Life moves quickly. The same can be said for technological advances in society. Your dad’s breakthrough product is your child’s obsolete trinket.
Here are 21 products that were groundbreaking at the time but are now obsolete:
1.Paper roadmaps
In 1697, John Ogilby was a cartographer who produced one of the first roadmaps that would lead to printed roadmaps being a must-have for long-distance travel.
They were outmoded by: digital roadmaps.
Then the GPS came along, followed by many apps on our smartphones, making paper roadmaps a thing of the past. Plenty of people would argue that paper maps are better than any app on your smartphone, but despite them still being sold, paper roadmaps are a thing of the past.
Miguel Angel Flores / Getty Images/iStockphoto
2.Wristwatches (and analog clocks)
During World War I, the wristwatch was made to help soldiers and soon became a staple for everyone’s wrist. With a wristwatch, everyone had an analog clock on the go, so you could tell the time wherever you were.
They were outmoded by: digital clocks on our smartphones.
Other than a fashion statement, having a wristwatch is pretty unnecessary unless you are too lazy to dig through your pocket for a smartphone. This includes the analog clock, which has been replaced mainly by the digital, visual time on clocks.
Kamir Voloski Pedernera / Getty Images/iStockphoto
3.Pagers
Al Gross invented the pager for doctors at New York City’s Jewish Hospital in the 1950s. The product allowed doctors and other users to receive messages electronically.
They were outmoded by: cellphones and email.
Although the masses have switched to different electronic devices, a lot of hospitals still use pagers. That said, its overall market has become obsolete to the general public.
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4.Public telephones
A must-have product for any business with customers. Other than a good place for Clark Kent to change into his Superman attire, phone booths were a groundbreaking invention for ordinary people. It was a coin-operated public telephone accessible for anyone to use. All you needed was some coins and a phone number!
They were outmoded by: cellphones.
You still pay for your calls, just in monthly plans. Phone booths are now a relic you may see inside some places or on a random city street from time to time.
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5.“Dumb” phones
Remember the day when phones were just phones? The cellphone was a breakthrough in technology and helped people in broken-down cars everywhere. No need to run to the phone booth anymore.
They were outmoded by: smartphones.
While “dumb” phones are making a slight comeback among Gen Z, it’s technically cheating because it’s still a smarter device than the phones in the ’90s and 2000s.
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6.Landline phones (at home)
7.Overhead projectors
Teachers would write on a transparent sheet with a dry-erase marker and project the image on a screen. This way, they could write problems and prompts on the fly while students took notes.
They were outmoded by: digital projectors.
In the digital age, there is no more need for dry-erase anything. Teachers can simply type up what they need, making prep and planning much easier.
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8.Arcade games
Name a better coin-operated entertainment machine than an arcade game. I’ll wait. Starting in the ’70s, these machines were found in malls, restaurants, and other public places of entertainment.
They were outmoded by: gaming consoles like Xbox and PlayStation.
You can buy and play games at home, and although it is a lot more expensive, console games have put arcade games out of the gaming spotlight. You can still find arcades, but their popularity has sunk faster than Pac-Man after eating a cherry. You can even buy arcade games on your console for cheaper.
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9.Phonebooks
Everyone used to be delivered free phonebooks so they would have access to the phone numbers they’d need. Simply open the book and search alphabetically for the person or company you want to contact.
They were outmoded by: online directories.
An additional factor is the death of the landline. No need to thumb through the yellow pages to find the correct phone number. It’s either online or already saved in your contacts. During the 2010s, 70% of people admitted they would not even open their phonebook.
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10.Encyclopedias
This collection of summarized knowledge was a key to learning for those without access to information. For example, during the Great Depression, this collection would benefit those from low-income families.
They were outmoded by: the internet.
Not much to say about this one. Which sounds easier: looking for the right volume of an extensive book collection or keying your question into Google?
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11.Typewriters
12.Cassette tape players
As a replacement for vinyl, cassettes were groundbreaking for listening to your specific song choices on the go. “Batteries not included.”
They were outmoded by: CDs.
Less messy, and no need to rewind. Cassettes stood no chance.
Oscar Sánchez Photography / Getty Images
13.Boomboxes
The boombox was a Swiss army knife for music lovers if you always wanted a portable sound system that could amplify CDs, cassettes, or the radio.
They were outmoded by: other audio equipment that was easier to carry.
I guess the party does stop. The boombox was quite gimmicky unless you were with a group of friends, but the next closest thing to it today is the portable Bluetooth speaker.
Alessandro Biascioli / Getty Images
14.Apple iPod
No need for CDs or cassettes. The hottest music product when I was growing up. An iPod could hold an estimated 1,000 songs!
They were outmoded by: iPhone.
You can have all your beautiful things on one device now. You might notice a pattern that the smartphone has made many things obsolete…even stuff from under the same umbrella.
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15.Fax machines
This device digitizes material with a scanner to send and receive printed pages over the telephone lines.
They were outmoded by: emails.
Save paper and time — no need to wait or have some person come in to fix the fax machine. It’s still used in healthcare and financial businesses, but that’s about it.
Ghislain & Marie David De Lossy / Getty Images
16.VHS tapes and VCRs
They would roll your favorite movies into block-like cassettes called a VHS (video home system), and you could play them via a VCR (videocassette recorder). Hit the play button, and don’t forget to rewind when finished.
They were outmoded by: DVD and Blu-Ray players.
The very last VHS was manufactured in 2016. With advances in discs, tapes were sidelined. I still can’t find my old Disney VHS tapes. Long live DVDs and Blu-Ray, right? … Right?
Henri Leduc / Getty Images
17.DVDs and Blu-Ray
These discs were the next wave of entertainment for watching movies or the collected seasons of TV shows.
They were outmoded by: streaming services like Netflix.
In 2019, it was reported that DVD sales dropped 86% over 13 years. Streaming is the now and, most likely, the future until something else comes along. We’re now witnessing the battle of streaming services.
Simpson33 / Getty Images/iStockphoto
18.Portable TVs
On the go? You can watch the tube while out or at work with a portable television. You could watch (minimal channels) TV on-the-go with the help of this small box and tiny antenna.
They were outmoded by: the ability to stream on devices.
You can now pull up Netflix, Hulu, or whatever streaming service you need on your smartphone. No need to lug a TV around with you anymore.
John Slater / Getty Images
19.Polaroid instant cameras
Polaroid cameras took the waiting out of photo development and instantly printed your photo after a snapshot. It would develop within minutes and, depending on the quality of the camera, seconds.
They were outmoded by: disposable and digital cameras.
A cheaper option arrived with disposable cameras, which would eventually get replaced by the digital camera, and that has been replaced by, you guessed it, the smartphone.
Catherine Falls Commercial / Getty Images
20.Blackberry keyboard
It’s wild to think a phone made it easier to text by offering the entire alphabet on a keyboard. Blackberry phones gave you a whole keyboard in the palm of your hand.
They were outmoded by: touchscreens.
In my opinion, as someone with big thumbs, adding a keyboard was a bad idea. Touchscreens are way more convenient and are the universal typing option for smartphones.
Adrianhancu / Getty Images
21.And lastly, all those floppy disks!
These cute little devices were used to store data from your computer. It was the perfect way to transfer data from one device to another.
They were outmoded by: flash drives (and CDs).
Thumb drives are way more compact than these floppy messes, and can hold more data.
Image Source Pink / Getty Images/Image Source
Were you alive to utilize these groundbreaking products? How many? Comment below!
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