Top 20 Things That Will Become Obsolete in the Future
#20: Zoos & Aquariums
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This one’s a bit of a tricky issue, as some sanctuaries can justify containing certain animals to preserve endangered species. But for every sanctuary out there that treats their animals well, there are others that don’t. The more progressive humankind gets, the more we see the need to preserve the natural environment these creatures come from in the first place. As technology and conservation efforts improve, it’s hopefully not a far-off prediction to see the likes of zoos and even large-scale aquariums become something of the past. Plus, wouldn’t it be even cooler to spot those creatures in the wild? From a safe distance, of course.
#19: Fax Machines
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How are these antiquated devices even still a thing? You’d think that in the digital age, with as many ways as we have to transmit secure messages, fax machines would have already been put to bed. In fact, there are countless services out there that allow you to send and receive faxes through email anyway. So if you’re doing that, why not just eliminate facsimiles altogether? It’s very likely that the last generation of fax users is alive now. As more methods of secure document delivery become available, the need for fax machines will finally die out.
#18: Keys
A stick of metal with a handful of grooves has been the primary way we’ve secured many of our valuables for as far back as 6,000 years. But every so often, there’s a shift towards something else. Key cards replaced physical keys for most hotels. Keyless vehicles are now more the norm than not. And even home door locks can be secured now with a combination code. With smartphones, fingerprint identifiers, and other modern technology, it won’t be long before you can lock your old keys in a drawer and throw away the, well, key.
#17: Phone Books
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Much like our entry about fax machines, it’s a miracle these are even around. Once hailed as the holy grail of directories, phone books contain mass listings of personal and business phone numbers for a specific region. Every year, phone customers would get a new book dropped at the doorstep with a fresh smell of paper. However, like many other forms of print media, phone books are now slowly disappearing. The likes of Google and other search utilities through the web are now in our pockets via the smartphone. Phone books have however found a little bit of a second life as a form of entertainment. Have you ever tried to tear one in half?
#16: Glasses
Let’s face it: glasses are pretty annoying. They easily fog up, they’re breakable, and they get dirty so often that cleaning them becomes a pain. As such, it won’t be long before they’re replaced by easier solutions for vision correction. LASIK, or laser eye surgery, is more accessible and affordable than ever before. If you’re afraid of going under the laser, then contact lenses offer a popular alternative, especially for athletes. As if that weren’t enough, we may even be seeing bionic lenses implemented that can be implanted into the eye to give humans vision three times better than 20/20.
#15: Animal / Meat Farms
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This is perhaps the one thing on this list that no one will miss, as meat farms and all the controversies that come with them will cease to be a problem in the coming years. This is because scientists around the world are quickly creating entirely lab-grown meats, also varyingly called “in vitro,” cultured or synthetic meat - and experts say that these will soon be readily available. In 2013, professor Mark Post and his team unveiled the first entirely lab-created beef burger, which was assembled from cow stem cells that were grown into muscle strips. This “schmeat,” as it’s been called, aims to be an affordable, moral, and environmentally friendly alternative to eating the meat of a once-living animal.
#14: Cords & Chargers
Astoundingly, cords and chargers are also on their way out. Is anything safe!? Technologies like Bluetooth and NFC are providing clean, cordless alternatives to tangled wires and having to hide unsightly scenes. Rather than plugging your phone into a device, now all you have to do is set it up with a Bluetooth speaker and you’re good to go. The wireless age has also brought us technologies like IKEA’s wireless chargers, which allow you to juice your phone simply by laying it down on the surface. These technologies will only continue to grow, so prepare your goodbyes if you’re attached to physical devices and cords!
#13: Physical Road Maps
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Some have said that physical maps are a dying breed thanks to the likes of Google and MapQuest. But the truth is, they are still very relevant. Cartography experts, surveyors, and other professionals still use highly accurate terrain maps for various purposes. Those are not likely going anywhere anytime soon. But for the rest of us, when was the last time you dug out a paper map and followed it to find another address? The use of GPS devices combined with smartphone technology has given us the ability to find our way pretty much anywhere. As long as some common sense is also used, there’s no reason to believe regular paper maps will survive much longer.
#12: Retail Video Games
When was the last time you went into a store to purchase the latest and greatest video game? With each of the major platforms now supporting their own digital “stores,” the need to go into the mall and buy a game is becoming less and less common. In the same way in which people used to buy software off the shelf, many now just download what they need directly to their device. Since purchases are associated with your online account, updates and reinstalls become much easier. And let’s not forget the fact that physical cartridges and discs can easily be lost. It won’t be long before buying games in a brick and mortar store will be long gone.
#11: Paper
Well, at least Mother Nature will be happy with this one! Every day, we’re finding ourselves dealing with less and less paper. Print media that require paper, such as newspapers, books, and magazines, are all readily available online, either through websites, e-book readers or digital subscriptions. Meanwhile, paperless documents, such as PDFs, are easy to transfer and have become part of our everyday routines. American money is even made from linen and cotton. Of course, there will always be enthusiasts who prefer hard copies, but paper as we know it today will soon be significantly altered or entirely absent.
