Tech Report
Technology is growing at such a rapid pace that the growth rate of tech companies is higher than any other industry. Advancements in technology mean that consumers will get a chance to improve their lives further with the help of latest gadgets. The major issue of innovation is that old technology becomes obsolete. In the present world, this is happening faster than one can truly anticipate. A useful life of a gadget has now been reduced to less than two years. As a result, the value of the gadget you buy today are reduced to less than 50% in just one year. Today, we will look at three such electronics which were once considered the pioneers of technology but have now been, or will be, overtaken by new gadgets.
Point & Shoot Cameras
Back in the day, point & shoot cameras were the latest and greatest gadgets you could get your hands on. The pocket sized gadget enabled users to take pictures 10 times better than the 0.3 megapixel phone camera. They have been part of many memories and amazing moments in any given person’s life. Point & shoot cameras were not only affordable but also provided great results.
Point & shoot cameras replaced the traditional film cameras which used negatives to capture pictures. Those negatives required post processing in order to develop the pictures. Point & shoot cameras made the process simpler and allowed users to check the picture in playback as soon as it was captured. They used digital storage to store all the images and videos so you can have backups in your laptop or PC.
Now these pocket sized cameras have been replaced by smartphones and DSLRs. Although DSLRs are designed for professionals and beginner photographers, smartphones are now being used by a billion people worldwide. Manufacturers are continuously increasing the quality of smartphone cameras. As a result, smartphones now produce sometimes comparable images compared to point and shoot cameras. There is no need to keep both a phone and camera in your bag because a gadget in your pocket is capable enough to capture great pictures. Newer smartphones are even capable of capturing 4K video and pictures with amazing details which is not possible in point and shoot cameras.
Point and shoot cameras are most likely on their way out of the industry and soon they could be extinct from the market overall. Smartphones and DSLRs are the latest gadgets in the field of photography.
Stand Alone GPS Units
Drivers all over the world were fascinated when GPS units were first launched. They provided pin-point directions to anywhere you want to go. They were an excellent piece of technology that made driving much easier. The time to reach a place was reduced massively and there was no way you can get lost on the road. Sadly for companies like Garmin, smartphones are replacing GPS units as well. The amazing infrastructure of Google Maps is designed for the exact purpose and it has maps from all over the world.
There is no need to spend extra dollars on GPS units when you can easily find directions to anywhere via your smartphone. Even in-car entertainment systems are becoming obsolete and Android Auto and Car Play are ready to replace them as well. In terms of GPS units, you do not get any other functionality apart from directions, where as if use a tablet or smartphone for this very same purpose then you get added features as well. For example, you can listen to music, browse the web, chat or call with your friends and family and at the same time get the directions to the place you want to reach.
GPS units will soon become a technology of the last decade and the powerful smartphones in our pockets will be used for everything.
Gaming Consoles
When the first gaming console was introduced back in the 90’s, it was every child’s aim to convince his parents to get him one as soon as possible. The idea of having a living room gaming system was phenomenal and legendary consoles such as GameCube, Sega, PlayStation, Xbox and many others are used by millions of gamers around the globe. The latest consoles PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are also extremely popular since both Sony and Microsoft were able to sell around 100 million consoles worldwide. It won’t be long when these consoles will become obsolete and both manufacturers play a hand in it as well.
Streaming and media boxes will soon replace gaming consoles in our living rooms. Even Steam PCs or living room PCs are more powerful and offer more features compared to a gaming console. Services such as PlayStation Now or game streaming by NVIDIA and Xbox offer the same experience at a much lower price.
Game streaming is done online, companies have setup servers and all the textures are loaded on those servers and users just log-in to their account and play any game they like. The technology is still being refined but Samsung and Sony Smart TVs are already offering these services. This means gaming consoles will soon lose popularity and manufacturers will need to find alternative solutions. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, which are the most powerful gaming consoles, are not even close to the performance of a gaming PC which is almost the same size as these consoles.
Technology is becoming the driving force behind the extinction of gaming consoles. Unless there is an extra-ordinary feature in the next-generation gaming consoles, we do not see any reason why gaming consoles should be retained in the future. Smart TVs and media boxes will become the new living room gaming machines.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bryan Tropeano is a senior producer and a regular reporter for NewsWatch. He lives in Washington D.C. and loves all things Tech.
I will agree with you on the first two. However, there is no way that video game consoles are going to go away THAT quickly. At the earliest, they will go away in 10 years. However, streaming and media boxes will play very little in the role of the demise of consoles. What will, instead? The PC. But even then, it won’t be that easy. Why? Because video game consoles have first party exclusives; which are what usually help to sell the dedicated gaming system. The main problem with streaming is that it requires an internet connection 24/7. In this country, we have terrible internet speeds and very restrictive data caps. While Fiber internet does exist, however, most of the country doesn’t have it yet; especially smaller towns. Not to mention, most streaming services have attracted little attention and were eventually forced to shut down as a result.
As for Media boxes, that is more of its own. Those are primarily used for movies and TV; games for them are more of a bonus feature. Even if you could argue that media boxes will take a bite out of consoles, they will mostly just take away the casual gamer. Most of the core gamers, on the other hand, would just move over on the PC, instead. The main problem is that the general quality of media box games are lacking compared to the likes of games like Super Metroid, Metroid Prime Trilogy, most Zelda games, most 3D Mario games, Star Fox 64, Mass Effect 2, Ratchet and Clank series, Jak and Daxter series, Halo, Portal 1 + 2, and many other games I could come up on the top of my head.
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