I’m a gadget freak. But I also have a lot of gadgets that are gathering dust. Now I want to share a list of gadgets that are expected to go extinct over the next few years.
I recently read on MainStreet blog about which items they say will be obsolete over the next 5 to 10 years:
- Standalone GPS units
- E-readers
- Cell phones that only makes calls
- Digital cameras
- DVD players
- Dedicated video game machines
I used to be obsessed with standalone GPS units like those from Magellan and Garmin. Then I got the Dash, a now obsolete device with up-to-the-minute traffic delivered wirelessly to the GPS unit for a monthly subscription fee.
Today, I haven’t used anything like that in two years because I use my smartphone and it does what Dash did for free. Now I see standalone GPS units on 1SaleaDay.com and Woot.com on clearance for $29 or $39 all the time.
It’s the same scenario with e-readers. Tablets will become so cheap and have Swiss Army knife functionality that dedicated e-readers will be toast.
Things never stop moving in the world of electronics. That’s why I encourage you to buy current technology, not state of the art technology. Even discontinued models that get the job done are a good purchase.
Editor’s note: This segment originally aired Oct. 31, 2011.
