Gadget Daddy: Oh the things that are no more because of the smartphone. Remember these?
Ah, nostalgia. Something to reflect upon as time marches on.
Remember the slide rule? Replaced by the pocket calculator.
Remember the rotary phone? Replaced by the touch tone. The VCR? Done in by the DVD.
LPs? CDs. CDs? MP3s.
And then came something that replaced all those — and dozens and dozens of other items.
The smartphone.
To name but a few of its the things it replaced:
The telephone. Or, more precisely, the landline. Once as prominent as a refrigerator in an American household, the landline is mostly an afterthought. More than 90% of U.S. households had a landline in 2004, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention's biannual National Health Interview Survey. Last year's report put that percentage as less than 30.
The pay phone. Once a handy place for mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent to become Superman, the phone booth has disappeared, along with the pay phone that occupied it. The pay phone was once an expression for ratting out a law breaker: "Drop a dime on him." Do many people even carry pocket change any more?
Point-and-shoot cameras. There's a sure thing about cameras: "The best camera you have is the one you have with you." The cameras on today's smartphones are always with us. In the hands of a knowledgeable picture-taker, the outcomes can rival those of a dedicated digital camera.
Small flashlight. Sometimes just the glow of a smartphone's screen is enough to provide enough light. If not, the LED that provides the flash for the camera can be turned on for a substitute light. Most of the time, that light will suffice.
Carpenter's bubble level. Yup, there's one on the phone — or an app to add to it. It's good for leveling tables or making sure pictures are straight. We're not talking residential construction here.
Encyclopedias. Time was when wealthy households had encyclopedias. And then less-expensive editions were offered by the volume with supermarket grocery purchases. The Encyclopaedia Britannica was first published in 1768, and became the world standard for encyclopedias. It has been referred to as "the original Internet."
In the early 1980s, the Internet appeared. The last printed edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica appeared in 2010. It still survives, however, on the Internet.
The pocket calculator. Just as the slide rule fell to the electronic calculator, so did the small handheld calculator give way to the smartphone's calculator. Here's a lesser-known fact: Turn the smartphone calculator on its side. It becomes a scientific calculator.
The Rolodex. A trademark term for a rotary address book, the Rolodex used to be an office staple, sitting right next to the rotary phone. And the Dictaphone. Which, by the way, the smartphone also replaced.
Desk calendars. There may be a paper calendar in your life, but it's likely copied from its digital counterpart, which can also issue reminders a week or day or whenever in advance.
Photo album. Back in the day, "Let me show you pictures of my grandchildren" used to be followed by the pulling out of a wallet or purse. Today, beware when the smartphone emerges. The capacity seems endless.
Sticky notes. Developed under the trademark Post-It notes, these paper reminders are still plentiful, but people are finding electronic alternatives have several advantages: They can be searched by keyword; alarms can be set for them; they don't fall off and get lost. Aware of this, Post-It notes has an app for smartphones.
Pedometers. Smartphones, coupled with a smartwatch, can also monitor heart rate.
Maps and GPS. If a car didn't have a road map in the glove compartment, there may have been a GPS system for finding routes on board. Now, a smartphone will do — and there's no puzzle on folding it back up.
Microwave ovens. Ah, not yet. But don't be surprised.
Lonnie Brown can be reached at LedgerDatabase@aol.com.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Is there anything the smartphone hasn't replaced? Or won't, with time?
