In this thread about cleaning eyeglasses, I mentioned that men’s (cloth) handkerchiefs could be added to “the list of Rapidly Disappearing Products”. It occured to me too late to edit that “Rapidly” might not be quite correct, as that implies that they are in the process of becoming noticeably less common right now. In fact that occured a while back. Still, they are not entirely gone, still available in a handful of home linen stores that know their more senior customers still want them.
Yet once they were easy to find; I remember seeing boxed sets stacked on tables in department store aisles for Christmas, Father’s Day, and so on - a practical gift for a parent from a small child with a small gift budget.
What are some other products that could fit on this list? Three rules:
You have to actually remember the product being widely available. No buggy whips, unless you can prove you’re older than dirt.
You have to have seen the product for sale in a store (bricks-and-mortar or online) in about the last year. Used ones on eBay don’t count.
It has to be a whole product, not just a particular brand or type of packaging. If you can only buy your favorite shampoo at one store clear across town now, well, I understand it’s inconvenient, but it doesn’t count because shampoo is still broadly available.
Some more products I’d put on the list:[ul][li]VCRs[]VHS tapes[]tubed televisions[]CRT monitors[]Polaroid film[/ul]I suspect electrical and electronic devices and their accessories are going to dominate this list…[/li]
Other suggestions?
Analog medical thermometers. Mercury thermometers were pretty much removed from the market a few years ago (toxic hazard), and I don’t see those plastic strips that change color when pressed against the forehead anymore. I occasionally see non-mercury analog thermometers that are bulkier than the old mercury ones, but the low-end of the category has been taken by digital thermometers which, at their slowest, are three times as fast as the old analog (1 minute for cheap digital ones, 3 minutes for analog), and it seems digital temporal and ear thermometers have taken over the majority of the market. People my own age don’t even know how to use the old ones-- my ex-wife used to bring me the mercury thermometer so that I could “figure it out” after she used it.
Audio cassette tapes. Recorded music, of course, abandoned them a while back, but outside of dictation purposes, even blank cassettes (any size) are kind of pointless now, with the micro/mini sizes seeming to retain more utility than the “compact cassette” standard. And they’ll become a more and more minor part of the dictation market, too. (Similarly, I know where to buy typewriter ribbons, typeface wheels, and such, and they’re marketed to the folks still using audio cassettes.)
A few things that come to mind:
[ul]
[li]Carburetors on cars[/li][li]Analog meters (VOM, VTVM)[/li][li]Drum brakes on cars[/li][li]Cassette Walkman type players[/li][li]Audio cassettes in general (many new cars no longer have a cassette player built in)[/li][/ul]
45s aren’t completely dead; 12" 45 RPM records are still made for DJs (and wanna-bes), and 7" records are made in small batches for indie labels (punk, ska, etc.), and I still see ads for 7" 45 reproduction sets for jukebox owner/operators. There are a number of independent record pressers out there (literally garage/basement operations in a few cases), so any label who cares to can do a 45 release even now, and there are a few cutters out there who can do one-off masters for specialty use.
I went searching for a turntable last year and had a hell of a time. Finally found one, but it wasn’t easy. We browse used record stores all the time, but I can’t even remember buying a new one in a regular store it’s been so long.
Nostalgic looking sets like this are making money, so who knows?
Stern Pinball, the last of the Chicago coin-op companies, survives, though they just “downsized” and apparently only have a few more machines in the pipeline. I’m afraid that, in the long run though, you’re probably right.
VHS rewinders
Rotary dial phones
Air popcorn makers
Ashtrays in cars
3 speed automatic transmissions
Front row bench seats in cars
3.5" floppy drives
Suitcases
Flashlights with incandescent bulbs
Pull-tab cans
Disposable cartridge razors with only one blade
Stand up arcade games without light guns
TVs without stereo speakers
I wonder how long that will last. Seriously, I am unaware of any manufacturers still making projectors, though I found that there are still a couple of viewers still being made.
At first I thought you meant TVs that had vacuum tubes, rather than transistors. Those are long gone!
When I walked into the local Best Buy a few weeks ago, I was surprised to see turntables prominently displayed near the front of the store. Apparently turntables with USB connectivity are finding a market.
35 mm film in a variety of ASA speeds used to be common in drug and big-box stores. Now, most stores have only 200 and 400. Many grocery and convenience stores carry only the one-use camera in either 200 or 400 speed–no film for real cameras at all.
Ridiculously-overpriced SD cards have shoved ridiculously-overpriced film off the racks @ state park and national park trading posts.
When I received my digital camera two Christmases ago, my 35mm was only about 2 years old and finding a variety of film in Wally’s or Target–including B&W–was no problem.
My backup camera is rapidly becoming a paper weight.
Are the platters made of metal and heavy? If not, you run the risk of excessive wow and flutter. I’m looking at one of these from good old Drew Kaplan (Yeah! He’s back!)
There are probably more high-end audiophile (read expensive) turntables available now than there ever has been in the past. It is the cheap mass consumer turntables which have more or less gone, probably because they sound like crap.