#10: Radio
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One could argue that radio also isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Given the massive amount of advertising revenue earned by the radio stations, it’s an old-form media that still has attachments to many people of today. However, as more and more folks move their interests to streaming services like Spotify and podcast stations, much of what they got from traditional radio can be found elsewhere. Plus, radio bombards us with so many ads it’s sometimes hard to go more than a couple songs before a series of commercials. Beyond the news, weather, and sports updates, there’s not much else that may survive the ending of this medium.
#9: Physical Data Storage Media
Even as we speak, physical storage media such as Blu-Ray, DVD, CDs, vinyl records, and memory cards are already on their way out. Tell us: when was the last time you even bought a CD? Disks are quickly being replaced with streaming services like Netflix, and viewers now have the ability to buy digital movies directly from their home entertainment system. Meanwhile, cloud storage companies like Dropbox are aiming to replace the hard drive, and businesses like Google are phasing out SD card slots on some of their phones. It’s only a matter of time before they all go the way of the floppy disk.
#8: Wallets
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Keys aren’t the only things that smartphones are slowly making obsolete. Consumers are quickly giving up traditional payment methods, such as cash and plastic credit cards, so wallets may soon be good for nothing as well. For example, digital alternatives are already available on your phone through mobile payment. Multiple studies are predicting that mobile payments will continue to grow and that people will turn to mobile wallets more and more in the near future. It seems like it’s only a matter of time before we drop the leather and go fully online.
#7: Gas Stations
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Climate change is something the world has been talking about for a while. Some statistics say we have less than fifty years of oil left before we run out. That might be five decades away, but it’s far closer than most realize. As climate change pushes consumers and governments to move away from fossil fuels, we could see a future where gas stations are few and far between. Fuel cell, solar, and electric vehicles are options now or will be soon, and as the availability of oil decreases, the more we’re going to need to see something else take its place. As that tide changes, expect the decline of your corner gas station. Though we’ll probably still need convenience stores.
#6: Passwords
Perhaps the single most annoying thing about the digital age is passwords. Virtually everything on the web now requires some kind of password, and keeping track of all of them is a monumental task no one wants to do. There have been some attempts to rectify this with biometrics, but by and large, the masses are stuck with passwords to secure everything they do. Given the amount of data breaches we see in the press, it’s only a matter of time before someone finds a better way to keep our information safe. When that day comes, we’ll all be glad to get rid of that massive list of ridiculously complicated passwords.
#5: Newspapers
This is one we’ll be sorry to see go. But, be honest, where do you get your morning news? Facebook? Apple News? Twitter? Reddit? Or are you one of the few remaining who still turn to a physically printed newspaper to get the latest updates? If you are, you’re likely to be disappointed when the time comes for the print newspaper to be dead. Countless papers have either shut down completely or moved to an online model, taking their once printed advertisements and transcending them into a digital version. Readers have always wanted their news with them and easily accessible. Printed papers simply can’t keep up, which is why we’d be surprised if they remain anything but a novelty.
#4: Cable TV
In much the same way the VCR disrupted the moviegoing experience, streaming services have shaken up the cable experience. Netflix’s online services started the ball rolling, but it was their trailblazing of homegrown content that shoved the ball down the hill. Hulu, Disney+, Netflix, Crunchyroll, YouTube, Paramount+, and the list just goes on and on. Regardless of which services you may use, they all rely on both unique content and countless hours of programming from shows that used to live on cable. Plus, you can watch them whenever you want, as often as you want to. It won’t surprise anyone when all cable is replaced by streaming.
#3: Privacy
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Whether security cameras are spying on us at every street corner, or companies are compiling information about us from our mobile devices, any semblance of privacy will soon be entirely absent from our lives. It appears that some governments around the world are becoming more like Big Brother with their ability to demand phone records and Internet search histories, among other things. Even your iPhone can track your every move and provide startlingly accurate depictions of where you’ve been and for how long! So what advice can we give about this? Get used to it.
#2: Home Phone Landlines
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Show of hands: who actually still has a landline phone? And it doesn’t count if you still live with your parents… Of course, it was the telecommunications device of choice before the invention of the cell phone, and it usually sat on a desk beside a chair or it was attached to the wall. However, these days, mobile phones have significantly reduced the number of landlines, as more and more people are opting out of those contracts so they can just carry around their cell instead. According to data released by the National Center for Health Statistics, as many as 41% of American households no longer owned a landline phone in 2013, accounting for well over 100 million people.
#1: Jobs Previously Performed By Humans
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As we enter the age of automation, our world is about to be flipped upside down. We won’t be interacting with humans anymore, but with machines. Telemarketing is already becoming less human as the business is slowly incorporating the use of robocalls, not unlike how human salespeople follow scripts when they try to sell their products or services. Meanwhile, customer service reps like fast food employees are also in dire straits, or they will be, as self-serve kiosks become mainstream and provide us with a less error-filled alternative. In addition, call support centers will probably become entirely automated. So we’ve gotta ask: will you welcome our new robot overlords?
