For all of us older folks, do you remember some of the things you grew up with, that have disappeared over the years?  Things like the 8-Track player?  Or how about the Betamax?  I remember as a teenager going to the music store to buy the latest record album.  (that’s those big, round, vinyl things us old folks played to listen to our music).   Just 10 years ago I would have been typing this over a dial-up Internet connection.

My, my,  how things have changed.

I was reading an article this morning from MSN Money about some of the current technologies that may too end up in the forgotten pile.  The list may surprise you.

• DVDs. Thanks to services like cable On-Demand and Netflix,  DVD rentals may soon be gone.  Blockbuster has said it plans to close more than a fifth of its stores by the end of 2010.  Adding to Blockbuster’s demise are those cute little red boxes that have sprung up everywhere.  If nothing else, Blockbuster may soon be Blue Ray only, as it seems everything is going High Def.
• CD’s. Do you remember the last time you went to a music store to buy a CD?  I sure don’t.   Napster was the beginning of the end for music sales.  Then of course came Apple  iTunes, not to mention illegal downloading using software like Limewire.  Today, finding your favorite song is as easy as pulling out your cell phone or turning on the computer.  Most Virgin Megastores in the U.S. have shut down following declines in sales and revenues. In 2004, Tower Records entered bankruptcy, and by 2006 most locations had closed.
• Home Telephone Service The rate people are dropping their land lines and going cell phone only is surprising to me.  I still have an old fashioned analog phone line, and I like it.  No thank you Verizon – I do NOT want FIOS.)  According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, more than one in five U.S. homes had cell phones — and no land lines — in the first half of 2009.  Crazy.
• Books I finally saw a Kindle the other day at work.  It’s about the size of a small clipboard and just as flat.  What’s a Kindle?  It’s an e-book reader.  You download your books from Amazon directly to your Kindle device.  It will store thousands of books, plus has access to popular magazines and newspapers. I’m a old fashioned book lover, so I’ll be one of the last to convert.  But imagine 20 years from now when our kids ask, “You mean you actually had to turn the pages?!  With your hands???”
• Magazines I was browsing through one of my wife’s popular Women’s Magazines last month, and was shocked by the advertising – junk food and drug companies. (I guess they kind of go hand in hand anyway – don’t they?)  But it really doesn’t matter because more and more people are going online for their reading pleasure.  Magazines are slowly disappearing.  In 2009, more than 360 magazines shut down.  Do you think the Dentist’s Offices will soon supply us with one of those cool Kindles?  That would be awesome.
• Newspapers I hate to keep saying it, but Newspapers are also dying.  In 2009,  105 newspapers disappeared for good,  over 10,000 newspaper jobs were lost, print ad sales fell 30% in the first quarter alone, and 23 of the top 25 newspapers reported declines in circulation between  7% and 20%.  Why?  Blame the internet, or blame the generation.  Kids just don’t read newspapers.  They’re too busy playing their Xbox, listening to their iPod, or texting on their Smartphone.  More and more newspapers, in order to survive, are switching to online only versions just to stay alive.
• Phone Books This one’s not on their list, but it is on mine.  Who uses a phone book anymore?  Do you?  With my iPhone in hand I can find the number, address and  map in a matter of a few seconds.  Not only that, I can place my order, read reviews from other customers, and get step by step driving directions all with the touch of a button.

Ah technology – isn’t it…….great?

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