List of obsolete technology
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This is a list of obsolete technology which includes newer technologies that replaced the older ones. Many technologies that have newer alternatives have not been completely replaced.
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| Obsolete technology | Replacement | Still used for |
|---|---|---|
| Bathing machine | No longer required due to changing social standards of morality | |
| Drive-through bank teller (sometimes featuring pneumatic tubes to transfer documents and money to outer lanes) | ATM (drive-through or walk-up), online banking | Drive-through tellers still exist to serve customers who prefer not to use the available technology or to handle transactions too complex to be handled by an ATM. |
| Hourglass | Clock | Tasks where a fixed amount of time can be measured with a low-tech solution: Exposure time tracker in saunas (where electronics might be damaged by the heat or ultraviolet light), retro kitchen timers, board games |
| Manual vacuum cleaner, carpet sweeper | Electric vacuum cleaner | Carpet sweepers are sometimes used in commercial applications (like movie theatres) where the noise of an electric vacuum is unwelcome |
| Primitive Fire making | Ferrocerium, Match, Lighter | Practiced as backup survival skills if advanced methods unavailable. |
| Quill pen, reed pen, dip pen, fountain pen | Ballpoint pen | Calligraphy, personal preference |
| Sundial | Clock | Occasionally seen as a decoration in gardens and other outdoor settings. |
| Outhouse | Flush Toilets, Sanitary sewers, Portable toilet | Remote or undeveloped locations far from sewage systems. |
| Milk chute | Lactose-free milk, Plant-based milk | No longer used due to supermarkets. |
| Swamp cooler | Air conditioning | Dry climates, lower cost alternative |
| Lighting | ||
| Incandescent light bulbs | Fluorescent lamps, cold cathode lamps, high-intensity discharge lamp, LEDs | Specialty purposes; mandatory phase-out of incandescent light bulbs is happening in some countries. LEDs are also gradually replacing compact fluorescent lamps. |
| Moonlight towers | Distributed street lighting | |
| Producing light with fire. Early: candles, torches. Later: kerosene lamps, fuel-based lanterns, and gas light | Flashlights, electric lights | Torches sometimes used for performance purposes. Coleman Lanterns and similar are sometimes used for camping, but battery-powered lanterns are becoming more common. Gas lighting is still used for street lighting in some historic districts, but not indoors due to toxic emissions. Candles are still used for aesthetic purposes. Gas and fuel based lanterns as well as candles may also be used to generate light in addition to flashlights during power outages. |
| Kitchens and cooking | ||
| Icebox | Refrigerator | |
| Open hearth cooking | Kitchen stoves, ovens, barbecue grills, various small appliances | Historical recreations |
| Toasting fork (for use with open flame to make toast) | Toaster, toaster oven | Camping |
| Turnspit dog | Steam power, wind-up power, electrical power | Extinct |
| Audiovisual communication | ||
| Audio cassette, cassette player, Walkman | Compact disc, MP3, MP3 player | Playing historical recordings |
| Analog television | Digital television | Mandatory digital television transition has been underway around the world since the 2000s |
| Betamax | Lost a format war to VHS | Playing historical recordings |
| Cathode ray tube | Flatscreen | Retrogaming |
| Compact disc, CD player, Discman | MP3, MP3 player, USB stick | Playing historical recordings |
| HD DVD | Lost format war to Blu-ray | Playback of historical recordings |
| Dial-up Internet access | Broadband Internet | |
| LaserDisc | Compact disks, DVDs, and Blu-ray | Playback of historical recordings |
| Overhead projector and slide projector | Video projector | Historical viewings |
| Phonograph and phonograph record | Audio cassette, 8 track tape, compact disc, MP3 | Vinyl revival |
| Telegraph | Telephone, teletype, email, Global Maritime Distress and Safety System | Revived as text messaging |
| Video cassette recorder | DVDs, digital video recorders | Playback of historical recordings |
| Computing, information storage, and office equipment | ||
| BlackBerry physical keyboards | Modern smartphones have software keyboards displayed on the touchscreen when necessary | Tasks that requires physical keyboards |
| Carbon paper | Photocopier, cheap printing of multiple copies | Still used by some enterprises |
| Credit card imprinters, with carbon paper | Magnetic stripe cards, EMV (chips) | |
| Dot-matrix impact printing | Inkjet printer, laser printer | Still used in some enterprises, especially for old carbon paper forms |
| Faxes | Email, World Wide Web | Still used by some enterprises |
| Mimeograph | Photocopier, cheap printing of multiple copies | |
| Paper address book, Rolodex | Contact list, electronic address book | |
| Paper card catalogs, edge-notched cards | Computer databases | |
| Paper data storage for computers (punch cards, punched tape) | Magnetic data storage | |
| Paper ledger | Computerized spreadsheets and databases | |
| Phone book | Search engine and online databases | Yellow pages are still distributed for advertising purposes |
