Once-Iconic Tech Products That Are Now a Fading Memory

[Avro Arrow]

You can imagine that C stands for Computer, too, and C also perhaps the most well-known programming language, so C is a good letter for the home drive.

Sure, C is a good letter for the home drive, but it didn't used to be that way. The letter C was adopted simply because it was the third drive. Now, people invent reasons for it.

 

[NumberSix]

Was it "phone-icide", or natural causes?

It was complications from dialabetus due to being completely sedentary.

 

[captaincranky]

It was complications from dialabetus due to being completely sedentary.

Condolences.

 

[ddferrari]

As Barcham pointed out, 8 track tapes belong on this list. I can think of a few other formats that that also come to mind:

Rear projection TVs
Mini-disc players
Digital Audio Tape (DAT)
Reel to Reel
Walkman Headphones

 

[sennarose88]

MP3 players, or Digital Audio Player (DAP) are still highly popular among audiophiles. Sony, Astell & Kern, Fiio and swarms of other audiophile brands are churning out more DAPs than ever.

 

[Borh77]

"Mp3 players" will survive, not because they are cheap, but because audiophiles need them. If you have an expansive HiFi headset, you just can't use it with a phone. You'll want a player with a good dac, and a wired connection to the headset to listen to your HiRes music.

And "Mp3 player", which are actually called music player because they are now used more for HiRes music and not mp3, are not cheap. Products from Sony, Cowon, Fiio, Astell & Kern can cost more than a thousand euros.

It is a niche market, but a niche market that will stay for long.

It's like digital cameras. Phones can now take very nice pictures, but digital cameras have not disappeared, and people buy them not because they are cheap

 

[Older than dirt]

1970’s fax machines required placing a 8.5 x 11 paper on a cylinder which rotated in a cradle for 6 minutes to send or receive. Received pages was special paper which was printed with electric sparks.

Today we talk about bandwidth in mega bits, 1,000,000 baud. In mid 1980s, I purchased a slower 300 baud modem to download software to a computer with “bubble memory” from Phoenix via landlines with static interference.

Telexes were cheaper than international telephone communication. Even then, each character cost. We were the predecessors of texting with, “urs ntd” meaning I understand, “reverting” meaning I will get back with a answer or other response. These messages were transmitted at 75 baud.

Dumb pagers would beep and you would call in and a person would give you a message or phone number. Smarter pagers would display a phone number for you to call. Even smarter pagers would display a sentence or two.

 

[CraigW]

Landline Phones: My older family members have phone numbers they refuse to let go of so they continue to pay the fees to keep their landline phones.

Efficiency dictates that it is cheaper and more practical to simply have one number on your cellular phone so that any and all calls coming in go directly to you whether you answer them or not - let them go to voicemail or not. I don't have a landline number.

We have a landline because we make a lot of calls from the US to Canada. Our landline includes those calls. Our cell service doesn't. Adding international calling to our cell service would cost more than the piddly savings for dropping the landline. Don't assume everyone is in the same situation as yourself.

 

[CraigW]

I prefer physical media over digital.

1. It can never be taken away from me because some licensing agreement expires.
2. I can sell it or trade it in for something else.