12 Technologies On The Brink of Disappearing

And we're not taking the easy route here either. We're not calling for the death of obvious targets just as fax machines. No, we like to think we're dealing with to put it more exactly more controversial subjects, both on the thumbs-up and on the thumbs-down side of things.

As online connectivity, in either its wired or wireless guise, expands toward ubiquity, as data transmission rates increase, and as the proliferation of Internet-centric devices in our society continues unabated, there's little doubt the Web will shortly be the hub for all our personal electronic entertainment. How could it not?

The transition is already happening all around us

The transition is already happening all around us. Downloadable music clearly, now downloadable games and as a matter of fact on-demand gaming services too. Today, we find operating systems that live only in the Cloud, Blu-ray players that emphasize Internet connectivity, and recently-announced Netflix subscriptions that favour streamed over shipped movies. The list is long and it only grows longer with each passing day.

We humbly feel stereoscopic 3D TV has already passed its due date and is nothing more than a money pit for those who buy into it. Sure, the innovation will continue to be with us for a bit but, however the long-term prognosis is anything yet optimistic. For starters, with pictures and prices that are better than ever, good old 2D TV is looking damn good these days. However waiting in the wings is an alternate - and theoretically superior - concept to stereoscopic 3D TV called "autostereoscopic" TV.

Granted, the Kindle in particular has all those job-specific advantages we just outlined, now given that the far more versatile iPad is already used by many as their sole e-reader, and that its bookish panache will only improve in the course of time and future revisions, one can reasonably assume it will take larger and larger bites from the standalone e-Book reader market. And let's not forget smartphones. For the casual reader who places more importance on portability and singular devices, they truly suffice.

And, to a lesser degree, "what." Like Julius Caesar, the hard drive, once the beating heart of its domain and undoubtedly one of the most often replaced/upgraded PC elements of all time and thusly one of innovation's better money-makers, is pursuant to this agreement attack from all sides.

The in the meantime

In the in the meantime, don't expect life to get any easier for the good old hard drive. Consider, for instance, the explosive growth of ultra-portable convergent devices just as smart phones and iPads. Truth is that for many of us - particularly younger folks and/or those who can get along fine without the capabilities of a full-fledged computer - PCs, laptops, and the hard drives inside them are already prehistoric.

Indeed, if flash memory, PC/laptop apathy, and/or the possible extinction of traditional operating systems don't drive the final nails into the coffin of the consumer-level hard drive, the Cloud likely will. Amongst the big industry players, Cloud rhetoric is high. And truly one needs only look at the sudden proliferation of server farms all across this country to see the physical manifestation of it is as well alive and so then.

Of course it would. Right but. However what if it all went down a few years down the road, when everyone and their goat are walking around with whatever music player/camera/computer/phone/tablet gizmo that's become the Straightway Big Thing? And what if this gizmo as well played a ton of decent games? And what if all these people and goats didn't want to be bothered carrying around a second gizmo whose sole purpose was to play a select few exclusive titles?

The inevitable consequence of technological evolution

Such is the inevitable consequence of technological evolution. During phones and tablets and other assorted do-all goodies don't currently have the jam to be true gaming leviathans, they'll before long be good enough that that most game-players won't care. And that, in the grand scheme of things, is what shapes the industry.

The end of the reign of the personal music player was foretold many years ago, during the Sony WalkMan was on the whole in its diapers. Too clunky, they said. Too niche. Too anti-social. Today in the world of the iPod, most of that reasoning has clearly dissipated. Nevertheless, the doomsayers won't go away. But, they tell us no one will want dedicated music players when full-blown media players and smartphones and the like can do so much more.

Facing stiff, unrelenting competition from Voice over Internet Protocol, text-based communications, and clearly, the cell/smart phone, Plain Old Telephone Service undoubtedly appears headed for the virtual junkyard. And as a matter of fact, recent studies suggest that a growing number of Americans have or are in the process of abandoning their landlines completely in favor of one of today's many alternatives.

But it simply isn't that cut and dried. Landlines - meanwhile corded landline phones - are a saving grace while prolonged power outages. They will continue to play a role in the business world and in large homes, where multiple handsets are common. In addition, depending on usage, minimal-use landline rates are nevertheless comparatively cheap. And it nearly goes without saying that the existing POTS infrastructure is thoroughly mammoth.

Purely redundant research

Though to many a purely redundant research, chances are the venerable landline will survive until we have a better way of dealing with the instances where it is most invaluable. And that's a long, long time from but.

Let's get this straight right from the outset - the hybrid innovation found in cars just as the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight is most anyway not the then and there major step in automotive propulsion. It is instead a gas/electric stop-gap measure that'll carry us over to whatever research gains traction in the short run. Fact is that many gas-powered cars - and many more in the 2012 model year if we can believe what we're hearing from companies like Hyundai and Ford - run much cleaner than their old school gas counterparts and deliver fuel economy not far off that of current hybrids. And they're a hell of a lot cheaper and more functional in addition.

What does that leave us?

So what does that leave us? Fuel cells? Perhaps, and truly Hyundai's recent announcement that it'll have a fuel cell-powered SUV by 2015 lends credence. Now fuel cell innovation is nothing new - it's been with us for decades however and nevertheless has significant hurdles to clear, not to mention a everything considered-weak infrastructure.

