Obsolete
With technology, the term obsolete describes a computer, hardware, or software considered outdated, no longer useful, or no longer manufactured. For example, the 80286 (286) computer is considered obsolete technology. Although 286 computers still exist today, they are no longer manufactured or supported.
Examples of obsolete computer products
The following list contains computer hardware and technology considered obsolete or rarely used today and what, if anything, replaced each one.
Although something may be labeled as obsolete, it doesn't mean it's no longer used by anyone. It indicates that most people have moved on to another technology. Also, the technologies may be replaced multiple times by new inventions (e.g., day planner → PDA → smartphone).
| Obsolete | Replaced by |
|---|---|
| 3D TV | Smart TV |
| AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) | PCIe (PCI Express) |
| Alarm clock | Smartphone |
| Answering machine | Voicemail |
| ARC (Advanced RISC Computing) | |
| BBS (Bulletin Board System) | Internet |
| Betamax | VHS (Video Home System) |
| BlackBerry devices | Android smartphones and iPhones |
| Boombox | Walkman |
| Camcorder | Digital camcorder |
| Camera | Digital camera |
| Camera film | Digital camera |
| Cassette | Floppy diskette and CD (Compact Disc) |
| CD | DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) |
| CD-i (Compact Disc-interactive) | CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory) |
| CD-R (Compact Disc Recordable) and CD-R drive | DVD-R (Digital Versatile Disc Recordable) and Flash drive |
| CGA (Color Graphics Adapter) | EGA (Enhanced Graphics Adapter) |
| CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitor | Flat panel displays |
| Daisywheel | Dot matrix printer |
| Dial-up modem | Broadband |
| DAT (Digital Audio Tape) | QIC (Quarter-Inch Cartridge) |
| Day planner | PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) |
| Digital camcorder | Smartphone |
| Digital camera | Smartphone |
| Dot matrix printer | Inkjet printer and laser printer |
| Drum plotter | Inkjet printer and laser printer |
| DVD | Blu-ray and streaming |
| EDO (Extended Data Out) memory | BEDO (Burst Extended Data Out) memory |
| EGA | VGA (Video Graphics Adapter) |
| EISA (Extended Industry Standard Architecture) | PCI (peripheral component interconnect) |
| Fax machine | |
| Fax modem | |
| Floppy diskette and Floppy diskette drive | CD and CD-ROM drive |
| Game port | USB (Universal Serial Bus) |
| Gas-plasma display | LCD (Liquid-Crystal Display) and LED (Light-Emitting Diode) |
| GPS (Global Positioning System) standalone | Smartphone |
| HDD (Hard Disk Drive) | SSD (Solid-State Drive) |
| HD DVD (high definition digital versatile disc) | Blu-ray |
| HGA (Hercules Graphics Adapter) | VGA |
| IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) | SATA (Serial AT Attachment) |
| Impact printers | Inkjet printer and laser printer |
| iPod | Smartphone and streaming |
| ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) | PCI (peripheral component interconnect) |
| JavaStation | Desktop computer |
| Jaz drive | CD-R and CD-R drive |
| Laserdisc | DVD |
| Letter-quality printer | Inkjet printer and laser printer |
| Light pen | Touch screen |
| LP (Long Play) | Cassette |
| Magazines | Internet |
| MCA (Micro Channel Architecture) | ISA |
| MDA (Monochrome Display Adapter) | HGA |
| Mechanical mouse | Optical mouse |
| Microfilm reader | Internet |
| MiniDisc | CD |
| MP3 player | Smartphone and streaming |
| MySpace | |
| Newspaper | Internet |
| NFT (Non-Fungible Token) | |
| Optical-mechanical mouse | Optical mouse |
| Overhead projector | Digital projector |
| Pager | Smartphone |
| PalmPilot | Smartphone |
| Paper maps | GPS |
| Parallel port | USB |
| Payphone | Smartphone |
| PC Card | USB |
| PCI | PCIe |
| PCI-X (Peripheral Component Interconnect Extended) | PCIe |
| PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) | USB |
| PDA | Smartphone |
| Phone books | Internet |
| Phototypesetter | Word processor |
| Portable TVs | Smartphone |
| POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) | Cell phone, ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) |
| PS/2 port | USB |
| Punch cards | Magnetic media |
| Punch tape | Magnetic media |
| Rolodex | Computer and Smartphones |
| SBus | PCI |
| Segway | Electric bikes |
| Serial port | USB |
| Slide projector | Digital projector |
| Slide rule | Calculator |
| Solid-ink printer | Inkjet printer |
| SuperDisk diskette & drive | CD-R and CD-R drive |
| S-Video | HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) |
| Telephone | Smartphone |
| Telex machine | |
| Thimble printer | Inkjet printer and laser printer |
| Turbo button | |
| Typewriter | Word processor |
| Vacuum tube | Transistor |
| VGA | SVGA (Super Video Graphics Array) |
| VGA port | DVI (Digital Visual Interface) and HDMI |
| VHS | DVD |
| Videodisk | CD-ROM and DVD |
| Vine | TikTok |
| Vinyl record | Cassette |
| VL bus | PCI |
| Walkman | MP3 player |
| Watch | Smartphone and Smartwatch |
| Windows Phone | Android smartphones and iPhones |
| Zip drive | CD-R and CD-R drive |
| Zune | iPod |
Google is known to abandon a lot of products and services, see our Google page for a listing of only their products.
Abandonware, Business terms, Computer museums, Dead game, Deprecated, Discontinued, EOL, E-waste, Fad, Legacy, Modern