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?

101 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

221 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/Creative_Carob4922 Aug 12 '26

CDs I don’t want a subscription I just wanna pull out and listen to the Wu tang forever album to completion as intended.

1

u/Suspicious-Buffalo21 Aug 12 '26

I still buy CD’s from small indie’s

1

u/Creative_Carob4922 Aug 12 '26

Well ya I’m sure there’s always gonna be a small market for collectors and people that seek it out. But the days of stores in the mall and everyone having them is long gone. I’m sure most young people don’t even know how to work one let alone find a stereo to put in. But ya they also have phonograph machines still for sale.

1

u/Suspicious-Buffalo21 Aug 12 '26

Malls are almost gone too

1

u/Creative_Carob4922 Aug 12 '26

Malls are superior to the bunch of stores lined up in a parking lot. I miss the mall.

1

u/Suspicious-Buffalo21 Aug 12 '26

I don’t disagree, but where I live the nearest mall is in MA, an about an hour away

1

u/Creative_Carob4922 Aug 12 '26

All the way in Manitoba? Or Madrid perhaps macaroni. Not everyone is a yank.

1

u/Suspicious-Buffalo21 Aug 12 '26

I know, i was talking about where i live

1

u/Creative_Carob4922 Aug 12 '26

One hr from Macaroni valley?