is dead for 25 years. And yet the software fax business keeps growing at around 4% annually, even during a recession. Fax isn’t dead, fax is changing, fax machines very well might be dead. But the point to point traceability will keep fax the concept around for a long time in the legal, medical and real estate worlds.


37 posted on 04/15/2009 10:29:32 AM PDT by razorboy
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

I gave up watches for a while. Drove my wife nuts, as she equates quality watches with social status. Finally succumbed and bought a nice Movado; gotta go pick it up this weekend after being in for repairs for two months ... funny, I get along fine without it...


38 posted on 04/15/2009 10:29:49 AM PDT by ctdonath2 (John Galt was exiled.)
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To: Southack

Copy machines have morphed into multi-function printers (printing, copying, scanning, faxing, e-mailing). The pure copy machine is already dead, but the MFP which tends to look like the copy machines of old only more complicated has a lot of life left in it.


39 posted on 04/15/2009 10:31:22 AM PDT by razorboy
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To: ctdonath2
Bet he believed that Record Players would be dead 10 years ago...

Record Store Day celebrates vinyl and its fans (Chicago Tribune April 12, 2009 | By Greg Kot Tribune critic)

40 posted on 04/15/2009 10:31:38 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (IRONY - we know more about the First Dog's historical papers than we do of President Barack.)
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