Derrick
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Innovations that seemed ahead of their time only years ago are today considered proverbial ‘dinosaurs’. Despite this there remain a number of dated gadgets that are still highly valued in modern society.
Here are 10 technology icons that simply won’t die, according to Technologizer.
1) Dot Matrix Printers
In the 1970’s and 1980’s dot matrix printers were the closest thing that businesses could get to conventional near letter quality prints. They were affordable, robust and provided private corporations with a means to print PC documents.
Because they function with tractor feeds they are perfect for printing thousands of pages without needing a paper refill, it is due to this that many businesses today still refuse to give them up.
2) Mini Disk
Introduced in 1992, mini disks were Sony’s method of storing audio to CD format. The idea was that they combined the best qualities of CD’s and cassette tapes into one highly portable medium that could hold up to 80 minutes of music.
The mini disk still exists today within portable recorders and is designed for people who need to make recordings on the go. .
3) Floppy Disks
Floppy disks were a removable form of storage that came in 3.25, 5.25 and 8 inch variants that originated in the 1970’s as a high end alternative to saving programs on audio cassettes.
Although they are no longer in standard use today there are still many computers around that include floppy drives. The new 3.5 inch version is also readily available. The sharp distinction in storage capacity in a floppy drive and a 4GB USB Flash Drive however is that the latter stores 2750 times more information.
4) Netscape
It can be argued that Netscape jump started the internet economy in 1994 and beyond.
Today however the name is vastly outdated and largely consigned to the history books, although it is interesting to note that Firefox is based on a Mozilla code that originated as an open source version of Netscape.
5) MS DOS
MS DOS was the operating system that powered the original 1981IBM PC and later the vast majority of computers across the globe. However when Microsoft developed its first operating system, Windows 95, DOS was no longer required and it was rendered virtually obsolete.
MS DOS is however still has its uses in niche pockets of the PC population like users that refuse to join the 21st century and the relatively large open source project, FreeDOS.
6) Alta Vista
Alta Vista began life as a research project at the well known computer company Digital Equipment Corp. It quickly grew to become the first widely popular search engine on the web after it was launched in 1995.
In 1998 Digital Equipment Corp was acquired by Compaq who in turn attempted to evolve Alta Vista into a portal much like Yahoo!, a move which saw their user base shrink significantly.
Today there is still an AltaVista.com although its traffic is paltry in comparison to the likes of Google and Yahoo!
7) Z80 Microprocessor
The 8-bit microprocessor, which dates back to 1976, powered a number of early PCs and also featured inside Pac Man arcade games and ColecoVision console games. It was phased out by IBM’s original PC which used a 16-bit processor but nonetheless the Z80 is still used today in devices such as scientific calculators and analogue synthesisers.
8 ) Monochrome Displays
Most PC’s in the 1970’s and 1980’s used black and white monochrome displays. This wasn’t a problem because back then DOS applications made little use of colour. Over the years graphical interfaces, multimedia and games made the use of colour essential and eventually monochrome displays were phased out of widespread usage.
They are still used today for electronic cash registers and other text based applications.
9) Personal Digital Assistants
In the 1990’s these convenient hand held, pocket sized devices had blossomed into full blown organisational tools. Despite this they were rendered superfluous by smartphones by 2005.
They are still available at Amazon although they are no longer relevant in the current market.
10) Zip Disks
Iomega’s zip disks were introduced in 1994 and offered far larger capacities in terms of PC storage than their floppy disk counterparts. When CD ROM’s and cheap CD burners became available the zip disk was slowly phased out.
Today Iomega still sells storage devices including 250MB and 750MB zip drives. Although these have been completely overtaken by devices such as the DVD and SATA hardrive many computers with zip drives still exist.
Here are 10 technology icons that simply won’t die, according to Technologizer.
1) Dot Matrix Printers
In the 1970’s and 1980’s dot matrix printers were the closest thing that businesses could get to conventional near letter quality prints. They were affordable, robust and provided private corporations with a means to print PC documents.
Because they function with tractor feeds they are perfect for printing thousands of pages without needing a paper refill, it is due to this that many businesses today still refuse to give them up.
2) Mini Disk
Introduced in 1992, mini disks were Sony’s method of storing audio to CD format. The idea was that they combined the best qualities of CD’s and cassette tapes into one highly portable medium that could hold up to 80 minutes of music.
The mini disk still exists today within portable recorders and is designed for people who need to make recordings on the go. .
3) Floppy Disks
Floppy disks were a removable form of storage that came in 3.25, 5.25 and 8 inch variants that originated in the 1970’s as a high end alternative to saving programs on audio cassettes.
Although they are no longer in standard use today there are still many computers around that include floppy drives. The new 3.5 inch version is also readily available. The sharp distinction in storage capacity in a floppy drive and a 4GB USB Flash Drive however is that the latter stores 2750 times more information.
4) Netscape
It can be argued that Netscape jump started the internet economy in 1994 and beyond.
Today however the name is vastly outdated and largely consigned to the history books, although it is interesting to note that Firefox is based on a Mozilla code that originated as an open source version of Netscape.
5) MS DOS
MS DOS was the operating system that powered the original 1981IBM PC and later the vast majority of computers across the globe. However when Microsoft developed its first operating system, Windows 95, DOS was no longer required and it was rendered virtually obsolete.
MS DOS is however still has its uses in niche pockets of the PC population like users that refuse to join the 21st century and the relatively large open source project, FreeDOS.
6) Alta Vista
Alta Vista began life as a research project at the well known computer company Digital Equipment Corp. It quickly grew to become the first widely popular search engine on the web after it was launched in 1995.
In 1998 Digital Equipment Corp was acquired by Compaq who in turn attempted to evolve Alta Vista into a portal much like Yahoo!, a move which saw their user base shrink significantly.
Today there is still an AltaVista.com although its traffic is paltry in comparison to the likes of Google and Yahoo!
7) Z80 Microprocessor
The 8-bit microprocessor, which dates back to 1976, powered a number of early PCs and also featured inside Pac Man arcade games and ColecoVision console games. It was phased out by IBM’s original PC which used a 16-bit processor but nonetheless the Z80 is still used today in devices such as scientific calculators and analogue synthesisers.
8 ) Monochrome Displays
Most PC’s in the 1970’s and 1980’s used black and white monochrome displays. This wasn’t a problem because back then DOS applications made little use of colour. Over the years graphical interfaces, multimedia and games made the use of colour essential and eventually monochrome displays were phased out of widespread usage.
They are still used today for electronic cash registers and other text based applications.
9) Personal Digital Assistants
In the 1990’s these convenient hand held, pocket sized devices had blossomed into full blown organisational tools. Despite this they were rendered superfluous by smartphones by 2005.
They are still available at Amazon although they are no longer relevant in the current market.
10) Zip Disks
Iomega’s zip disks were introduced in 1994 and offered far larger capacities in terms of PC storage than their floppy disk counterparts. When CD ROM’s and cheap CD burners became available the zip disk was slowly phased out.
Today Iomega still sells storage devices including 250MB and 750MB zip drives. Although these have been completely overtaken by devices such as the DVD and SATA hardrive many computers with zip drives still exist.