We said goodbye to some tech favorites in 2017

 2018-01-09

2017 was truly the year of out with the old, in with the new. It was the end of an era for many of our one-time favorites. Here is a brief list of those that were once at the height of popularity:

The iPhone Home Button

‘What!?!’ We hear you cry. Well yes, it finally happened. Apple did away with the home button on its newest and most expensive iPhone, the iPhone X. Instead of a home button, the phone is unlocked using facial recognition and for everything else where you would normally use the home button, fluid gesture controls will do the trick. So, for example, instead of holding down the home button for Siri, a simple ‘hey siri’ spoken into the phone will work – or just press the larger side button. We can’t be sure if this really is the end to the home button or whether it was a one-off for the anniversary addition phone so we will have to wait until the next one is released (probably September).

iPod Nano and Shuffle

Carrying on with the Apple theme, 2017 said a final goodbye to the iPod Nano and shuffle models. Ultimately, most of us now stream music and so the old fashioned iPod models now seem extremely archaic. However, let’s not forget that these amazing and somewhat revolutionary devices changed the way we listened to music – putting our entire collections into our pockets. Apple still sells the Wi-Fi-enabled iPod Touch, so it's not quite the end for the iPod just yet.

AOL Instant Messenger

Were you a 90s kid? If so, you may remember rushing home to log onto AIM to share all their gossip with their friends. It was offered as a stand-alone download when it was first introduced in 1997 and led the way for the abundance of social media and messaging sites/apps that are available today. It’s demise was sealed with the emergence of more mobile-friendly chat services such as WhatsApp, Facebook messenger and Google’s GChat.

Vine

The start of 2017 saw an end to Vine. This fun-for-a-while video platform gave many people their 15 minutes of fame, turning a number of comedians and daredevils into famous internet stars. However January 2017 marked its last month.

Net Neutrality

The 2015 rules, that regulated the internet ensuring all traffic was treated as equal, were ended by the Federal Communication Commission's 3-2 vote earlier in December 2017. Not all decisions have been finalized, but the move ensures that internet service providers can block certain sites, slow down other and give priority to those who pay.

Yahoo

This may be slightly misleading as Yahoo is very much still up and running, but the former number one did end a huge chapter in internet history with a sale. You will no doubt be aware of the financial loss the company has suffered as well as two very high profile hacks, however a sale was agreed with Verizon, which has placed Yahoo, together with AOL, under a new parent company called Oath.