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21 Things That Became Obsolete This Decade
From the iPhone to the Garmin, advancements and gadgets introduced this decade changed the whole world.
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They've affected how we live, do business, acquire information, and connect with others.
We've gotten used to touch-screens, blazingly fast Internet, and the ability to have the world at our fingertips in seconds.
In the process, a few things that once were considered social mainstays are now either obsolete or well on their way.
Remember busting out a map to figure out directions? Or using a cell phone that had actual buttons? Yeah, those days are a bit hazy for us, too.
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So let's refresh our memories, get nostalgic, and honor some techologies, gadgets, and habits that got totally pwned by the 2000's.
Check out the 21 things that became obsolete →
Remember that trusty stylus? The once-awesome Palm Pilot had no chance with the advent of the Blackberry, and then, of course, the touch-screen smartphone.
In a word: Gmail.
Static... dial tone... repeat a few times... ah, internet!
Definitely won't miss that process.
Photo: amayzun via Flickr
Does anyone actually do this anymore?
The massive popularity of Netflix and Video-On-Demand has made it virtually unnecessary to go to an actual store to rent movies. Blockbuster is feeling the shift -- the company is set to shut down 960 of its stores this year alone -- and we bet they don't last long into the new decade.
No more getting lost on those epic road trips... just punch in your destination into your GPS or smartphone and you're good to go.
Does anyone else find this one a little bittersweet?
Photo: Neil Alejandro via Flickr
Mainly thanks to Craig Newmark, the internet became the place to go to find a job or sell your old couch.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
With wireless penetration in the U.S. currently at 89%, it's no surprise that many people are using their mobiles or internet voice services as their primary way to connect.
And when we consider the fact that about one-fifth of American households were wireless-only as of June 2009, it's not hard to conclude that the landline is on its way out.
In the same vein of VoIP and cell phones, it no longer costs extra to make those cross-country calls. And Skype and various other free internet chat services make international calls totally free (at least for now).
DVD players first outsold VCR's in 2002; by 2004, they were outselling them at 40 to 1. Combine that total shift to digital movie-watching with the development of DVR, and you had the inevitable death of the poor VCR.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
With the advent of the e-fax, and considering how annoying regular faxing can be, we think it won't be long before everyone's taking a bat to their fax machines.
Our old bastions of data have been fading fast over the last few years, replaced by -- what else?-- the internet.
Note: there are still at least 101 other useful purposes for those gigantic tomes.
Photo: Wallula Junction via Flickr
Want to find out the locations of the closest 50 starbucks in a 4-block radius?
Forget wasting time talking to an all-knowing automated voice, and thank your lucky stars for Google maps.
Poor CD's. But could anything really have withstood the amazing convenience of digital music and the worldwide adoption of the iPod? As album sales dropped by another 13% this year, it's only a matter of time until the CD becomes just a relic of times bygone.
Ditto to the gold ol' Sony walkman.
This decade, we said hello to sleek external hard drives and tiny thumb drives.
Photo: Blude via Flickr
Bye, bye buttons -- the iPhone seems to have sent us hurtling towards a touch-screen world straight out of Minority Report.
Social networks have practically erased the possibility of ever losing touch with anyone.
The downside: you can no longer use that as an excuse for never speaking to your creepy first-year roommate again.
Boundaries also went out the window with the huge popularity of Facebook and Twitter.
Not surprisingly, this is not always a good thing ... especially when it comes to your mom.
Photo: CarbonNYC via Flickr
Probably the biggest casualty of the decade. With most communication now conducted online, magazines and newspapers crumbling, and e-readers increasing in popularity, paper is now on serious life support.
It's likely we'll look back and say that, after a 2,000 year reign, paper was killed by the noughties.
Photo: lotyloty via Flickr
Records have long been obsolete, except as nostalgia. But the record store, as in a store that sells music, has now been replaced by the internet and iTunes.
Photo: High Fidelity
What else is toast? Let us know in the comments and we'll update the post!
15 Gadgets That Changed Everything This Decade >
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