There are, clearly, other camps that propose other solutions. Really, there's no shortage of proposed concepts, each of which is backed by a lot of people hoping theirs will one day be the ultimate internal combustion engine killer. And that may be the biggest obstacle of all. Do you select a given research, only to discover several years from however that your chosen road is a very expensive dead end? Investing a few hundred bucks in Betamax or HD DVD is one thing. Dropping this much bread is something completely different.

Let's first look at what is arguably the centerpiece of the entire technological revolution - the desktop personal computer. Rumors of its demise have circulated since the 1990s, when laptops came into vogue, and they'll truly continue. But in spite of the rise of all-in-ones, increasingly capable laptops, tablets, smartphones, touchscreen innovation, and a host of other mutations of the original concept, the desktop as we know it shall survive.

#1: Physical media has only survived this long because of setbacks in other areas. Not everyone has access to an internet connection that can download media in a timely fashion. I recently downloaded Bioshock 2 and it took me ten hours. As well, media just as CDs have the advantage of being able to be portable and transferable. There is no good way of loaning a movie to friend if you only have a digital copy.

The other list

I as well have nothing to add about the other list, except to say that even with a new fuel source, most "alternative" new engines are after all internal combustion engines and the home phone line will be dead in ten years. Businesses may keep it, nevertheless it will disappear from the consumer market.

Keep in mind with my comment is that I am doing the view from someone that lives in a rural area were alot of people can only get Dial-up or satellite internet and there are people that are not with in range of a 3G Cell tower. As well the 3G as of right but that I go off of is Virgin Mobile Broadband2go has been lately going -20KB/s. There is no WiMAX or 4G.

For alot of areas if CDs, DVDs, etc stopped being made would leave them in the dust for the areas that don't have good access broadband or no broadband for Streaming like through Hulu or NetFlix. Like for me I can barely do youtube on 280p to 380p as of right now however when 4G get were I am that would improve yet Wireless Internet innovation can be iffy with tower congestion or weather. Like with Video games like through steam or on the playstation Store or other means it would be hard for the Gamers that live in a Rural area that may not have the broadband speeds like the big citys with like Fiber to the house.

That hunk of metal I think may not die easy. locks with Keypads can basicly be hacked like with the RFID innovation and others.

Landline Phone

There are after all people with a landline Phone and not Cell phone. There are some rural areas that can't get Cell Phone signal at all. So landline phone for alot of people is the only choice for the home phone.

The PC, The Computer Keyboard, & The Computer Mouse:I Highly doupt it ya some research out there like Cloud computing and touch screens nevertheless for some people yes they can do it yet there is alot of people that can't use those will remain with the use of the keyboard and mouse.

Hard drives ? Perhaps platter driven drives that will be replaced by SSD now to many people need local storage. Until everyone can get broadband internet anywheres and every where some sort of local storage will be needed. And if ISP's get their way and put data caps we will see web storage and cloud based computing dead in the water. I could see with cloud based computing people having gig's of data being transfered weekly otherwise daily, and getting hundreds of dollar cable bills.

Handheld gaming? Sony is planning on anouncing a phone with a PSP built in to it. Might see multi-purpose units that do more at that time just play games. The iPhone has a great game out that has made a splash, and I can only see games getting better for the iOS and Android.

Computers: I can see one day when everyone has broadband even in the middle of no wheres at that time we might have computer termals. As far as keyboards go, I don't see it. It is hard to touch type on a touch screen and voice recognition in a noisy room that would not work. Mice I can see touch screens replacing these.

I noticed that the same logic you used to justify keeping the Mp3 player could apply to the e-reader as then. What it's intended for, cannot be done also by any other research.

One more comment, no way am I going to trust my business to the cloud, no way am I going to be shut down totally if there is a lost connection. The iPad kiddies may love the cloud nevertheless those that think it will take over are drinking the koolaid.

Serious case of CES-itis

You guys are starting to get a serious case of CES-itis :) Sure, smartphones and laptops are going to succeed...however desktops aren't going anywhere...the ONLY thing that will kill the desktop is a seachange in storage quantity...when you start seeing 2TB SSD's smaller than a pack of cigarettes...maybe at the time.

100 years from but...sure....now that will be afterwards a few failed attempts and a much better security system than we can even imagine nevertheless. If MS continues on their track towards a CLOUD based Windows 8...they gonna be in for some serious financial woes.

The other posters

I agree with one of the other posters, i am not about to upload my docs to a cloud, because it can be easily stolen or harmed. I after all like the CDR or DVDR as a backup to my backup HDD. I dont even have a facebook, i try to limit my internet personal information.

Desktop PCs will never be obsolete as an idea, because though Consumer America is enjoying their iPads and TouchSmarts, Corporate America's tower/desktop PCs will after all be chugging away. Desktop PCs--yes--they are becoming kind of obsolete in the home, however in the business, they are ESSENTIAL!

The iPhone has more powerful hardware than any handheld console, and accelerometer, location support and a multitouch touchscreen. Slap a couple of gaming buttons on there and nothing out there holds a candle to it, except android phones. The nintendo DS has a pretty good market share, nevertheless I can in any case see them falling by the wayside if more developers jump ship to iOS or Android.