The march of technology
Ours is a curious mind and we are constantly looking for new technology, so much so that most of what we grew up with, will never be seen or used by our future generations. The reason being, the current technology will be extinct then. So, read on to know what all your kids will miss out on!
Compiled by Sneha Mashetty and Bhavneet Singh feedback@postnoon.com
Discman
The first ever portable CD player by Sony was named the Discman. It was called the Sony D-50. The unit successfully sparked public interest in CDs, boosting their popularity, and within a year and a half the D-50 became profitable. Jogging in the park with your own music became easy. This gadget made it easier to carry one’s music everywhere. But then the discman lost out to competition in the form of MP3 players and iPods.
“I always used the discman and I loved it as its sound clarity was amazing! And I’m sure, my kids won’t use one of them as they have a whole lot of new technology available in the market.”
Srujana Mashetty, Doctor at Osmania
Floppy Disk
T he floppy disk originally was a disk storage medium. It came as a boon to companies as it helped store data in a much more easier and safer way. Also, another advantage of this was that they used very less space and gave maximum storage capacity. As a matter of fact, children born in the 21st century never got to see the floppy disk, they are acquainted with memory cards and pendrives.
“I still remember the first time the floppy disk was introduced. It created a huge roar in the market because of the size and the storage capacity. But now, with so much more coming up, I think future generations will find it only in the museums.”
Krishna Chaitanya, French teacher at Neeraj International School
Cassettes
Future generations will no longer know the joy of putting a cassette in a stereo and waiting for one’s favourite song to come on. The Compact Cassette, also called audio cassette, was a revolution for the field of audio (especially music) as it allowed music makers to go gaga about their albums and make huge profits out of them. The first cassette machines were simple mono-record and playback units by Philips. It gathered pace in the early 1960s and was in trend till the early 1990s. Later on, the advent of the CDs threw the cassettes out of the markets globally. And when tape recorders faded from the scene, the future of cassettes was as good as sealed.
“I remember having a collection of more than 500 cassettes. It was a craze with me. Nowadays, it’s all gone. We hardly see any cassettes around.”
Prabhjot Singh, Software engineer
Nintendo Donkey kong
A video game that kept all the kids of its generation addicted to it is now vanishing. It was an arcade game released by Nintendo in the year 1981. It is an example of the early Platform games. In addition to presenting the goal of saving the lady, the game also gives the player a score. Based on the simple story of saving the girl from the Donkey Kong, the game was a huge hit. It also was the first game which introduced the concept of jump in video games.
“I remember my neighbour had the game. I spent most of my time at their place playing it. Even though I am a hardcore Counter Strike player now, I still would say that Donkey Kong is one of the best games ever.”
Abhishek E, Student at Guru Nanak Engineering College
Pong
Pong is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. The game was originally manufactured by Atari Incorporated, who released it in 1972. The aim is to defeat the opponent in a simulated table tennis game by earning a higher score. Pong quickly became a success and is the first commercially successful video game, which led to the start of the video game industry.
“I loved the game a lot. Come summer, and I used to be hooked to pong all day long. I don’t think my kids will play this epic game ever.”
Sourav Barua ,Student at Vivekananda Degree college
Polaroid camera
The instant camera is a type of camera that generates a developed film image. The Polaroid camera was invented by Edwin Land in the year 1948. They were the talk of the town then, but the advent of Digital technology did not allow it to resurface. Finally, in February 2008, Polaroid announced it would discontinue production of film, shut down three factories and laid off 450 workers. This makes it very difficult for our kids to see one of them.
“It is an artistic form of photography. It should’ve been preserved. Though it wasn’t very good with the picture clarity, it was a fun thing to have around. Sadly, due to the production halt, the next generation of photographers will not have the opportunity to work with it.”
Harsh Vasani, Freelance photographer
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording Videotape. It was developed by Victor Company of Japan. It was in the 1970s when video recording became a major contributor to the television industry.The first VCR to use VHS was the Victor HR-3300, and was introduced by the president of JVC at the Okura Hotel on September 9, 1976. Shortly after the introduction of the VHS format, VHS tape rewinders were developed. The next generation of movie and music lovers will never have to face the end credits when they hoped to watch a movie because someone neglected to rewind the VHS tape before returning it. Now, with streaming services on demand and pay-per-view movies they’ll never have to rent or return movies at all.
“VHS were very famous years ago. I still have about 15 of them at home. In fact, my parents wedding is recorded in one of them. Because of so much digital technology now, I don’t think we’ll see VHS in the future.”
Raja Shashank, Independent photographer
LP records
LP records stand for Long play records. These were records that were made from a material called vinyl. It was introduced by Columbia Records in 1948. The main difference it made was that it had stereophonic sound capability. They remained very strong in the market till the entry of Reel to Reel Magnetic recorders. They are especially used by DJs. As of 2012, vinyl records continue to be used for distribution of independent and alternative music artists.
“As a kid, I remember listening to the Lata Mangeshkar hits on these records. But I guess, the only place my kids will see it is on Tom and Jerry!”
Madan Rao, Businessman
Rotary dial telephones
It was a device mounted on a telephone for pulse dialing. It first emerged in the year 1892 and was in vogue for a very long time. It was also known as the finger wheel. After almost a century, it was replaced by the keypad in the year 1962, and now, it’s a rare sight. Now the landline as it is popularly called is also breathing its last as handheld mobile phones win because of their portability. The world now has moved on to faster and simpler ways of dialing the numbers and so, the rotary dial phone, finds it place in the history books.
“I still have one of those at my place and the good thing about it is that it’s still functional. Not the most convenient thing when you are in a hurry though, but still, a fun thing to have around.”
Prashant Singh, Student at Bhavans College
Typewriters
If you entered any office in the early 80s and 90s you could see people hunched over their desks, furiously tapping away at the typewriter. No office was devoid of the clickety-click sounds. The first ever typewriter was invented by an Italian, Pellegrino Turri in 1808. It was used to type and print information simultaneously, typewriters were indispensable tools for recording the written word, widely used by professional writers and in offices for decades. But sadly now typewriters are just used in courtrooms and probably that’s the last we will be seeing of them.
“Back in my days, when I was in college it was a craze to own a typewriter, it was the so called ‘cool’ thing to know the art of typewriting but sadly it doesn’t exist anymore.”
Swapna Mantri, Housewife
Category: Gadgets, Science & Tech
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