Five Gadgets that were killed by the cellphone (supposedly), but aren’t dead yet

November 18, 10:51 AMGadgets ExaminerDan Appleman

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These devices might not be as dead as their tombstone would suggest

 Wired.com yesterday published the epitaph for five gadgets that were supposedly killed by the cell phone. I’m not convinced.

The PDA isn’t dead – it’s just changed. It’s now called the ITouch. As long as phones come with monthly service plans, there’s going to be a market for devices that have all the features of a smartphone but without the monthly charges. What was that called? Oh yeah – a PDA.

The Camera

Sure the teens and younger folk are happy snapping low resolution poorly lit pictures of each other and posting them to Facebook. But it won’t be too long before they have kids and you can bet they’re going to want something that produces pictures that look good. Someday cell phones might become good enough, but it’s still some time off.

The UMPC

The Ultra Mobile PC? It’s dead alright, but it wasn’t killed by cell phones. In truth, the technology was never really born in the first place. But it is true that today’s smart phones are indeed ultra-mobile computers.

The Phone

Landlines dead? Someday maybe. But when cell phone companies still find the need to promote their networks based on the fewest number of dropped calls, you know it’s going to be a while before landlines go away. Landlines also sound better – a lot better in most cases. Your basic land based phone doesn’t have to be charged. And it works during power outages. Again, cell phones might someday kill off the landline, but it’s not today.

The MP3 player

A wound, yes – but mortal? Probably not. Sure, the IPhone crowd will load all their MP3’s onto their phones. But the kids (who are buying most of these things) are not all going to be given an expensive phone with its high monthly fees. Besides, MP3 players are cheap and tiny compared to phones and getting more so.

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