10 Gadgets That Went Obsolete In 2012

Like it happens with everything, the devices that were the super gadgets of 2012 may not even exist in market this year. Some gadgets were replaced by new versions or were killed by its competitors. All of these gadgets, which went obsolete, will be remembered on the pages of gadget industry’s history.

#10 Small Screened Smartphones

Small screen Smartphones, which once was the frontrunner in early 2012s, is not visible in the market now. Apple was probably the last one to switch from that segment to medium and large screen Smartphones. Currently, almost all Smartphones have screen size above 4 inch with most of them having HD displays and lots of features. Also these devices are available at competitive prices which made small screened Smartphone obsolete.

#9 Apple’s Maps

Apple’s long-term rival Google made a list of great apps for the iPhone. The Google’s Maps app broke down Apple’s attempt at maps on iOS. Adding to it, Google’s Email app and Chrome browser for iOS are getting lot of attentions and praises all around. Some other third-party apps also forced the market to displace Apple’s home grown apps, thereby making them obsolete.

#8 Netbooks

After the arrival of high version and light version tablets with a very competitive price, the demand of Netbooks- the small, lightweight laptops declined. Only two companies Asutek and Acer is still developing Netbooks whereas companies like Samsung, HP and Dell have shifted to tablets section. Asutek and Acer targeted the Southeast Asia and South America, a zone which currently is a big market of tablets and cheap Smartphones. Mostly the Netbooks are replaced from the market by competitors including ultrabooks, iPad and the exponential growth of tablets.

#7 External Hard Drive

It’s the time to say bye to external hard drives. After the arrival of cloud storages like Box, Dropbox, iCloud, Google Drive and Microsoft’s Skydrive, the way of storing or sharing data became easier than ever. All these file hosting services permits users to transfer and sync files to a cloud storage and then access them from a Web browser or by their local device. It has more features which allow a user to share the files with contacts, or make the files public or keep it private. All these attracted people to file hosting services rather than using the external hard drives.

#6 Standalone GPS machines

There is no worth of buying a standalone GPS system anymore. Previously we used to see GPS navigators for use in cars; it was very expensive and not even very accurate to show the map. After the entry of Smartphones in the market, companies like Google came with more accurate map apps which can simply give the directional capabilities and also convert a phone as a GPS navigator. A GPS standalone device can be used only for tracing the locations and most of the time it’s not accurate where as Smartphone provides detailed information with voice and many other features. Standalone GPS machine is no more in the competition because of not having core competency and almost obsolete.

#5 Windows Phones

After the launch of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 operating system for Smartphones and Tablets, it made its older versions of Windows Phone obsolete, since the new version doesn’t work on old Windows phones. However, Windows Phone 8 runs apps made for WP7 and WP8. The device has more advanced and high power hardware along with new software features.

#4 Buying individual songs or albums

A couple of years back, people used to buy an album or individual song from online by paying money. After the arrival of services like Spotify (an online music store), it became easier to listen music by paying only $10 a month. Also, a music lover can listen to free music through YouTube. All these features shifted the users to services like music and video streaming ones instead of using other options.

#3 Disk Drive

Computer users no more use CD (Compact Disk) and Disk Drive just because they have plenty of alternatives like DVD with higher storage space, File hosting services and Flash drives. These options can be used to keep higher amount of data with lot of extra features. Companies like Google and Microsoft provides File Hosting Service which can store big amount of data which can be shared with multiple users. Privacy and protection of data thefts is also good in this service.

#2 Non-Smartphone cameras

Non-smartphone cameras are becoming obsolete devices in the market. With Smartphone cameras offering almost all the functionality like the real cameras and even with filters like Instagram, people now demands something with more feature, more efficiency, and with a great look. Technology has made the Smartphone photos look sharp with high quality. Some manufacturers including Samsung now turned to the mix of both- a Smartphone and a camera, like the Android based Galaxy camera. So the regular camera is slowly becoming obsolete.

#1 Apple's 30-pin cable

Apple’s Lightning cable just replaced its own 30-pin cable, which was used to connect iPhone, iPad or iPad directly via a dock to the USB port of user’s computer for synchronizing and charging the phone. The move invited lot of criticism, but not enough to change the mind of Cupertino tech giant.