9 Things We Still Spend Money On That Are About to Become Outdated

3 years ago

Keeping up with a rapidly changing world is a real challenge. It seems like yesterday that we watched cartoons from Walt Disney that were recorded on videotapes, and today, our children ask us what kind of unusual miracle device a VHS player is. But this fate can even befall the things that we’ve literally just bought.

We at Bright Side tried to figure out when you should stop and think before buying certain items because their relevance is hanging by a thread.

Your own car

In large cities, a private car is increasingly becoming not only a means of transportation but also a source of additional issues. The cost of gasoline, maintenance, car washes, repairs, and other seemingly small things can imperceptibly eat up an impressive part of your budget. And there are all kinds of transport taxes, parking difficulties, and just the stress of being stuck in long traffic jams.

There is also a trend toward a healthy and active lifestyle, which convinces more and more people to opt for bicycles and electric scooters. And if you travel with a group of people or in bad weather, it’s convenient to use a taxi and the increasingly popular car-sharing services.

Everything is good about car-sharing services, but never, just never get into even a small accident while driving a car. Despite all the insurance and the fines for the incident, the whole thing can still cost half your salary.

Underwired bras with padded foam inserts

Heavy underwired bras, which were maybe relevant 5 years ago, have recently been replaced by all kinds of bralettes and bustiers without underwires, voluminous inserts, and often even without fasteners. And, as a result, they give their owner maximum comfort, making them forget about thoughts of how to get home as soon as possible, take off their bra, and finally relax. And for women with large busts, contrary to stereotypes, there are also options with molded cups.

My doctor said to forget and throw away all these padded foam torture tools. I listened to her, threw them out, and bought bralettes. They’re nice, comfortable, and much cheaper!

Desktop computer

The ubiquity of remote work options invariably leads to the fact that the equipment for this work should be light, mobile, and give its owner the opportunity to change their office, even to a sun lounger by the sea (or just a bed with a cat by your side). And given the fact that modern laptops can reach capacities comparable to stationary home computers, the choice for most people becomes obvious.

I replaced my desktop with a laptop and now, I don’t understand why I didn’t do it earlier. You can work sitting, lying, on the floor, or on the sofa. Moreover, it turned out to be faster than the stationary one.

Camera

Today, every smartphone combines the functions of many different devices — an alarm clock, a calculator, a music player, and, of course, a camera. Smartphones are small, compact, and are always at hand, and the quality of the pictures is often not inferior to small cameras. And if a user takes photos only for themselves and for their social network accounts, using a smartphone for these purposes is more than enough for many people today.

I am not a professional photographer. And not even an amateur one. I don’t need my photographs to look whimsical and artistic. I just need for them to be detailed, sharp, and color-accurate. And since all of my smartphones are more than capable of meeting those needs, there’s no reason for me to carry around a digital camera. © Alexander Lee / Quora

Fur vests

If we’ve managed to almost forget about fur coats (that are made of natural fur), then fur vests, especially worn in combination with leather jackets, could be seen almost everywhere until recently. Having given in to the hype, fashionistas spent a considerable amount of money on them, and then fashion took another turn and made this wardrobe item outdated. In general, these vests have revealed their impracticality — it is rather difficult to combine them with outerwear.

My former colleague spent an amount of money approximately equal to her monthly salary on a fur vest, put it on 3 times, and then hung it in the back closet, forgetting about it forever.

External hard drives

Cloud storage technologies are successfully gaining popularity among more and more people. And this isn’t a surprise, because, with their help, you can get instant access to your files on any device, work with several people (for example, your colleagues) at the same time, and you just don’t have to carry anything extra with you, unlike portable devices.

Today, there are a huge number of different cloud drives. They’re a must for anyone promoting their product in the internet industry. I use Google Drive for large files and iCloud (installed by default on Apple devices). © Danya Evgenievich / TheQuestion

Wallets

Paying in cash is losing its attractiveness day by day. If you can pay for your purchases with a credit card, your phone, a watch, a bracelet, or even a ring, then why would you carry a bulky wallet with you that can’t even fit into small bags? And there are mobile apps for the stacks of discount cards you’ve gathered over time.

Over a year ago, I changed my huge wallet to a small leather case that was originally sold as a package for a travel ticket. I can fit a bank card and a subscription to a dance school in it, and that’s enough for me.

Tablet

It seems that until recently, tablets were quite popular because they are lightweight, are relatively compact, and have a large screen. But in recent years, a lot of ultra-thin laptops have appeared on the market (moreover, most of them even have a touchscreen), and modern smartphones have significantly expanded their functionality, making a tablet an unessential device.

Because large-screen smartphones are becoming trendy, tablets as a class of devices are actively dying out. Only a few premium tablet lines can be named out of new models, and all the rest of the variety has virtually disappeared. There are 3-4-year-old models available on the market. © Anton Kharlamov / YandexQ

Multi-function shower cabins

People used to line up in droves to buy showers with a huge number of functions. Hydromassage, a radio, a massive pallet — all these features created a real wow-effect and amazed people. But a little later, it turned out that almost no one uses all of these additional functions — we forgot about the radio, the hydromassage was turned on once a week (at most), and cleaning this kind of shower cabin took up a lot of time.