Sure, carrying a thumb drive is a lot easier than lugging around the big block of an external hard drive. It’s light, easy to use, and we can easily fit it in our pockets, wallets, or with our keys. Still, despite it being so efficient, soon enough we will have no use for it.
Thanks to cloud storage technology, we won’t have to physically carry any type of storage unit, no matter how simple or light it is.
Landlines
When we were little and kids didn’t get their first cellphone at six years old, we used to call each other on a landline. We would hear the phone ring, pick it up, and ask who it was. Now, none of it happens. We call each other on smartphones, see the caller ID, and then answer the call if we’re so inclined.
Slowly but surely, landlines are disappearing or getting tossed aside in favor of our modern-day god – the smartphone. We used to think rotary phones were ancient. Now our kids think just the same about landlines.
ID Cards
Along with driver’s licenses, ID cards will soon be something only our parents had. We have phones that recognize our faces and doors that recognize our fingerprints. There is no reason why we would need a plastic card with our picture on it for people to know who we are.
The way we see it, next time you get carded at a bar you will just need to have your fingerprint scanned to prove you’re 18 or older.
PayPhones
Another thing cellphones made obsolete are public payphones. Now that we all carry a mobile phone in our pockets, we simply have no use for them. Once an acceptable means of communication, these days payphones mostly serve as trendy photobooths.
In some places, municipalities are trying to find new uses for payphone booths. Until then, it looks like people are going to keep using them as impromptu studio space for amateur cellphone photographers.
Neighborhood Post Boxes
Once upon a time, people who wanted to send a message to their loved ones had to go through a lot. They had to write the message by hand on a piece of paper, stuff that paper into an envelope, put a stamp on it, insert it into a neighborhood post box, wait and hope for the best.
Now they send each other texts and emails. This means we are both more efficient and no longer in need of neighborhood post boxes. Those boxes can still be found all over the US, but at this point, they are about as functional as statues.