An article I wrote for Electronic Products.

A look at some everyday electronics that are nearing extinction

Remember the days when you would patiently wait for the fax machine at the office to send over those important documents? Then you’d go home to pop your favorite VHS into the VCR? Though it may seem like it, that wasn’t too long ago, and now a fresh batch of electronics we use quite often are on their way to joining those devices in retirement. They just don’t want to believe it.

Computer mouse

Image via Microsoft.

The idea of not using a mouse to navigate your way through a computer was science fiction 10 years ago. Now, due to the use of tablets and smartphones, the mouse is on its way out. It’s predicted that in about five years, the cost of adding capacitive touch capability to screens will be so inexpensive that displays from large-screens TVs to laptops will have it, eliminating the need for an old fashioned computer mouse.

iPod

Image via dailytech.com.

The birth of the iPod completely destroyed the CD, and now it looks like the cherished music player may be next in line. In the past few years, the iPod has been seeing dramatic falls in its sales—now making up only 2% of Apple’s income. Most smartphones, including the company’s beloved iPhone, make perfectly good MP3 players, resulting in the iPod’s deadly decline.

In-car GPS systems

Image via Engadget.

In-car GPS systems were all the rage back in the early and mid-2000s. They mounted on your vehicle’s dashboard or stuck to the windshield, were easy to use, and had you wondering how you ever found your way with a crinkly old map. Fast forward a few years and you have the rise of the smartphone, quickly beginning to eat up everything in sight. As a matter of fact, in the past six years, over 1.3 billion iPhone and Android smartphones have been sold around the world, all of them with access to mapping software. Because of this, companies such as Garmin and TomTom are losing their viability and will most likely be wiped from the market in the next few years.

Blu-ray

Image via turbosquid.com.

If you wanted to kick back and enjoy a good movie a few years ago, Blu-ray was the way to go. With more than five times the storage capacity of a traditional DVD, it was designed for high-definition video and data. But time sure has snuck up on this impressive technology and it’s safe to say it’s obsolete, thanks to inexpensive on-demand Internet streaming media services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. If it isn’t already, it won’t be long before your Blu-ray player is collecting dust alongside that ancient device in the attic known as a VCR.

What do you think? Have anything to add? Leave a comment below.