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This technology was first introduced in 1876 in Boston, Massachusetts, by Graham Bell and Thomas A. Watson

The very first phone call was made by Graham Bell to Thomas Watson. The first words ever to be spoken on the phone were "Mr. Watson come here; I want you!"
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These one-way communication devices were used for emergency services, especially when one did not have landline phones.

Pagers and beepers were equipped with LCD displays that flashed alpha-numeric information. It also had pager codes that correspond to mutually understood pre-defined messages.
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Predecessors of today’s cellphones, these offered limited access to internet, and had touchscreen functionality

The first PDAs were used as digital daily planners. Overtime, more and more apps were added to enhance the functionalities of PDAs.
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Which of these was popular for recording videos and could also be rented from the local video stores to watch latest blockbusters?

Video Home Systems were developed by Victor Company of Japan (JVC) during the early 1970s. It used PAL, NTSC, and SECAM encoding.
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These devices used both mini and micro cassettes to record interviews, lectures, and conversations

Portable dictation devices were also referred to as Dictaphones. They were manufactured by Dictaphone, an American company founded by Alexander Graham Bell. The company is now a division of Nuance Communications.
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Audio counterpart to the VHS, they used magnetic tape technology to deliver affordable audio to the masses

Originally introduced in the late 1960s, cassette tapes gained popularity in the 80s but were eventually outsold by compact discs. In their heyday, almost 400 million cassettes were sold in the US alone.
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These were the earliest version of consumer-level video cassette tape format that used magnetic videotape

Betamax was developed by Sony on May 10th, 1975. The first Betamax device to be introduced in the US was the LV-1901. It was discontinued in March 2016. They were also one of the first digital audio recording system.
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Mainly popular among videophiles, these were the first to use the optical video storage format

Laserdiscs were released in December 11th, 1978. They were developed by Philips and MCA Inc. The majority of Laserdiscs' stakes were later brought by Pioneer.
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Businesses could transmit scanned documents from one phone number to another using this technology.

Short for facsimile, fax is also sometimes referred to as telecopying or telefax and was one of most popular office staples until the late 1990s. The technology became obsolete with the invention of email.
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This type of printer uses a fixed number of pins or wires to print documents

Centronics 101 was the first impact dot matrix printer that was introduced in 1970. It remained popular until the early 1990s until the invention of USB (Universal Serial Bus).
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This piece of technology contained an array of keys, which when pressed causes the ribbon with dried ink to be struck against the printer

The humble precursors of modern-day printers, the foundation of typewriters dates back to the 1500s. The first commercial typewriters were introduced in the late 1800s. Typewriters were typically used by professional writers and offices.
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Which of these gadgets first appeared in the 1950s, and showed slides of images, one frame at a time?

A carousel slide projector uses a rotary tray to store slides containing photographs. It was patented by David E. Hansen on May 11, 1965.
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These are one of the oldest and most long-lasting formats for storing audio recordings since the late 1800s.

The single-sided 7 and 12-inch discs are still in production today, and it is one of the favorite formats for audiophiles and sound enthusiasts alike.
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It was well-known for its original games such as Pong, Missile Command, and Asteroids.

The Atari 2600 was released on September 11, 1977. It popularized the use of microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on ROM cartridges.
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This handheld gaming device popularized games like Tetris and Super Mario Land

Game Boy is an 8-bit handheld game developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on April 21, 1989, and was discontinued in March 23, 2003. It sold at least a million units in its first year of launch.
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Which of these used a chemical-based recording process and was popular until late 1990s?

Film cameras used photographic film that had one side coated with gelatin emulsion. A very short exposure to the image formed by the camera lens created a invisible latent image. Film cameras became obsolete in the early 2000s with the introduction of digital cameras.
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Which portable music player released in 1979 revolutionized the world of consumer electronics?

The first Sony Walkman was launched on July 1, 1979, and sold nearly 400 million pieces before going out of production in 2010.
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These chunky pieces of a home-entertainment system became outdated after the introduction of flat screens and LCD panels.