| Pneumatic tubes for moving documents and postal items | Electronic communication, mechanized surface vehicles | Transport of physical items in hospitals and factories, scientific applications; Possible revival as a means of high-speed transportation |
| Typewriter | Word processor | Still used by some writers being deliberately low-tech |
| Slide rule, mechanical calculator | Electronic calculator, computer | |
| Vacuum tube | Transistor | Vacuum tubes are still used in microwave ovens, RF communications and radar, high power industrial switching such as in pulsed lasers and generation of x-rays. They have found niche popularity in more expensive guitar amplifiers and hi-fi power amplifiers. |
| Transport | ||
| Airships | Airplanes, helicopters; Project Loon replaced by cellular networks and land-based Internet services | Advertising, adventures, research, long-duration surveillance |
| Boneshaker, penny-farthing bicycle | Safety bicycle (early version of the modern bicycle) | Historical re-enactment |
| Buggy whip | Automobiles do not require them | Horse transport for novelty purposes, and for utility in developing countries and Amish communities |
| Carburetor | Fuel injection | Small engine equipment and piston engine aircraft |
| Celestial navigation with lunar distance method and dead reckoning | Marine chronometer to solve the longitude problem | |
| Celestial navigation with sextant and marine chronometer | Inertial guidance, radio navigation, radar navigation, satellite navigation | Backup in case of electronic system failure or jamming, spaceflight where satellite and ground-based systems can't be used |
| Cobblestone | Concrete, asphalt | Still used in historic districts |
| Draft animals for canal boats, plows, carriages, light rail vehicles | Motorized boats, tractors, steam railroads, electric trolleys, cable cars, horseless carriages (automobiles) | Sled dogs in arctic regions of North American and Greenland. Horse-drawn carriages are recreational attractions in some highly developed cities |
| Marine steam engine and steamship | Marine diesel engines, nuclear marine propulsion, aircraft for long-distance passenger travel | |
| Ocean liner | Airliners and jet airliners | The RMS Queen Mary 2 is still in service as an ocean liner |
| Pack animals | Trucks and vans | In developed countries, only in difficult terrain with no roads (e.g. Grand Canyon) |
| Steam locomotive | Diesel locomotive, electric locomotive | Still used for historical heritage railways |
| Steam powered Traction engine | Internal combustion powered Tractor | Maintained by preservation societies and for historical demonstrations |
| Military | ||
| Early siege engines (siege towers, battering rams, catapults, ballistae, trebuchets) | Artillery, aircraft | |
| Forts, defensive walls, castles | Vulnerable to air attack, useless to prevent the advance of aircraft | Limited use of underground bunkers and civilian air raid shelters |
| Gunpowder | Smokeless powder, high explosives, dynamite, ANFO | Recreational shooting, historical reenactments |
| Muzzleloader firearms | Breech-loading weapons | Historical re-enactments |
| Spear | Firearms | Bayonets, spear fishing |
| Sword | Firearms | Issued for ceremonial purposes to NCOs and upwards |
Co-existence
Older technologies substantially co-existing with newer technologies include:
- Analog watches are still widely used for reasons of fashion and personal preference despite the availability of digital watches which can be made much lighter and with smart watch capabilities.
- CDs are still used in addition to MP3 players, however Smartphones with apps such as Spotify are more commonly used.
- DVDs have not been displaced by Blu-rays
- Fireplaces are still used for primary heat in some houses in developed countries, though furnaces, electric heat, and other modern HVAC systems are less polluting, can be better controlled, and can also provide cooling.
- Ferry travel has not been completely displaced by bridges and airplanes
- Fords are still used for rural roads, though bridges have replaced them for most roads in most developed countries
- Hammers have not been displaced by nail guns
- Hot water bottles continue to be used along with electric blankets and heating pads.
- Landline telephones are still used, despite the advent of mobile phones, although majorly for people who may struggle with modern technology.
- Long-distance travel by railroads and highway has to some degree been displaced by airplane, but not entirely - especially in countries adopting high-speed rail
- Postal mail continues to be used alongside email, but with substantial decreases in personal correspondence outside of special occasions, due to the availability of text messages and email
- Pneumatic tubes for passenger transport have been used in atmospheric railway to provide motive power, like a cable car system. Vactrain systems, where the entire passenger compartment travels through an evacuated tube, never became operational, but are still being investigated for high-speed transport.
- Shields co-exist with bulletproof vests, and are used by riot police. Lighter-weight and stronger materials are available compared to ancient wooden and bronze shields, including clear plastic shields and bulletproof shields mounted on firing platforms.