Consigned to tech history | Bangkok Post: tech

If the BlackBerry's days are numbered, it won't be the first time that a device that seemed so radical disappears from our daily lives.

If the BlackBerry's days are numbered, it won't be the first time that a device that seemed so radical disappears from our daily lives.

When it first launched back in 2003, the BlackBerry was so revolutionary that it's hard to believe that less than a decade on its days could be numbered. But if reports are true and Research In Motion's much-loved product is on the way out, then it won't be the first time (or the last time) that a product that seemed so extraordinary at its launch is usurped by a challenger.

Betamax
Launched by Sony in 1975 as one of the first consumer video tape and video recording systems, the company believed that due to its high quality, other home electronics firms around the world would adopt and support it to build a worldwide market. What actually happened is that major rival JVC developed its own VHS video tapes and recorders and a huge format war began; one which would eventually see Betamax disappear. Although Beta quality was much greater than VHS video, VHS had one major advantage from the start, a cassette could record for two hours -- the length of a Hollywood film -- whereas the original Betamax cassettes could only manage one hour. In 1998 Sony started producing VHS videotapes and video recorders.

Eight-track
Though popular upon release in the mid 1960s and right up until the 1980s (in the US at least), especially as a way of listening to music in your car, Eight-Track cartridges, as the name suggests, had one serious limitation. While most musical albums of the time had upwards of 10 tracks, each eight-track could only hold eight. This led to albums, and sometimes individual songs being split across multiple cartridges. All problems that the compact cassette didn't have. What's more, users could record and re-record their own music directly onto them. However, as Eight-Tracks were recorded professionally, on higher quality tape, they did offer a better listening experience, something which kept the format alive through the 1970s.

Floppy disks
Introduced to the public in 1971, floppy disks became the way of transferring data, sharing software and backing up files as the home computer market began to grow throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In fact it is estimated that by 1996 there were five billion disks in use. But of course as the home computer market grew, so did the size and complexity of the software and files they used, meaning that a single application would take up 20-30 disks. It was eventually consigned to the history books by the re-writable CD and USB storage.

HD DVD
As high definition television began to grow in popularity, so did the demand for a DVD-type format that could record and save high-definition imagery. Sony's response was to develop the Blu-ray disc, which it unveiled in 2002, whereas Toshiba, worried this new format might need machines that would be incompatible with existing home movie DVDs, developed the HD DVD.

Both formats became available to buy in 2006 and for a while Hollywood film studios supported both formats when releasing new DVDs (as it had done with Betamax 30 years earlier). However, Sony's power within the industry meant that by 2008 Toshiba admitted defeat and Blu-ray became the standard.

DCC
It was meant to be a digital replacement for the compact cassette but when Philips launched the format in 1992 it became a direct competitor to Sony's MiniDisc, which was also fighting for the same territory. MiniDisc won the battle and DCC was quietly discontinued in 1996. However, it was a hollow victory as though more popular, MiniDisc also failed to make enough of a lasting impact as rewritable CDs and MP3 players proved much more popular. 

And so to the future. Which everyday items that we take for granted are in similar danger of becoming extinct?

The car
This will probably break most young boys' hearts, but the fact of the matter is that oil won't last forever. At the moment, the only disagreement seems to be on what will replace the internal combustion engine -- plug-in electric or hydrogen.

Digital cameras
There will always be a market for professional cameras, but as smartphones become more and more sophisticated, digital camera makers are being forced to be more and more innovative, and cost conscious in order to keep up.

Books
Many people say that no other reading experience comes close to that of holding a real, printed book. And while reading has never been so popular, it's also true that its growing popularity is being driven by e-readers such as Amazon's Kindle and tablets such as the iPad. For proof, look no further than the astounding popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey.

Desktop computers
They're still ubiquitous in most offices around the world but desktop PC sales are falling year on year. And, if the late, great Steve Jobs is right and we're living in a post-PC world, then surely its days are numbered.

iPods
It might seem that everywhere you look people are wearing those most distinctive of white earbuds, but more and more, those earbuds are connected to an iPhone. The iPod might be Apple's biggest-selling product of all time, but as the market for tablets and smartphones continues to grow, the iPod could soon go the same way as the Walkman and MiniDisc.

Betamax could have been a worldwide success, but VHS proved more popular.

When Philips launched the DCC as a replacement for the casstte, it lost out to the Sony MiniDisc, which in turn lost out to the iPod.

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