The first Cathode Ray Tube televisions were manufactured in Germany in 1934. The cheapest model was the 12-inch screen television. The technology became obsolete by the beginning of the 21st century.
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These recreational gadgets allowed users to communicate across the globe via shortwave radio.

Introduced in the early 20th century, HAM radio is also known as Amateur radio. The International Amateur Radio Union coordinated at least 830,000 HAM radio stations in the Americas.
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Which device was one of the first logarithmic computing instrument that performed multiplications by adding logarithms?

The Wang LOCl-2 calculator was developed by Wang laboratories in January 1965. It used integrated circuits with 1275 discrete transistors.
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Also known by the name of Jambox, which device featured one or two cassette tape recorders and AM/FM radio?

First developed by Philips, Boombox was an iconic music player until the early 1990s. It had two or more integrated loudspeakers and was also capable of receiving radio stations. Boombox was nicknamed the "ghetto blaster" as it became associated with urban society at that time.
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This device used the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) to connect to an internet service provider.

Dial-up internet has been around since the early 1980s but was made commercially available in the early 1990s by Sprint. The interruption in internet connection on receiving calls on landline was the biggest disadvantage of using dial-up modems.
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This wearable gadget could do arithmetic calculations of up to 8 digits and also showed time

Introduced in the 1970s by Pulsar and Hewlett Packard, the digital watch has buttons on its face. Initial watches could perform only basic arithmetic calculations. Later, Casio developed watches that included transcendent, trigonometric, and financial functions.
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This device was used for mechanical recording of sound and is also referred to as gramophone.

Phonograph was popular among audiophiles as it required vinyl records to play music. It was invented by Thomas Edison in the late 1870s. Alexander Graham Bell's Volta Laboratory made several changes in the phonograph, thus naming it Gramophone.
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The removable floppy disk storage system was considered medium-to-high capacity at the time of its release.

Introduced during the early 1990s, Zip drives were introduced by Iomega. It could store data up to 750MB. They had a minimum data transfer rate of up to 1.4 megabyte/seconds.
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A type of instant camera, it uses a self-developing film and develops prints shortly after clicking a photo.

The earliest Polaroids that used instant film roll date back to the 1960s. Polaroid cameras are slowly making a comeback into the market and becoming hugely popular as a part of nostalgia.
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Made of thin disks of magnetic storage film, these were sealed in a rectangular plastic enclosure

Floppy discs were initially 8 inches in diameter and were a ubiquitous form of data exchange and storage until the late 1970s. They became obsolete with the introduction of CDs and DVDs in the late 1990s.
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This gadget projects the image using a mirror and lens assembly

Overhead projectors project magnified images of any image by using a mirror and lens assembly and projecting light below the image source.
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These gadgets were a type of teleprinters used to send text-based messages using a telephone network

Telex was a popular method of sending text messages using public switched telephone network after World War II. The technology became obsolete as businesses started using fax machines toward the end of 1970s
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These gadgets were small enough to fit in pockets and used a miniscule CRT and 3.5mm audio jack

Sinclair Research and Panasonic made the first handheld television in the late 1970s. Sony revolutionized the technology by including an active-matrix LCD screen and marketing its product as Sony Watchman.
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A coin-operated telephone located on the streets and other outdoor areas.

In 1999, there were about two million telephone booths across the United States. Now, there are only five percent payphones left in the country, out of which 100,000 are in New York City. The first public coin telephone was invented by William Gray in Hartford, Connecticut.
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This technology dominated the home movie market for more than two decades until it was replaced by DVDs

VHS (Video Home Systems) were invented by JVC (Japan Victor Company) in the 1970s. Like other audio video recording devices, VHS also used magnetic tape recording. The Lion King (1995) was the best and the largest selling movie that sold 32 million VHS copies and generated a revenue of approximately $500 million.
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The dialpad of this telecommunication device was in a circular format

Prevalent until early 1990s, rotary dial phones had digits arranged in a circular layout. The user had to rotate the number on the dial to a fixed stop position. The dial generated electrical pulses equivalent to the number rotated. Each of the ten digits were encoded in the form of a sequence.
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This analog device was designed to ring at a specific time.

