Ten tech items you won't be needing anymore

When researching this list of obsolete research, we discovered that most of the devices we've deemed no longer necessary are as a matter of fact very useful items that served us better than the smartphone functions that have come to replace them. They helped us navigate strange cities, easily take video of our children, and transport large files between our home and office computers.

1. The Flip Cam: We will fondly remember this slim little $100 digital camcorder for its prevalence in newsrooms in the late 2000s, as print reporters morphed into "multi-platform journalists." At the time came the smartphones with video capabilities and the Flip Cam became so obsolete that Cisco announced it would stop making it in April of this year.

3. Flash drives: Not so long ago, the flash drive felt like a symbol of our incredible technological progress -- dozens of hi-res photos or scores of documents stored on a little device you could hang on your key chain. Nevertheless thanks to the rise of cloud computing and the ease of giant file sending, the two inch flash drive has come to seem nearly clunky.

4. GPS devices for your car: For those of us with no sense of direction, the Garmin was a game changer. Gone was the anxiety that we missed the exit, even if that exit was on the whole 15 miles away. The interface was simple as could be, the woman's voice only occasionally irritating as she "recalculated." Getting our directions via iPhone is a significantly worse user experience, nevertheless we've always got our iPhone on us, and it's always charged.

5. The digital camera: We are not heralding the demise of the digital camera. In fact, we've noticed enormous, professional grade, safari ready cameras popping up on playgrounds and at winter concerts with alarming regularity. However that point-and-shoot you bought to throw in your pocket or purse in case a too-good-to-miss photo op arose? You've got your smartphone now.

6. The fax machine: The ability to send printed documents through the phone line probably felt like magic back in the day, nevertheless it made that horrible screeching noise, never as a matter of fact worked consistently, and it takes up tons of space. We've long considered the fax machine our arch enemy, and are delighted to see it go. 

9. Voice recorders: First came the giant cassette recorders that resembled Walkmans from the '80s, at that time came the slimmer micro-cassette recorder, and at once came the moreover minimal digital voice recorder. At that time came the smart phone with recording research built right into it, and everything else became obsolete. Photo: A collection of voice recorders.