List of obsolete technology
Appearance
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.
Obsolete technology | Replacement | Still used for |
---|---|---|
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 |
Sundial | Clock | |
Primitive Fire_making | Ferrocerium, Match, Lighter | Practiced as backup survival skills if advanced methods unavailable. |
Drive-through bank teller (sometimes featuring pneumatic tubes to transfer documents and money to outer lanes) | Drive-through automated teller machine, online banking | Drive-through tellers still exist to serve customers who prefer not to use the available technology. |
Bathing machine | No longer required due to changing social standards of morality | |
Quill pen, reed pen, dip pen, fountain pen | Ballpoint pen | Calligraphy, personal preference |
Swamp cooler | Air conditioning | Dry climates |
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 |
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. |
Moonlight towers | Distributed street 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. |
Kitchens and cooking | ||
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 |
Icebox | Refrigerator | |
Audiovisual communication | ||
Cathode ray tube | Flatscreen | |
Betamax | Lost a format war to VHS | |
Video cassette recorder | DVDs, digital video recorders | Playback of historical recordings |
HD DVD | Lost format war to BluRay | |
Telegraph | Telephone, teletype, email, Global Maritime Distress and Safety System | |
Phonograph and phonograph record | Audio cassette, 8 track tape, compact disc, MP3 | Vinyl revival |
Audio cassette, cassette player, Walkman | Compact disc, MP3, MP3 player, Discman | Playing historical recordings |
Compact disc, CD player, Discman | MP3, MP3 player, USB stick | Playing historical recordings |
Analog television | Digital television | Mandatory digital television transition has been underway around the world since the 2000s |
Computing, information storage, and office equipment | ||
Vacuum tube | Transistor | Vacuum tubes are still used in more expensive guitar amplifiers and hi-fi power amplifiers |
Paper data storage for computers (punch cards, punched tape) | Magnetic data storage | |
Paper card catalogs, edge-notched cards | Computer databases | |
Paper address book, Rolodex | Contact list, electronic address book | |
Typewriter | Word processor | Still used by some writers being deliberately low-tech |
Dot-matrix impact printing | Inkjet printer, laser printer | Still used in some enterprises, especially for old carbon paper forms |
Carbon paper | Photocopier, cheap printing of multiple copies | Still used by some enterprises |
Mimeograph | Photocopier, cheap printing of multiple copies | |
Faxes | Email, World Wide Web | Still used by some enterprises |
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 |
Paper ledger | Computerized spreadsheets and databases | |
Slide rule, mechanical calculator | Electronic calculator, computer | |
BlackBerry physical keyboards | Modern smartphones have software keyboards displayed on the touchscreen when necessary | |
Credit card imprinters, with carbon paper | Magnetic stripe cards, EMV (chips) | |
Transport | ||
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 |
Pram (backward-facing) | Stroller (forward-facing, collapsible) | |
Boneshaker, penny-farthing bicycle | Safety bicycle (early version of the modern bicycle) | |
Buggy whip | Automobiles do not require them | Horse transport for novelty purposes, and for utility in developing countries and Amish communities |
Pack animals | Trucks and vans | In developed countries, only in difficult terrain with no roads (e.g. Grand Canyon) |
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 |
steam powered Traction engine | internal combustion powered Tractor | Maintained by preservation societies and for historical demonstrations |
Steam locomotive | Diesel locomotive, electric locomotive | Still used for historical heritage railways |
Marine steam engine and steamship | Marine diesel engines, nuclear marine propulsion, aircraft for long-distance passenger travel | |
Carburetor | Fuel injection | Small engine equipment, Piston Engine Aircraft |
Cobblestone | Concrete, asphalt | Still used in historic districts |
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 |
Spear | Firearms | Bayonets, spear fishing |
Sword | Firearms | |
Muzzleloader firearms | Breech-loading weapons | Historical re-enactments |
Gunpowder | Smokeless powder, high explosives, dynamite, ANFO | Recreational shooting, historical reenactments |
Co-existence
Older technologies substantially co-existing with newer technologies include:
- DVDs have not been displaced by Bluerays
- Hammers have not been displaced by nail guns
- 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
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Hot water bottles continue to be used along with electric blankets and heating pads.