8:15 PM — The year 2014 will officially start in a few hours or at least where I live, it will. So first, Happy New Year, in advance. We are setting our minds, thinking of new years resolutions, perhaps even thinking of ways to get something for your family member’s birthday next month. Well, let me share with you of what I think you should not get in 2014. Technology has come a long way in the last decade. I still remember tinkering with VCR’s in the early 2000’s, and now there are no traces of VCR’s anywhere.
We now have smartphones that allow us to do things we only imagined before. Instead of carrying around a music player, a GPS in your car, and a brick phone, you now have a smartphone that does everything, separated the tasks into apps. If you want to listen to music, you open your iPhone, and go to Pandora or your music library. If you want to get directions to a certain city and don’t know which highways to take, you just open your iPhone and use the Maps app. The world has evolved so much that there are things we should start leaving behind.
I will now share with you the 5 things that I think are slowly fading away in time, and thus should be left behind to move onto a better future. Of course if you don’t want to leave anything behind, you can always just keep them as a collectors item and wait for the value to skyrocket in the next 50 or so years.
1) Landlines
Okay, why do we need to leave landlines behind? It’s quite simple. You’re glued to your smartphone! Daily, more families are starting to leave landlines behind. We have our phones in our pockets all the time whether we are in the car, in our office, or in our our living room. Our phone is always next to us. What else does landline not provide? Messages, tweets, and Facebook! Well, I got a bit carried away there, but you get the idea. In 2013, Two in every five U.S. homes had wireless phones only during the first half of the year, up slightly from the first half of 2012, according to data released this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As technology advances and more people opt-in to get smartphones, the trend catches on. Roughly 90 million adults, or 38% of the population, are now wireless-only, versus 21% during the first half of 2009.
Additionally, getting rid of landline service will also free up some money. That $30 you pay per month for your landline service can be put towards something else, such as an additional service line on your wireless plan. Or you can just go simple, and spend that $30 per month on a special date with your significant other.
2) GPS devices
Go ahead and open up your smartphone. You see that Maps app in front of you? That’s your future. Companies like Apple and Google are constantly updating their mapping apps. Up until a new years ago, you probably needed that TomTom or Garmin GPS in your car when traveling, but get on with the times. According to Berg Insight, a Swedish research company, 7.5 million personal navigation devices were sold in 2012 in North America, down from a peak of 18 million in 2009.
What does that tell you? You don’t really need it. You have that smartphone in your hand. Open up with maps app and lets get going. Or you could go old times and go to MapQuest online, search for directions and then print them. Rather than paying that $300 for a GPS, you can use that $300 to get the Galaxy Note 3 if you’re eligible for an upgrade, and use it. It’s quite simple really, need I go on?
3) DVD and Blu-ray players
This will probably be one of the hardest things to leave behind. There are many folks who collect DVD’s. You may have that Dragonball Z collection sitting in your living room, on your DVD. It won’t be easy to throw away, nor should you, but perhaps you should stop buying more DVD’s. Companies like Apple have moved to post-PC era where you don’t need DVD’s anymore. Everything is going digital. They even have their new Retina MacBook Pro’s with no hard drives, same thing with their MacBook Air line up. Other companies like Samsung and Asus have introduced Ultrabooks that don’t have CD drives either. Companies have realized that they aren’t really needed anymore and are catching up with time. Perhaps now it’s your turn to realize it? Also, Blu-ray players haven’t lived up to the hype it originally started.
According to research firm SNL Kagan, Sales of DVD and Blu-ray players totaled 21.3 million in 2012, down 20.1% from a year prior and down 24.8% from 2010. Every year, it will just keep going down. Why? Simply because people are going digital. There’s Netflix, a very popular video streaming website that allows you to watch movies and shows all day long. There’s also Hulu and Vudu that provide the same type of service. They just aren’t as popular as Netflix and serve their own purpose. Why not try the new $6.99 special that Netflix is running for new subscribers? Give it a shot.
4) Digital Cameras
Digital cameras have been very popular for years. The “point and shoot” devices were quite the hit in the last decade, however they are a thing of the past now. The demand for digital cameras is slowly going down. Unless you’re a person in the photography business that needs a DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera, you probably won’t need to buy digital cameras anymore. Why? The answer is in your pocket. Smartphones and tablets have overtaken digital cameras. Not to mention social media has become such a big part of life that when we see a dog twerking, we need to instantly capture it and upload it to Facebook or Twitter, or perhaps make a short video to share on Vine?
Patience is another thing individuals lack these. We just want to get things done, and that’s where phones come into play. You just take it out, open up the camera app, take the picture, and share it on social media. It literally takes less than one minute to do all of that. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, roughly 11.5 million digital cameras are estimated to have sold this year in the U.S., that’s down 44% from 2012. Additionally, next year’s sales are expected to decline to just under 8 million devices. I have a the Canon EOS 70D camera that I sometimes use on special events, but other wise, my two digital cameras sit in my closet collecting dust, along with my old DVD player. I normally just use my smartphone for daily use.
Have something else to share that you think should be added? Share with us in the comments below. Don’t forget to share this with your friends!
The opinions above are based on general news and knowledge read on a daily basis.
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