11 technologies that have been overtaken by smartphones

In 1994, the IBM Simon, considered the world's first smartphone, hit the market. It differed from cell phones at the time by offering features such as notepad, calendar, touch sensitivity, among others.

Even so, it took some time before smartphones were actually called that and reached the general public. During this interval, many other technologies were widely used and considered modern by society, such as radios, MP3 players, analog cell phones, pay phones, among others.

However, after the first iPhone was released in 2007, smartphones began to conquer the market. With this, many technologies had their usefulness incorporated, being consequently surpassed by them. Check out some of them below:

common cell phones

Did you know that there is a difference between cell phones and smartphones? Well, the main difference between the two is the amount of resources each one offers and the existence of an operating system to manage them.

That is, while ordinary cell phones are simpler devices and allow you to make phone calls, send messages, have a basic camera and connect to the Internet, smartphones are smart cell phones.

And what does that mean? Well, it means they have an operating system like Android or iOS, for example, and offer the same utilities as cell phones, but with a big difference: they allow the installation of applications, which considerably expands the number of functions of the device.

In addition, even in the same functions, such as internet connection, ability to store data or camera quality, for example, smart phones come out ahead offering more complete and higher quality features.

With such a huge difference between the two, smartphones have become the most used type of device in the world, surpassing common cell phones.

Landlines and payphones

Landlines and payphones, better known as payphones, are two other technologies that have been overtaken by smartphones. Both began to fall into disuse with the arrival of analog cell phones, which made it possible for people to communicate inside and outside the home.

However, with the popularization of smart cell phones, landlines and especially payphones became much less used. After all, in addition to being portable, smartphones also enable calls using the internet and many other resources that facilitate long-distance communication.

printed dictionaries

Next, we have the printed dictionaries, which despite still being used, have been overtaken by online versions of similar quality and often free, available directly on smartphones or on the internet itself.

In addition, there are other solutions that replace them and that can be used for free, such as Google Translate, which works both online and offline. With all this practicality in your pocket, the use of printed dictionaries was more restricted to specific audiences, such as students and enthusiasts of other languages.

Printed maps and GPS devices

Maps were fundamental inventions for the advancement of humanity, used both in more specific contexts, such as navigation and aviation, and in everyday moments throughout our history.

First came the maps printed on paper, until in the 2000s GPS devices (global positioning system) began to be used by civilians, facilitating the location of any individual from the connection to a network of satellites that initially allowed up to 5 meters of accuracy, currently reaching about 30 centimeters.

However, with the arrival of smartphones and the incorporation of GPS in the device itself and in applications such as Google Maps and Waze, the use of paper maps and GPS devices has become increasingly uncommon.

printed newspapers

Another print technology that represented a breakthrough for mass communication, but has been overtaken by smartphones, is newspapers. They still exist, however, their placement has been increasingly limited.

The truth is that with the smartphone it is possible to access the same news quickly and often for free, through the internet. With that, people resort less and less to print media, giving preference to electronic vehicles and even newsletters of news.

CDs and DVDs

CDs and DVDs were revolutionary technologies in their time of release. In 1982, the compact disks (CDs) began to become popular. These thin circular media, made of plastic and metal, could store up to 80 minutes of audio.

They represent one of the most important storage technologies in history, as from their invention people could record and listen to a large amount of music, easily changing the playback order of the tracks.

Some time later, in the 90s, digital video discs (DVDs) were invented. They allowed recording (sometimes re-recording) and storage of high quality videos.

However, with the popularization of the internet and the creation of streams of music and video, such as Spotify, YouTube, Netflix, among others that are easily accessed using smartphones, CDs and DVDs are becoming increasingly obsolete.

Radio and other music players

radios and others players of music also fell behind compared to the smartphones🇧🇷 This is because, currently, audio content is much more accessible and varied over the internet, while using a radio to capture AM or FM frequencies, it is difficult to find the same repertoire.

In the case of music players such as mp3 player and the iPods, the replacement was due to simplicity and cost reduction by having only one device that fulfills several functions in addition to listening to music. the CDs Players ended up losing use with the media for which they are aimed, the compact disks, which, as we saw in the previous topic, are no longer used.

In the end, with a device that has all the resources to listen to radios and play the music you want, when you want, hardly anyone opts for other devices.

Calculators

Calculators are capable of performing complex mathematical operations in a matter of seconds, which has made them the ideal utility to be incorporated into smartphones. As a result, they became increasingly accessible, while portable digital calculators lost ground in the market.

Currently, it is less common to find people using portable calculators on a daily basis, except in the case of specific audiences, such as students or people who work with calculations on a daily basis.

Lanterns

Another technology whose functionality was inserted into smartphones and is being increasingly replaced by the device is the flashlight. Currently, it only takes a few taps on the screen of the device that is always at hand to activate the flashlight in any necessary situation.

That is, unless it is for specific uses and there is a need for a longer-lasting battery, for example, hardly anyone will choose to walk around carrying a flashlight.

Clocks and alarm clocks

Clocks and alarm clocks are two other technologies that have been overtaken by smartphones because they have built-in utilities. After all, nowadays it is possible to follow the precise and updated time in real time automatically by smartphones.

In addition, there are a series of applications for alarms, reminders, stopwatches and other functions related to measuring time, customizable and free, which completely eliminate the need to purchase specific devices for these functions.

Digital cameras

In 2008, with recent smartphones on the market, digital cameras were still a worldwide rage, reaching the milestone of 110,7 million worldwide sales. However, thanks to smartphones and their multi-function cameras, the digital camera market shrank 97%.

That is, when replaced by smartphones, digital cameras are at risk of extinction, except for professional cameras, which are still widely used by photographers and enthusiasts.

Final considerations

Well, as we could see, most of the technologies that were overtaken by smartphones had their functionalities built into them. Something interesting to reflect on is that the advancement of technology can actually facilitate people's daily lives.

After all, activities that previously depended on several devices to be carried out, have become much more accessible and compact, and integrate a single device that fits in the palm of the hand. Isn't that fantastic?

But what about you, would you add any other technology to this list?

Did you like this post? Then you will probably enjoy knowing these 10 old technologies and their current replacements.

Source: Slashgear, Adsumnyc, BBC, British, Microlins, business insider