The world's largest technical professional institute, IEEE (News - Alert) (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), recently released the key findings of its 2013 Gadget Graveyard, a Facebook application that saw more than 1,700 IEEE members, engineers, engineering students and CES (News - Alert) attendees cast over 25,000 votes as to what devices they believe will be abandoned this year.
"The Gadget Graveyard results have telling implications about the rapid pace of advancement in technology," said Stefan Mozar, president of the IEEE Consumer Electronics Society, in a statement. "In the technology industry, we tend to think about 'what's next.' But, it's also important to revisit the value of heritage devices and remember that despite constant innovation, it can take time for new technology to gain widespread adaptation."
Most of the technology expected to bite the dust this year are related to media consumption, with 75 percent of respondents voting CD-ROMs likely to be retired in 2013, followed by radios at 58 percent, MP3 players at 55 percent, DVDs at 53 percent and cable boxes at 51 percent. None of this is too surprising as streaming devices continue to grow in popularity and smartphones have largely taken the place of proprietary portable media players.
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Meanwhile, desktops are expected to avoid the Gadget Graveyard for at least another year, according to 62 percent of voters, with many stating that they don't think mobile devices are ready to offer all-in-one functionality just yet. In fact, voters identified that individual devices such as cameras (75 percent), car keys (60 percent) and GPS systems (58 percent) have not been made obsolete by the smartphone just yet.
Lastly, 64 percent of respondents stated that spiral-bound notebooks will stick around until next year, despite the ever-increasing availability of laptops and tablets.
Last year, the IEEE identified areas in the optical fiber and telecommunications industry that could be affected by advances in data consumption and speed requirements. Although fiber capacity demonstrations have managed the feat of transmitting 100 terabits of data per second through a single optical wire, growth trends suggest this will need to get even faster to catch up.
