The tech boom changed how we live so rapidly that many key items that were regularly used through the ‘90s are things younger generations have no use for. Could a device you use every day be the next to go? Keep reading and see how many you’ve moved past and which you still hold onto.
1. Wristwatches
Nowadays, wristwatches are considered more of a fashion accessory than anything else, often adding the finishing touches to an outfit. While wristwatches currently function as jewelry, but they were once an essential tool to check the time. Now, most people carry smartphones that show the time on their home screen without any big hand and small hand calculations.
2. Overhead Projectors
If you were a child anytime up to about 2010, overhead projectors were likely an integral part of your early education. When a teacher would roll in with one of these relics, students were in for a slideshow or something much more interesting than the contents of the corresponding textbook. However, smart televisions and intelligent whiteboards render overhead projectors obsolete.
3. Phone Books
Phone books used to be delivered to every front door across the country once a year and were the primary way to search for an individual’s or business’s phone number or address without calling an operator. Nowadays, the internet typically offers this information without so much paper waste.
4. Fax Machines
Fax machines, first developed by Alexander Graham Bell, who also invented the telephone, allowed exact copies of documents to be sent from person to person. With the widespread adoption of computers and email, we have found many ways to survive without fax machines (though they might still be found in some doctor’s offices and businesses).
5. Portable TVs
When portable TVs hit the consumer market in the 1990s, people didn’t think they could get any better. Suddenly, you could carry a small TV with antennas and a speaker and not miss the big game or the evening news. Thanks to smartphones, laptops, and tablets, portable TVs are much less cumbersome and can do about a thousand other things even while you watch TV.
6. Floppy Disks
The origin of the universally understood “Save” icon is increasingly falling into myth. Floppy disks haven’t been prominently used for computer storage since the 1990s, but back then, they were a go-to for people to save their important documents.
7. Landlines
Until recently, households with landline phones were much more common. Landlines were a childhood relic for people who grew up from the 1950s to the 1990s. Now, most family members are equipped with cell phones. That said, your doctor’s office, local pizzeria, and many businesses still use them.
8. Pagers
Before the pager, you had to pick up a phone or send an email to reach someone. Pagers were first developed to improve communication among law enforcement officers. While the consumer market couldn’t imagine life without these devices for a brief time, pagers were rendered unnecessary with the adoption of cell phone phones and are now most commonly found in hospitals.
9. DVDs
When DVDs were invented, the consumer market was wooed by the slim design and higher video and audio quality compared to then-prominent VHS tapes. With video streaming services dominating the at-home media industry, DVDs no longer have the chokehold they once did on movie lovers, though Blu-ray discs and 4K physical releases are still sold online and in stores for collectors.
10. Maps
Before map applications on our smartphones and even GPS, maps were the only way to find your way around. Family road trips used to consist of frustration and rustling of map papers if the driver missed an exit. While maps were once vital to travel, technology rendered paper maps nearly extinct.
11. Boomboxes
A radio and a cassette and CD player rolled into one, “boomboxes,” were once widely popular. For a time, they were the best way to have an amplified music listening experience. Now, Bluetooth speakers are more likely what you’ll see–and hear–on the beach or at the skatepark.
12. Encyclopedias
Before the internet, the best way to research information was in books. But wandering down library aisles and searching for the right book was not always practical. When encyclopedias were developed, the knowledge-hungry could select the book that contained words that began with a particular letter and read everything about said word. As with many other items on our list, encyclopedias were in some way replaced with internet connectivity.
Into the Future
Many items we once thought we couldn’t live without have been rendered obsolete by other objects we regularly use today. As technology advances, more and more items are being replaced by either the internet or a more technologically advanced version of the original item. You never know what could be the next to go!
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