13 things the smartphone has made obsolete
GPS navigation devices
Landlines
More than 40% of homes in the US have only wireless phones, according to a survey the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did in 2013. Younger people are more likely to live in homes without landlines — almost two-thirds of 25- to 29-year-olds only have mobile phones.
Answering machines
And if you don't have a landline, you have little use for an answering machine.
Scanners
Scanner Pro, an iPhone app, scans documents to create PDFs. It's completely replaced my scanner.
Point-and-shoot cameras
They say that the best camera is the one you have with you. Fortunately, the one you have on your smartphone is good enough for most situations. Of course, this doesn't include high quality DSLR cameras, which are still necessary for serious photographers.
Camcorders
The same can be said for camcorders. Smartphones, with with increasingly better cameras, more storage capacity, and improved stabilization features, are good enough to record video in most situations. (Again, there's still a market for DSLRs and higher quality cameras for professionals.)
Alarm clocks
When was the last time you set an actual alarm clock instead of just using the one on your phone?
Voice recorders
Most smartphones come with apps that are great voice recorders.
iPods and digital music players
Apple still makes some iPods, but if you have a smartphone, you really don't need one.
Calculators
Smartphones come with basic calculator apps, and you can download a graphing calculator app if you need one.
Maps
Remember when your glove compartment was filled with maps? Maybe you don't. Either way, there are now only a few situations where you need a folding paper map.
TVs
As smartphones get bigger, people are increasingly using them to stream video. Some people use their smartphones rather than TVs to watch movies and TV shows.
Popular Right Now
Popular Keywords
Advertisement