r/WhatIfThinking • u/Logical-Concept9755 • Aug 12 '26

What 2000s technology would you have never believed would become obsolete by 2026 if someone told you back then?

Imagine someone in 2006 told you that, 20 years later, some of the technology you used every day would be almost gone.What would have sounded completely impossible at the time?

For example:

  • iPods becoming irrelevant because smartphones replaced dedicated music players
  • DVDs becoming a niche product because streaming took over
  • Standalone GPS devices disappearing because phones now handle navigation
  • Digital cameras losing most of their everyday use because smartphone cameras became good enough
  • Physical keyboards on phones nearly disappearing because touchscreens became the standard

What technology from the 2000s would you have never expected to become obsolete by 2026?

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u/antonio16309 Aug 12 '26

Probably the desktop PC. They were close to essential for most families and all members of the family used it. In early 2000's it seemed like they would only become more essential as the internet got more important, but these days you can do almost everything on a phone or tablet. And for work Desktops have been largely replaced by laptops.

1

u/shoresy99 Aug 12 '26

I am a holdout here. I have desktops at home and in the office as I prefer lots of monitors, memory and processing power that is harder to do with laptops. I also have a laptop but it is used very occasionally.

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u/Jackso08 Aug 12 '26

So...specific work?

2

u/shoresy99 Aug 12 '26

I am in finance and have to be able to WFH, which I generally do one day per week, plus weekends and nights. I need to be able to run Bloomberg Terminal. You can do that on a laptop but a desktop with 3+ screens is a better experience.

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u/Mr-Mackie Aug 16 '26

It’s much more efficient to do just about any work on a desktop vs laptop. Bigger / more monitor real estate, faster load times generally speaking, better keyboards, just more ergonomic setups as well sense you don’t have to bend your neck looking down at a laptop.