What technology(s) do you think should die?
In this day and age, it is pretty common to see new technologies come and go with the drop of a hat.
What is cool and new today is all but gone the next and as the saying goes, if you blink, you just might miss it.
In my time dealing with technology, I have seen many devices and concepts either thrive, die, or get absorbed by new things. Despite all of that, there are some technologies that still seem to be kicking around and I can't quite figure out why that happens.
Of course, there are a battery of answers as to why certain "tech standards" need to still be around, but for the most part I think it is just users choosing not to embrace a new way of doing things. I get it, change can be hard, but why would we choose to do more work simply because "that is the way we have always done it".
For me, the biggest offender of this idea that certain technologies should go away and never come back is the fax machine. As a technology professional, I get probably 5 to 6 requests each year for fax machine related issues. In my opinion, that is five or six more than we should actually be getting.
Oddly enough, the biggest issue I run into when I want to remove the devices is that certain government agencies require that paperwork be submitted via fax machine. According to their logic there is something about killing a million trees a year that makes the information more legitimate than say an email.
Before you scold me, let me say, I realize emails can be compromised and spoofed, I am just saying, if security and confidentiality is their key concern there are other ways they can solve those issues without the costs and headaches involved with having a fax machine.
Sure fax machines can be purchased for less than $100 these days, but then you need to consider the cost of ink, paper, maintenance, and the phone line required to send and receive the transmissions. I would venture to guess that those of you who still do have a fax machine, the majority of documents you receive on yours are probably spam and advertisements
Fax machines are such a huge suck on my time that I don't even try to repair them anymore. If my end user is having issues and I know their phone line is okay, I just have them replace the unit. It is far less expensive than eating up my time when I could be working on other things.
Do you have a piece of equipment or technology that you wish you could do this to? I want to hear about it in the comments. Light me up and let me know what you think needs to die!
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
I agree with you on fax machines i was involved in the setup and deployment of fax servers in our company and the biggest fight was with people who felt they were still needed and for the same reasons as you suggest with file Nd end to end encryption technologies very robust now they could be phased out, I don’t or in that area now but i have no doubt we still have some around and in operation.
The one i hated with a passion and was glad when cell phones made them obsolescent was pagers,, so frustrating hen it goes off and you had to make it to somewhere to call in and see what was up, or in one job that whenever the pager went off i had to go tot he office, often the problem was not a real problem and could have bene resolved with a little common sense by the user, but no I had to waste my time going to the office to do somehting so simple
Ah yes, that is a good one. I had totally forgotten about pagers!
They caused me so many headaches i cannot forget them LOL
Virtual Reality. We have plenty to explore around us. It plays too much with the human mind.
For me I would be the CD Rom, there are still companies releasing CD rom's while most laptops aren't equiped with them anymore :)
Ah yes, I have a bin full of USB DVD drives for just that reason. People can't seem to let go of the things!
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Hi, thanks for the post! It is an interesting discussion topic. I have included the post in my daily Science and technology digest, and you'll receive a 10% share of that post's rewards.
I agree with you about the fax machine. Every once in a while, people ask me to fax them something, and it's just bizarre nowadays.
For another, I didn't realize the connection until just now, but I guess my post highlights another technology that needs to die, the placebo.
Very interesting and thanks for the highlight!