Preparing for the Future: 15 Items That Will Become Less Common

With the incredibly fast pace of technology and its inevitable advancements, it can make you wonder what will become obsolete next. From digital cameras to prescription glasses, let’s take a look at 15 everyday items that will likely be less common in the coming years.

Digital Cameras

While professional and hobbyist photographers still reach for their DSLR cameras and mirrorless digital cameras, most of us can capture once-in-a-lifetime shots with our mobile phones. With improved hardware (like telescopic lenses) and advanced software (like algorithms that extract the best light), smartphone cameras are quickly replacing their digital ancestors.

Because smartphone video and photo quality are rapidly improving, digital cameras are too slow and clunky to maintain their relevance in our modern technological world. Unlike our app-laden smartphones, digital cameras rarely let you immediately send or post a photo, let alone edit it. Our preference for immediacy will likely send digital cameras packing in the next few years.

Cords

Have you ever found yourself trying to untangle a mountain of cords and wires? Is your desk a mass of cords jutting out in all directions? Because of the messiness that often accompanies cords, many people choose wireless options. It’s cleaner, more streamlined, and can often accommodate more than one device — like docking stations that charge your phone, watch, and earbuds all in one place.

The future is going to be wireless. Advancements in Bluetooth technology make connecting your devices simple and seamless, from listening to music to charging your phone. This could be why one consumer survey found that 62% of Americans prefer using devices with Bluetooth technology. Because of this evolving connectivity, cords will likely soon be a thing of the past.

Keys

The valuation of keyless automotive access is projected to grow beyond $5 billion over the next five to 10 years, according to the experts at Allied Market Research. Our cars, however, aren’t the only places where keys are falling by the wayside. Keyless entry systems for buildings are also on the rise. Even hotel chains are getting rid of key cards, switching instead to keyless entry.

Forget to lock your front door? Gone are the days when you have to drive back and check. Now, with the addition of smart technology, many home keyless entry systems can unlock doors from across town (or even the world) from a smartphone app. The convenience alone is enough to do away with physical keys, not to mention the added safety features of keyless door entry systems.

Alarm Clocks

As smartphones become more popular, they also become more useful for activities beyond calling and texting. As a result, alarm clocks have been on the decline for the last 10 years. More than 60% of Americans sleep with their phones and 80% look at their smartphones first thing in the morning, according to a recent study on cell phone usage habits. Whether you jump up after the first alarm or hit snooze a few times, chances are you use a phone and not an alarm clock to start your day — and that trend isn’t changing anytime soon.

Calculators

Calculators have become increasingly obsolete, especially in education where laptops and tablets are more common. Even graphing calculators, like the popular TI-84 still a staple in many high school math classrooms, are outperformed by smart technology. With their low-resolution screens, short battery life, and poor memory capacity, calculators are swiftly being outpaced by technology today, let alone what could emerge in the future.

Textbooks

Demand for e-books will likely overtake printed books, according to a 2018 analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers. With online learning becoming more commonplace, educators are casting books aside for videos, podcasts, live streaming, and other digital materials to engage students in learning. A study by eLearning Industry shows that while they could reign supreme for a bit longer in subjects like history, literature, and philosophy, in the next few years textbooks will be obsolete, especially for science and math courses.

Parking Meters

While parking needs have loosened quite a bit in the age of Uber and Lyft, many people still drive to urban areas that require paying for public parking. In the past, you once paid a meter or an attendant, but it is becoming increasingly more common to pay via smartphone.

Paying for parking with an app or through text is extremely convenient, especially when your time runs out while you are away from your car. When you can just open an app and add more money, it’s easy to see how smart parking technology is quickly replacing antiquated parking meters.

Prescription Glasses

Eyeglasses have diminished in popularity over time thanks to many advances in technology. Glass contact lenses were invented in the late 1800s, and in 1936 the much safer and more convenient plastic contact lenses were introduced. On top of that, contact lens technology has advanced so much that it can now be used for many vision conditions that were once seen as too severe for them.

That, however, is just the tip of the eyewear iceberg. Corrective procedures like LASIK surgery have improved dramatically over the years, treating, and in many cases curing, nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia), and astigmatism. In addition, as technology enhances virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) glasses, the need for prescription lenses will likely further diminish.

Cash

Going cashless has been a trend for a while, but the COVID-19 pandemic has taken it even further. With money exchange apps like Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, and others, people can pay for goods and services by transferring funds directly from their checking, savings accounts, and credit cards. In the U.S., people pay with cash about 20% of the time, which means that, while they’re still needed for some purposes, ATMs aren’t quite as necessary as they used to be.

Wallets

Fewer people using cash means fewer people needing to carry a wallet. Purses, handbags, and backpacks will likely persist for many reasons, such as fashion trends or storage needs. However, as physical cash declines in favor of digital transfers, the need for pocket wallets has declined, too.

Plastic Bags

Plastic shopping bags have been falling out of favor for many years, but recently we’ve seen states and countries making outright bans on using them. It’s no surprise why — it’s projected that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean. Single-use plastic bags cause immense harm to the environment. They are often mistaken for jellyfish by sea turtles and it can take hundreds of years for them to biodegrade (though some kinds never will). Many people already bring their own bags to the grocery store, confirming that plastic bags will soon be a thing of the past.

Disposable Straws

Like single-use plastic bags, disposable straws are becoming less popular. Disposable plastic straws can take 200 years to break down; they are simply not biodegradable and are hard to recycle. Many companies, restaurants, and cafes are turning to paper straws or designing lids that do not need straws to limit their harmful impact on the environment.

Restaurant Menus

These days, when you sit down at a restaurant, you could find yourself scanning a QR code instead of reading a printed menu. QR codes themselves were once seen as a dying technology. But now, thanks to the need for more hygienic practices, they have gotten a second wind.

Not only are digital restaurant menus more hygienic and convenient, but they also save restaurants on printing costs. They have also become part of a good customer experience. Even if they’ve stepped away from the restaurant, guests who are waiting to be seated can peruse the menu while they wait, which can be quite handy for parents with hungry children.

Maps

Printed maps have been on the decline ever since MapQuest was released in 1996. Since then, Apple Maps, Google Maps, Waze, and other geolocation apps have dominated the cartography industry. Combined with advances in QR codes and augmented reality (AR) tags, you can get step-by-step audiovisual directions with details that a printed map simply cannot provide.

Anything Printed on Paper

With the rise of digitization, printing on paper has declined and will likely be significantly less common in the next decade. Even today it’s common to have the option to receive your receipt via text, email, or print. Many companies give discounts, specials, and other incentives for getting digital receipts.

Receipts are one of many ways people and companies alike are going paperless. Take paperwork, for instance. With software like Docusign and Adobe Acrobat, important paperwork can be completed on a computer, signed digitally, and submitted online. Other paper-to-paperless transitions include:

• Mailed bills;
• Business cards;
• Checks;
• Financial transactions;
• Magazines;
• Newspapers;
• Catalogs;
• Tickets and boarding passes;
• Insurance policies;
• Medical records and health plans.

Our technological world never stops forging ahead. Every day we look to the horizon of cutting-edge advancements, while the sun sets on once-essential technology now deemed obsolete. Some of these advancements, like keyless entry, can help make life more convenient and enjoyable. Others, like ditching single-use plastic bags, eliminating disposable straws, and going paperless, can help make the world a better place for everyone.