10 Dumb Technologies You Don't Want In 2010

ComputerWorld has listed down 10 dumb technologies which are considered obsolete in 2010.

I find the analysis pretty good, in fact, some items are spot-on. But I still can’t do without my trusty fax machine or the humble business cards.

Say if business cards are replaced by e-mails, vCards, links to Web pages, what will happen if there is prolonged power shut down? We will be totally helpless without our computers, laptops and 3G mobile phones.

1. Fax Machines

A fax machine is nothing more than a printer, scanner and an obsolete analog mode that work together to waste time, money, paper and electricity.

The mass delusion that perpetuates this obscenely inefficient technology is that paper “hard copy” is somehow more legitimate. In fact, gluing a copy of someone’s stolen signature to a document, then faxing it, is the easiest way mask a forgery because of the low quality of fax output.

People, let’s stop the madness. Just e-mail it.

2. ‘Cigar lighter receptacle’ plugs in cars

As electrical outlets, dashboard lighter ports are dangerous, unreliable, underpowered, inconvenient, unsightly and expensive. They require that you purchase a special plug and/or adapters, which add clutter to your car.

All cars should have standard household electrical outlets, with the converter built in. Or USB ports that can charge gadgets. Or both.

3. Business cards

Speaking of business cards, why do we still carry around 19th-century “calling cards”? When someone gives you a business card, they’re giving you a tedious data entry job, one that most people never complete.

There are several alternatives to business cards, all superior. If the meeting is arranged by e-mail, include contact information in the invitation and reply as e-mail signatures, attached vCards, links to contact Web pages or some other electronic form.

4. Movie rental stores

We’re now two revolutions away from the heyday of driving to Blockbuster, standing in line, renting a video and driving home. Movies are nothing more than digital files. You can download them, or get them on disk by mail. Driving? Standing in line? For an electronic file? Come on!

Of course, there are more dumb technologies than you can count on one (actually two) hand. If you can’t get enough of dummies, I suggest you hop over here for a recap of goofy technologies in the past decade.

Paul is a geek who shares his thoughts on technology, gadgets, social networks and football in this blog. Stay in touch with his updates by subscribing to the RSS feeds or Email. Thanks for visiting Seventoten and leaving a comment.  To change this standard text, you have to enter some information about your self in the Dashboard -> Users -> Your Profile box.