Idée Fixins

After a friend told me about using her iPhone to help tune a capella singers in a rehearsal, I started thinking about just how many products the iPhone has eliminated, or will soon eliminate. Things that used to be standalone tools, now seem totally unnecessary, and in a generation will barely be remembered.

Here’s what I came up with in two minutes:

• Walkman, Discman, and MP3 player
• Calendar / datebook
• Address book
• Wristwatch
• Kitchen timer / egg timer
• Point-and-shoot camera
• Dictaphone
• GPS navigator
• US Atlas
• Metronome
• Tuning whistle
• Digital photo frame (more the iPad)
• Handheld gaming device like GameBoy, PSP, and Nintendo DS
• Portable DVD players
• Some sort of health / heartrate / exercise pedometer device, though I’m not really sure which one or how true this is
• Compass

I didn’t put E-Book Reader on the list, since I just got a Kindle and am now convinced it’s here to stay.

That’s just a start. What did I miss?