Obsolete

Updated: 06/22/2024 by Computer Hope
obsolete in white lettering on red background.

With technology, the term obsolete describes a computer, hardware, or software considered outdated, no longer useful, or no longer manufactured. For example, the 80286 (286) computer is considered obsolete technology.

Examples of obsolete computer products

The following list contains computer hardware and technology considered obsolete or rarely used today and what, if anything, replaced each one.

Note

Although something may be labeled as obsolete, it doesn't mean it's no longer used by anyone. It indicates that most people have moved on to another technology. Also, the technologies may be replaced multiple times by new inventions (e.g., day planner → PDA → smartphone).

Obsolete Replaced by
3D TV Smart TV
AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) PCIe (PCI Express)
ARC (Advanced RISC Computing)  
BBS (Bulletin Board System) Internet
BlackBerry devices Android smartphones and iPhones
Camcorder Digital camcorder
Camera Digital camera
Cassette Floppy diskette
CD (Compact Disc) DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)
CD-i (Compact Disc-interactive) CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory)
CD-R (Compact Disc Recordable) and CD-R drive DVD-R (Digital Versatile Disc Recordable) and Flash drive
CGA (Color Graphics Adapter) EGA (Enhanced Graphics Adapter)
CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitor Flat panel displays
Dial-up modem Broadband
DAT (Digital Audio Tape) QIC (Quarter-Inch Cartridge)
Day planner PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)
Dot matrix printer Inkjet printer and laser printer
Digital camcorder Smartphone
Digital camera Smartphone
Drum plotter Inkjet printer and laser printer
DVD Blu-ray and streaming
EDO (Extended Data Out) memory BEDO (Burst Extended Data Out) memory
EGA VGA (Video Graphics Adapter)
EISA (Extended Industry Standard Architecture) PCI (peripheral component interconnect)
Fax machine E-mail
Fax modem E-mail
Floppy diskette and Floppy diskette drive CD and CD-ROM drive
Game port USB (Universal Serial Bus)
Gas-plasma display LCD (Liquid-Crystal Display) and LED (Light-Emitting Diode)
HDD (Hard Disk Drive) SSD (Solid-State Drive)
Impact printers Inkjet printer and laser printer
iPod Smartphone and streaming
GPS (Global Positioning System) standalone Smartphone
HD DVD (high definition digital versatile disc) Blu-ray
HGA (Hercules Graphics Adapter) VGA
IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) SATA (Serial AT Attachment)
ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) PCI (peripheral component interconnect)
JavaStation Desktop computer
Jaz drive CD-R and CD-R drive
Laserdisc DVD
Letter-quality printer Inkjet printer and laser printer
Light pen Touch screen
MCA (Micro Channel Architecture) ISA
MDA (Monochrome Display Adapter) HGA
Mechanical mouse Optical mouse
Microfilm reader Internet
MiniDisc CD
MP3 player Smartphone and streaming
Myspace Facebook
NFT (Non-Fungible Token)  
Optical-mechanical mouse Optical mouse
Overhead projector Digital projector
Pager Smartphone
Parallel port USB
PCI PCIe
PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) USB
PDA Smartphone
Phototypesetter Word processor
POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) Cell phone, ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
PS/2 port USB
Punch cards Magnetic media
Punch tape Magnetic media
SBus PCI
Segway Electric bikes
Serial port USB
Slide projector Digital projector
Slide rule Calculator
Solid-ink printer Inkjet printer
SuperDisk diskette & drive CD-R and CD-R drive
S-Video HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface)
Turbo button  
Typewriter Word processor
Vacuum tube Transistor
VGA SVGA (Super Video Graphics Array)
VGA port DVI (Digital Visual Interface) and HDMI
VHS (Video Home System) DVD
Videodisk CD-ROM and DVD
Vine TikTok
VL bus PCI
Walkman MP3 player
Windows Phone Android smartphones and iPhones
Zip drive CD-R and CD-R drive
Zune iPod
Tip

Google is known to abandon a lot of products and services, see our Google page for a listing of only their products.

Abandonware, Business terms, Computer museums, Dead game, Deprecated, EOL, E-waste, Fad, Legacy, Modern