Technology is progressing and improving every day, and if companies don’t keep up with the rapid changes, some of them may lead to an uneventful death. Just like what we’re about to share now. Here are some tech services that we used to love, though some of them are still alive, it’s only a matter of time until they expire.
Table of Contents
VHS/DVD Rental Stores
Image credit: Reddit (r/Philippines)
Remember those times when we still have to go to VideoCity to rent movies that we’re most excited to watch? Yeah, good times. Renting VHS has been popular in the 80s and died down when DVDs have been available for rent in the early 00s. Since then, video rental stores began selling Blu-ray discs that support High Definition (HD). But with the emergence of video on demand and video streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and the likes, many video rental stores have started closing down, and it’s rare to see one nowadays.
Photo Printing Stores
Image credit: dpreview.com
With the rise of social media and digital photography, photo printing is now becoming a defunct technology that only people over a certain age remember. Now everyone can immediately publish their photos online and share with a wide variety of audiences.
Fax Machine Services
Fax or facsimile is a telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images) to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device. It is one of the most efficient ways to send and receive documents. However, with the rise of the internet, many people are now utilizing the use of email attachments.
Broadband USB Dongle & Prepaid Internet Cards
I’m pretty sure most of us here have owned a broadband USB dongle before. Broadband sticks are USB sticks that work as a modem. One of the downsides of this it’s only good for a single device, and you need prepaid internet cards to use them. Prepaid internet cards are just like prepaid cards where you pay for the amount of data you want to use. Although there are broadband USB sticks that also work as a WiFi hotspot, our smartphones can also do the same job, and it’s even more portable.
Pay Phones/Telephone Booth
Image credit: The Verge
Pay Phones are a bill and coin-operated public telephone that has been around since 1889. You can also use this with pre-payment by inserting a credit/debit card, or a telephone card. They are usually found beside a telephone booth or in public places, such as airports or train stations, convenience stores, malls, and most especially on street corners. A lot of telephone companies have been taking down telephone booths as there’s been a noticeable decline with payphone revenues today due to the prevalence of smartphones.
And there you go! Which of these services did you miss the most, and how was your experience? Let us know in the comments below.
I remember beepers in my college days… If you have it you’re popular… :)