5 Tech products that will be obsolete in 5 years.

[brakespear]

Well, it's both. Bigger sensors need bigger lenses, which is why I suggested that some smartphones will have lens mounts. And more will have retracting lenses too.

But, again, the majority/mass market don't care about such matters. They just want convenience.

More and more something like this I guess:
http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/...nePhrase-samsunggalaxyfamilyzoom_gen_20130620

 

[Washie]

I know it's not Tech, but Newspapers will be gone soon.

 

[Wozza]

Yeah, how nobby is that? It's still a tiny sensor behind it.

 

[surrey jim]

The phone book / yellow pages. Does anyone still use it?

 

[Tricky Dicky]

I know it's not Tech, but Newspapers will be gone soon.

Not as soon as you think they will, certainly not in 5 years. 15 maybe.

 

[beorhthelm]

He's not talking bollocks.

Sadly, the typical person isn't that bothered about quality, and doesn't think about low-light performance.

They want convenience - eg a camera which is always on them, and an easy way to share images.

Regardless of the quality issues, smartphones have already killed the lower-end camera market.



That's just nonsense.

Smartphones will get bigger sensors (much bigger than a current £100 camera).

And, within five years, some are bound to have a pop-up flash and detachable lenses.

you say that low-end cameras have been killed, yet there are dozens of sub-£100 models still available and presumably sold. I dont think the point of performace is wrong, maybe over stated, on current experience. theres more to cameras than pixel count, i have 3 recent smartphones in the house and none of them produces as good a picture as a dedicated 4 megapixel jobby thats ~5 years old costing just over £100. shutter speed large issue, camera phones lag and prone to blury images. smartphone cameras are great for convenience, but i want to know im going to get pictures i can keep i reach for the old Fuji.

 

[spongy]

One tech that will definitely obsolete in the next 5 years is the faithful FM radio - switchover was set for 2015 but not enough people have taken up DAB yet, so looking more like 2018.

I bought a DAB radio when I lived in woodingdean and could receive nearly 100 stations, now I live in Burgess Hill and I can receive 5.

Radio 1
Radio 2
Radio 3
Radio 4 and
Classic FM

Can't even get Heart. So it's a waste of time at the moment. It's like living in the dark ages. I can only get 1mb broadband speeds too. It's shithouse.

 

[Cian]

One tech that will definitely obsolete in the next 5 years is the faithful FM radio - switchover was set for 2015 but not enough people have taken up DAB yet, so looking more like 2018.

Can see that slipping even further and further. There's no major financial incentive on the Govermnent's part to push it - 20MHz of Band II spectrum isn't particularly valuable to re-sell, definitely not as valuable as ~300MHz of Band V UHF was.

There's also little advantage to existing broadcasters, whereas there was with Freeview - the existing broadcasters got enough allocated bandwidth to launch all their extra channels whereas on DAB they need to purchase it at commercial rates and in many cases they're running 1 channel on DAB rather than 2 on FM/AM.

 

[El Sid]

I know it's not Tech, but Newspapers will be gone soon.

Along with the good old fashioned telephone conversation. It's all bloody SMS now. The only time I get a call is from a machine telling me I recently had a car crash.
Even my kids text me when we're all in the house!

 

[Nibble]

People under 40 may think these things will be obsolete but there are people in their 50s, 60's and 70's that won't dying for a while and they ill continue to se these "archaic" bits of technology.

 

[Huple]

The phone book / yellow pages. Does anyone still use it?

I don't think so. What will muscle men rip up on The Royal Variety Performance.

 

[Nibble]

Again my Stepfather would go bananas if his Thomson or yellow pages didn't come through. He also still keeps one of those laminated cards on the fridge with local useful numbers on it. I spent hours rebuilding his computer for him and spent a fair bit of cash on it but he insists "it does things that I don't want it to do, things come up on the screen". So rarely uses it. These are the people who will ensure outdated technology keeps going. He thinks a golf ball style typewriter is the zenith of human achievement. Despite owning 2 PC's, a sat nav and a smartphone he still plans routes on a paper map and refuses to use the sat nav.

 

[Easy 10]

Maybe not in 5 years but the computer mouse will begin a slow demise I feel during this century.

To be replaced by what ?

 

[beorhthelm]

Touch and things like eye and body movement sensors. With the popularity of tablets and the new touch screen interfaces for things like windows 8 I can see mice becoming less and less used to the point where you could buy a PC or laptop without a mouse.
If I were to make some sort of tomorrows world prediction I would say the way we interact with computers will change to the point where we are the input device instead of a mouse. Not sure about keyboards though.

all the time there are keyboards, there will be desks; if there are desks you'll have a mouse as the only thing against them is needing a bit of space. I think touch screens will be available on most displays, but i just dont see everyone ditching the mouse. there's nothing driving away from the mouse, they work really well and more comfortable than holding your arm up to the screen all day, and the precision is poorer with stubby fingers. i reckon people will just switch back and forth as particular uses apply, a quick tap on the screen to start an app, then the mouse to say highlight text or scroll (im lost with roller-less mouse).

 

[Wozza]

you say that low-end cameras have been killed, yet there are dozens of sub-£100 models still available and presumably sold.

No, really.

Globally, sales of compact cameras fell something like 40 percent in 2013 - and sales had already been hit hard in previous years.

BTW, personally, I wouldn't dream of having a smartphone as my main camera. Almost always have a compact system camera on me, and a DSLR at home. But I'm not 'normal',

 

[Nibble]

You'd have to go pretty far to better the mouse. Touchscreen eventually messes up yur screen and motion control is throwing up far too many problems in the developmental stage for it to be useful for anything other than limited military use. Mouse is here to stay for a long while yet.

 

[hoveboyslim]

Touch and things like eye and body movement sensors. With the popularity of tablets and the new touch screen interfaces for things like windows 8 I can see mice becoming less and less used to the point where you could buy a PC or laptop without a mouse.
If I were to make some sort of tomorrows world prediction I would say the way we interact with computers will change to the point where we are the input device instead of a mouse. Not sure about keyboards though.

I think it depends what you use your mouse/computer for. If it's for browsing then maybe.
I work on detailed spreadsheets all day and I would be lost without a mouse. Touch pads are just not the same.

 

[Another Berkshire Seagull]

"low end digital cameras" - your man is talking bollocks on this one. I have a 2007 vintage Sony camera that has superior optics and a better flash than my smartphone. I would confidently predict that a sub £100 camera of today will outperform a smartphone in 5 years.

This already has happened. Nokia Lumia 1020 blow compact cameras out the water. Unfortunately too many people still consider their iphones to be innovative technology to judge by, unfortunately this is very much wide of the mark, particularly with regards to optics where nokia are a few years ahead now.

 

[Hockley Blues]

Can't even get Heart.

Count yourself lucky

 

[Norman Potting]

No, really.

Globally, sales of compact cameras fell something like 40 percent in 2013 - and sales had already been hit hard in previous years.

BTW, personally, I wouldn't dream of having a smartphone as my main camera. Almost always have a compact system camera on me, and a DSLR at home. But I'm not 'normal',

Same here, phones are for ringing people up and texting, cameras for taking photographs to a reasonable standard. The camera on my phone is rubbish anyway.