# What became ubiquitous then went away in your lifetime? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 10, 2026, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180 "2026-04-10T22:01:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/1 "2026-04-10T22:01:18Z")
There are the two threads, one about how things are different from when you were a child, and the other is how are things the same. There are the two threads, one about how things are different from when you were a child, and the other is, how are things the same. What are things that weren’t there when you were a child, but became ubiquitous or very popular, and then went away? For me, the first thing I think about is the fax machine. In the 80s and 90s, all businesses have them and most Japanese had them in their homes. Then everyone went to email. Fax machines haven’t died completely, but most people never use them anymore. Another invention was telephone cards in Japan. Pay phones only took coins until the mid 80s, when they introduced prepaid telephone cards. Suddenly, they had to replace tens (hundreds?) of thousands of pay phones with ones that could read the cards. I have no idea if they still have phone cards now. I wouldn’t include Segway because it wasn’t ever that popular. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/2 "2026-04-10T22:03:00Z")
First two examples that come to mind are Friendster and Blackberries. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/3 "2026-04-10T22:03:15Z")
Stupid autocorrect in the title has been flagged. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/4 "2026-04-10T22:05:34Z")
Audio cassettes, VCRs, and probably CDs/DVDs in the very near future. As a child of the 80s, I remember being in cars with 8-tracks, and having a record player, but by the time I was musically aware, everyone had cassette players. By the time I was in college, CD’s were just starting their rise towards dominance, and by the time I was a semi-successful working adult, individual MP3 sales via iTunes and other digital media began their rise. The live TV / VCR / DVD / competing DVD+ formats / Streaming followed the same pattern. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/5 "2026-04-10T22:05:47Z")
Blackberries, VHS tapes and players, Video Stores, Cassette Tapes and Camcorders are some I thought of right away. CRT monitors and ball mice came and went also. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/6 "2026-04-10T22:10:04Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > CRT monitors and ball mice came and went also. And floppy disks. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/7 "2026-04-10T22:15:39Z")
We are so close to including messages boards. AOL ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/8 "2026-04-10T22:36:08Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > probably CDs/DVDs in the very near future. Future? Try 5 years ago. At least, that’s what it seems to me. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/9 "2026-04-10T23:20:55Z")
LOL Internet cafes. In the 2000s I frequented them all the time. Slowly they began closing one by one. I didn’t notice the trend immediately. In 2015, when I was 35, I already had Internet at home for about 3 years. IIRC my notebook was at a repair shop and I needed to print something out for work, so I went to the Internet cafe where I had once gone very regularly. It was not open to the public but the owner was there and said he wasn’t sure it was going to open again. I then realized they had become obsolete. And that’s when I started feeling old. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/10 "2026-04-10T23:22:49Z")
Pagers. We had one for our teens to carry, but since it only showed phone numbers, it was just for them to call us when the study group (or party) was over. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/11 "2026-04-10T23:50:40Z")
Video stores didn’t exist when I was a kid, then they were everywhere, then Blockbuster killed them, then streaming killed Blockbuster. Cassette tapes weren’t around when I was a kid either; 8-tracks were technically in existence but didn’t become popular until I was a pre-teen. Neither are around now. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/12 "2026-04-10T23:58:26Z")
In the vein of fax machines, answering machines became ubiquitous, and then vanished. Similar to the Japanese phone cards, might be the US long distance cards and dial around numbers for cheap long distance. Gen Alpha next to me says “long distance” is “like a big amount of miles”, so probably the whole concept of telephone long distance is gone. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2026, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/13 "2026-04-11T00:03:32Z")
1-800-Call-ATT! ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2026, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/14 "2026-04-11T00:13:52Z")
I can still buy DVDs and CD’s of new releases, just ever fewer, and the period where you could get all sorts of weird, unpopular movies and obscure TV shows that flourished for a while is gone as well. So does it exist still? Yes, but I expect it to be gone in the near future. IIRC _vinyl_ is outselling CDs these days… but speaking of that rebound: > **[DVDs are the new vinyl records: Why Gen Z is embracing physical media](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2026-02-23/why-gen-z-wants-to-buy-rent-dvds-blu-rays-in-age-of-streaming)** > > As streaming continues to dominate the film and TV industry, many Gen Z movie watchers are opting out and choosing physical formats instead. So who knows, retro coolness and frustration with streaming arbitrariness may be a thing? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2026, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/15 "2026-04-11T00:17:45Z")
Mood rings. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2026, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/16 "2026-04-11T00:23:30Z")
Apparently college kids don’t buy physical textbooks anymore? When I started at my current job, all the engineers had miniature library collections; now the new hires have pretty much nothing. I guess this goes hand-in-hand with the P.E. exam becoming closed book. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2026, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/17 "2026-04-11T00:26:43Z")
Another music deliverer that disappeared was the reel-to-reel deck for home use. Betamax, although it probably wouldn’t qualify as ubiquitous. My sister had one. Tube (CRT) TVs. Monaural records and players. Transistor radios. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2026, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/18 "2026-04-11T00:27:30Z")
Indoor malls? They started popping up in the very late ‘50s, then an explosion of malls in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s and from what I can tell, they’re almost extinct. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2026, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/19 "2026-04-11T01:16:30Z")
While I know virtually nothing about fashion, it is my impression that some fashions became extremely popular and then virtually extinct. Anything come to mind? ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2026, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180/20 "2026-04-11T01:18:25Z")
K-Mart. Sears. MP3 players. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-became-ubiquitous-then-went-away-in-your-lifetime/1029180.md?page=2)