Obsolete technology is a term that is constantly receiving additions to
its definition. Every day some former technological advancement is becoming
obsolete and replaced by the newest upcoming tech. When thinking about obsolete
technology what are a few things you think of? The first thing I think of is
corded or rotary phones. When growing up I would see these in my grandparent’s
house and even by the age of about 6, they were obsolete. Everyone has a
cordless phone for a landline now, and if they don’t it’s because even those
are becoming obsolete and people are using cell phones only instead of landlines.
In
class we talked about technologies that were used in the past for communication
that are now obsolete, the main one being the telegraph replaced by the
telephone. At the time of this technology coming out it was top of the line and
very important to its generation.
Nowadays no one uses a telegraph and even telephones are used less with
the invention of texting and instant messages. With cellphones taking over for
both of those inventions what will come next? Another example from class was
the dial up modem. Most everyone has a decent form of Wi-Fi or Internet
connection on their phone now that there is no need for that useless annoying
sounding modem anymore, which was a slow as could be. Other small things that years
ago were used every day have become obsolete and we don’t even think about them
anymore. How many people still have a tape player in their car and if you do I’m
sure you only use it to connect your iPod. Hardly any people even use CDs,
which were the invention that replaced the tape player. Now everyone has their
music digitally with mp3 players, which are also becoming less and less common
because music is kept on our smart phones. Smart phones themselves have made
many different technologies obsolete by being combined conveniently into one.
From the article I read of 22
Technologies the People Thought Would Last Forever, there is a list of inventions
that are now obsolete. From that list 10 of them became extinct because they
were all single featured items that are just one feature of a smartphone. Some
examples are media storage, maps, digital cameras, and the basic landline.
With
new technology emerging every day we are becoming more and more connected with
everything we do. This new technology allows communication at all times and
solves many day-to-day life problems, but what is the price? With all this new
technology we are left with the problem of getting rid of these obsolete
materials. Most of the new electronics are made up of metals, plastics, and
glass that are not safe to just be thrown away. Most end up in landfills and
there is no were to really put it all. Those massive tube TVs and computers
from the late 90’s are like metal boxes that just waste space in landfills now.
According to dosomething.org,
which is an organization who campaigns to eliminate e-waste, 70% of Americas
overall toxic waste comes from the lead found in e-waste landfills. Some other
organizations like EPA have come to notice this and have started programs that
allow the recycling of your old phones and other out dated electronics. This is
only one of the main problems we face with having new technology pushed towards
us daily. Moving forward with technological advances makes or lives easier yet
we must look at the downsides of having obsolete materials in our world.
https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-e-waste
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