Ghost malls are nothing new. In the past few years, those vacant buildings have been looking like something out of a horror movie. In fact, in 2019, there were more than 8,600 retail stores closed in US malls alone.
This doesn’t mean people don’t shop. On the contrary, people shop a lot both in big chain stores as well as small businesses. It’s just that more and more physical shopping malls are being shut down as people choose to stay in their pajamas and shop online.
GPS Devices
There once was a time when a GPS device for your car was considered cutting edge technology. People couldn’t be happier about not having to read paper maps ever again. But the time for GPS devices is long gone.
Just like other gadgets and technological developments, this too made its way into our smartphones. With numerous navigation apps such as Waze or Google Maps, there’s simply no need in a separate device to tell you to turn right at the roundabout.
Needles
Well, almost. Sadly, there’s no way around needles for tattoos and blood tests. However, medical professionals are working hard to develop vaccines that can be given through pills instead of injections.
You don’t have to be afraid of needles to admit you don’t enjoy being stabbed by one. And going to the doctor may not be our favorite pastime activity, but with those new developments and a lollipop after each visit, we just might warm up to them.
Hard Drives
Backing your computer’s content on an external hard drive used to be such an essential. People in the early 2000s were always looking for drives with the biggest storage space possible and schlepping them around.
Years came and went and cloud services such as Google Drive and Dropbox made those hard drives a thing of the past. People prefer storing their information on such clouds rather than carrying it with them, and honestly, who could blame them?
Print Newspapers
“Extra! Extra! Read all about it!” print newspapers are just about out the door as that busy paperboy. Simply put – this world works quickly, print doesn’t. And by the time a news article gets printed, it’s no longer new.
Newspapers often try to overcome that shift by maintaining an up-to-date website and charging less for an online subscription. This is another step closer to a paper-free world.