You don't have to be very old to remember tapes, LPs, telephone directories, faxes or VCRs. They were all commonplace items just a decade ago, but have now virtually disappeared.
Next 10 years: here's what will fade away
What will the next 10 years bring? Here are 10 things that are likely to disappear by 2030.
1 Credit cards
Oh sure, maybe in 2030 we will still be able to pay "on credit" but we won't need those rectangular pieces of plastic to do it.
We are already seeing more people paying with their phone, watch or other device, and this will become the norm over the next 10 years. Soon you may not even need a device because the payment system will work through the facial recognition (like it or not, as is already happening in China).
2 Cash
The world war on cash has been raging for a while now.
In the next 10 years, it may not go away completely, but it won't be long before it becomes by far the least preferred (and most expensive) payment option.
The average number of ATM transactions per person has declined significantly since 2010, and consumer money purchases have decreased from 60% to 37% over the same period. Market analysts East & Partners they say Australia will be the first near-cashless continent (less than 2% of purchases) by 2022.
3 Password
Are you one of the thousands of people who use QWERTY, ABC123 or 123456 as their password? If so, you should work harder!
But don't worry: soon you won't have to use passwords anymore. You can already unlock your devices with your fingerprint, eyes or face and soon all security will switch to that type of biometric recognition.
4 Keys
Still on the subject of security, let's say goodbye to keys: house keys, car keys, office keys… They could soon be all museum pieces because we will lock and unlock everything using our phone or watch, or whatever. And guess what? That's right, all of that will be replaced with biometric recognition.
5 Glasses
It will soon become much more common for us to become a bit "cyborg", that is, to have technological improvements in our bodies that make us more efficient. It could be said that we have been doing this for centuries with glasses (and now contact lenses, also electronic), but even this "old technology" may soon disappear, replaced by nanotechnological eye drops that automatically correct vision, or by new gene therapy to make perfect (or rediscover) the view.
6 Queues at the airport
If you don't like queuing at the airport for security scanning and passport checks, you'll be happy to know that a change will come in the next 10 years.
Dubai International Airport has a smart tunnel that scans passengers through passport control in just 15 seconds and the Australian government also has an ambitious plan to get rid of passports altogether. Guess how? That's right, using artificial intelligence and facial recognition.
7 Parking meters
Maybe you already imagine that when we all move in self-driving cars it will not be necessary to park. True, but this former utopia is still at least a couple of decades away.
In any case, even before you get to that point, the humble parking meter will disappear, replaced by license plate recognition technology and an automatic credit card charge. (until that disappears too, see point 1).
8 Charger
If you have a recent smartphone, you probably know that it supports "wireless charging", but that still means placing it on a charging pad. It's more convenient than plugging in a cable, but there's an even better option.
True wireless charging is "OTA", or over the air. Just like WiFi, it doesn't need cables, plugs or charging pads - it only charges devices up to 10 meters away, quickly and safely.
It's a technology that has existed for years (Nikola Tesla predicted it even in the early 1900s), but it is only now that energy companies are trying to make it available economically and on a large scale, and by 2030 they will succeed.
9 Large hard drives
There was a time when storage was a critical factor in choosing a computer or phone. But today, with fast internet access and affordable cloud-based storage, size will no longer matter within the next 10 years.
Paying a small subscription fee we watch the streaming of Spotify and Netflix, we automatically backup everything (on services such as iCloud, Google and Dropbox) and we have immediate access to multiple devices.
10 Remote Controls
If you still haven't figured out what most of the TV remote control buttons do, don't worry, you won't need it within the next 10 years.
After all, you already have a powerful portable device that you use for everything else: your smartphone.
Soon you will be able to use it to control all devices: TV, air conditioner, lighting, music, oven and even the artwork on the wall.