Apart from traditional clocks, mechanical alarm clocks had one or two bells that rang by the means of a mainspring that powered a gear to propel a small hammer back and forth between the bells. In an electric bell-style alarm clock, the alarm went off by an electromagnetic circuit and armature.
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This portable electronic device was used to perform basic arithmetic operations

The electronic calculator was a popular table prop used for basic arithmetic calculations. The first solid state (transistorized) calculator was created in the 1960s. Its pocket-sized variants were available from 1970s. Texas Instruments and Casio were the manufacturers that led the calculator market for decades.
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A digital audio player that used USB technology to transfer and store songs

MP3 format files are still widely used in almost every entertainment device. MP3 players were stand alone devices that were powered by AA or AAA batteries, and had a memory of at least 1GB. They were popular until the early 2000s. MP3 players are becoming obsolete as you can stream and store songs on your cellphone.
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These thin and pointy hollow metal rods received signals and transmitted them to the car radio

Pointy metal antennas used to be a prominent feature of the exterior of a car until the early 2000s. However, they were prone to break and failed to receive signals after an extended period of time. They have now been replaced with less fragile shark fin-style antennas.
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This vehicular outlet can be used to light a cigarette

The automobile auxiliary power outlet used to come with a filament that lighted up when pushed. The same outlet could be used to charge phones and other devices. The voltage of the power outlet that drew power from the car battery was usually 12V DC.
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These audio decks played music from an analog or magnetic tape

Car stereo systems used to come with CD and cassette slots until the early 2000s when CDs were used for storing music files. Currently, car stereo systems are equipped with Bluetooth and USB that can be paired or connected with your phone to play music.
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This had digital maps that could be used to navigate through cities

Stand alone GPS navigation systems received information from GPS satellites to navigate through roads and help you reach a destination. Nowadays, this feature is available on smartphones that you can use to navigate through cities.
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This was used for indoor photography to get brighter images

The flash lamp was invented by Joshua Cohen and Paul Boyer in 1899 in France. It used electric current to ignite flash powder, which provided a brief and sudden burst of bright light for flash photography. Before inventing the electrical version, photographers had to ignite the flash lamp manually, exposing them to a greater risk.
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This device was used for recording television programs on motion picture film

The kinescope was mainly used in Britain for tele recording. It recorded directly through a lens focused on the video monitor. The kinescope was first introduced in 1940s for re-broadcasting and preservation of television programs. However, with the development of videotape in 1950s, the kinescope became obsolete.
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This mechanical device calculated and printed the elapsed time between two events

Calculagraph is a device that was best known for its use in tracking the table usage in pool balls. They later became a way to clock the duration of toll telephone calls. The calculagraph was invented in the late 1890s by Henry Abbott, a watchmaker.
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This electronic device displayed information using glow discharge

Cold Cathode Display or Nixie tubes contained a glass tube that contains a wire-mesh that was shaped like numerals and other symbols. The wire mesh is an arrangement of anodes and cathodes (positively and negatively charged wires). Applying power to the cathode surrounds it with an orange glow discharge, illuminating the symbol.
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This technology used picture slides from multiple slide projectors on multiple screens

Multi-image was largely used in several business presentations. It used 35mm slides that were projected on multiple screens in synchronization with audio voice over or music track. One of its best use was widescreen panoramas. The technology is now largely obsolete.
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Can you name all these 'now obsolete' technologies?

09th July, 2019

Technology has advanced leaps and bounds - this has led to recently developed technology becoming outdated very soon. How many obsolete technologies can you correctly guess? Take this quiz to find out.

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