It may look just yesterday but it has already been 19 years since the turn of the millennium. A lot has changed in these few years, thanks to technology which has advanced at a fast pace. From making phone calls to ordering food to making travelling plans to doing financial transactions, it just takes a click of our fingers to get these jobs done. Technology definitely has made our daily lives a lot easier. However, in doing so technology has also become its biggest rival. This has seen a number of things dying a fast death, which only a few years ago were considered technological wonders. Sunday POST takes a look at a few such technological wonders that came with a bang but disappeared faster than it came.
Film camera and photographic film
The traditional film camera and photographic film has long been pushed from the mass market by the modern age digital camera. Forget buying and using, most companies have stopped production of film cameras and photographic roles.
Modern technology has not only made photography easy but also has completed erased photo studios from our localities, which would take almost 24 hours to develop a photographic roll before taking colourful printouts of those photographs on postcard size paper.
GPS navigation systems
The advent of GPS killed the humble printed map, an inseparable companion of a globetrotter. GPS became a sensation after it was introduced in cars, making navigation easier for the driver. But in no time GPS became a passé. Although car manufacturers still choose to install GPS as a standalone facility in four-wheelers, the technology is almost nearing its end, thanks to smartphones, which are more accurate navigating people with use of apps like Google Maps, Bing and Apple Maps.
DVDs and Blue-ray
Compact discs (CDs) died an instant death with the introduction of digital versatile discs (DVDs). With high storage capacity, DVDs became the perfect device for storing data. However, with a better format in the form of Blue-ray, DVDs soon became obsolete. But with faster internet speed and video streaming technology, even Blue-ray seems to be going out of fashion. Pen drives seem, to be the solution to all data storage problems. Almost a 50 times smaller than DVDs and Blue-ray, pen drives come with higher storage capacity and is easier to carry and use.
Walkman, Discman, iPods and MP3 players
Walkman became a fashion statement in the late 1980. But it died a slow death with the advent of CDs and DVDs, as Discman became a craze among music aficionados. But with the advancement of technology iPods and MP3 players became a rage. However, both iPod and MP3 players went out of fashion within a few years of their invention. Smartphones seem to be killing almost every new technology and iPods and MP3 players too weren’t spared. With a range of free and paid music streaming services available through apps, MP3 players are nowhere to be found today.
Postcard, Inland Letters and Telegram
It has been more than six years since the last telegram was sent in India. Technology has left most postal departments across the world in bad shape, with sale of inland letters and postcards on the decline. The advent of electronic mail, more popularly known as e-mail, has almost killed the concept of writing letters. Moreover, smart messaging apps have become the most preferred medium of communication, which is fast witnessing the death of the traditional letter.
Fax Machines
Once considered a necessity at all offices and business entities, fax machines too became a victim of mobile phones and e-mails. Fax machines were the best option for send long handwritten and typed messages in printed format to long-distance destinations till, e-mails and mobile phones came an changed the entire ballgame. Today, fax machines have been reduced to trash.
PDAs
Mobile phones lost some of its sheen when personal digital assistant (PDAs) came into circulation. That wasn’t too long back. Even a decade ago PDAs were a craze, but today it’s something none of us use anymore. Blame it on the smartphones or advancement in technology, PDAs came and disappeared from the market in no time.
Portable dictation devices
Portable dictation devices, better known as Dictaphones, was the best and only option when it came to recording a long conversation or taking dictation. The devices came in various formats and used several different data mediums that included both cassette tapes — mini and micro-cassettes. These gadgets were mostly used to record interviews, conversations and lectures for later note taking or write ups. However, they too became a casualty of smartphones, which come with inbuilt recorders. Moreover, these recorders come with high storage facility, which posed a big threat to the age-old portable dictation devices.
Overhead projectors
Once considered a classroom wonder, overhead projectors were a simple yet a smart system for projecting text, images, illustrations and drawings on a large white screen. Instead of using papers, transparent sheets of acetate were used to allow presenters to transpose their presentation onto the screen in front a large audience. Although the device can still be found in some schools and colleges, overhead projectors have been almost rendered obsolete by modern projection technology and computers, which are easy to use and have better image clarity.
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Televisions
Once a common sight at every household, today, cathode ray tube television is fast going out of production. The introduction of plasma and LED screens, which are sleeker and promise better audio and video quality, finally put an end to these deep television sets that not only occupied larger room space but also had other disadvantages.
RITUJAY GHOSH, OP