http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Sav...-2010.aspx
I agree with all on the list except
HOME TELEPHONE SERVICE and NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTIONS
1) Home telephone service
After having VOIP phone service for a few years now,i can honesty say I MISS OUR LANDLINE!! (Better quality,more reliable in many ways)
2) Newspaper subscriptions
Some stuff you read IN YOUR PAPER cannot be found online,so its worth it keeping it around.
I refuse to go to VOIP because it doesn't work when the power goes down or I don't have an internet connect.
I actually disagree with most of them, depending on your circumstances.
DVDs -> depends if you have such a provider in your area. With DVDs (or BD), you also get cover art, booklet etc, which I know, some fans are willing to pay the premium for.
I don't really know much about these services in the US, but how much do you "own" the video you rented? You probably don't, unlike a DVD. And if they do allow you to save a copy, expect it to be riddled with DRM, restricting what you can actually do. You could remove DRM, but then, you may as well pirate the movie instead. DVDs can also be shared amongst friends.
Also, monthly subscription fees aren't always suitable for everyone.
Will optical media for movies be phased out in the future? Probably, but not any time soon I think.
Home phone -> will take time, but if mobile phone calls become really cheap, it could be viable. Otherwise, it's not something you generally "buy".
External HDDs -> online service = very slow, especially considering that most peoples' connections are optimised for downloading, not uploading. Again same issue with online payments, and some people may have privacy concerns with online storage.
Right now, multiple HDDs are fine for backup.
And connection speeds cannot keep up with increasing HDD space.
I think this may be more practical once (and if) everyone moves to cloud computing. Otherwise, I don't see any reason not to get an external HDD now (just for backup, external HDDs have plenty of other uses too), if you need one.
Compact digital cameras -> as mentioned, the price. Technology is always going to become obsolete regardless of what you get. Typically low end products will not "stand up to technological advancement" as much as high end products. This is not anything special about cameras, but just something general in technology.
Newspaper/Magazine subscriptions -> yes, they're declining, but if you don't like online news for some reason, being trust, or having to read from a computer, then I see little reason not to buy it now.
CDs -> similar to DVDs, though will phase out earlier due to it being older technology.
New college textbooks -> unfortunately, publishers are aware of people recycling old textbooks (this is not a new issue - it's been around for ages) so they often release new editions every so often, usually just shuffling the pages around, to try to get people to buy new books.
Ebooks may pose a threat though and I probably agree with that part.
Energy-inefficient homes and appliances -> depends on cost against benefits.
I agree with Zinga on the DVD/CD/External HDD front. A lot of these things assume you have an amazing unrestricted Internet connection, which most people simply don't.
And remember; 10 movie's streaming over that Internet, and what happens to your own personal Internet? I just the other day, got Internet, Internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock the morning on Friday, I got it yesterday. Why? Because it got tangled up with all these things on the Internet going on commercially.
(2010-01-31, 08:46 AM)laie_techie Wrote: [ -> ]I refuse to go to VOIP because it doesn't work when the power goes down or I don't have an internet connect.
Um...your home phone dies too when the power goes out? I suppose you could be talking about cell phones, but those die out too.
(2010-01-31, 01:09 PM)Tierney Wrote: [ -> ]Um...your home phone dies too when the power goes out?
Not unless your home phone is a fancy thing, they normally just draw power from the phone line (at least that's how they work in the UK).
(2010-01-31, 01:09 PM)Tierney Wrote: [ -> ] (2010-01-31, 08:46 AM)laie_techie Wrote: [ -> ]I refuse to go to VOIP because it doesn't work when the power goes down or I don't have an internet connect.
Um...your home phone dies too when the power goes out? I suppose you could be talking about cell phones, but those die out too.
(2010-01-31, 04:34 PM)MrD. Wrote: [ -> ] (2010-01-31, 01:09 PM)Tierney Wrote: [ -> ]Um...your home phone dies too when the power goes out?
Not unless your home phone is a fancy thing, they normally just draw power from the phone line (at least that's how they work in the UK).
Yeah exactly, and that's why keeping a simple phone around is always great.
Newspaper subscriptions for sure. Well, maybe not. The older generation absolutely does not prefer to go on the internet.