Granted, this list comes from a particular perspective formed in the technology industry, so it may be skewed. But I think the same items are disappearing from most other office environments.
12. Intercoms
By this I mean a device that is nothing but an intercom, not the intercom function of a desk phone. My father had an ancient set of intercoms that he once used in his office and retired them before I was a teenager. So these have been gone for a long while now. With the advent of the modern office phone systems, the ability to call desk to desk without dialing outside of the company rendered these truly extinct.
Replaced by: office phone system
11. Typewriter
Once the most required piece of equipment in any office. Some offices had fleets of typewriters the way modern offices have co many computers today. At one time electric typewriters were the epitome of technology in an office. Now, they are derelicts from the past that get hauled out extremely rare occasions for some obscure requirement of some official documentation.
Replaced by: computers
10. Carbon Paper
This goes hand in hand with the typewriter. One of the things you were taught in typing class was the way to handle and use carbon paper so you could type out an original and a copy simultaneously, without getting carbon all over everything.
Replaced by: photocopy machines
9.Rolodex
There was a time when a Rolodex was the state of the art way of maintaining contacts. It is doubtful that there are many under the age of 30 that even know what they are.
Replaced by: software on computers and phones to track contacts
8. Cut and Paste Supplies
The computer paradigm of "cut and paste" originated from the use of physically cutting out printed material and pictures and pasting them to another piece of paper. Many secretaries and administrative assistants spent a great deal of time using scissors or a straight edge and hobby knife to cut out items for a presentation, then carefully pasted them onto another piece of paper, or sometimes a presentation board. Not too many years ago, the tools and supplies for this were crucial in the office but now they are often hard to find.
Replaced by: software for document and presentation generation
7. 3-Ring Binders
As fewer people need printed documents for long term use, fewer people are printing documents to store in a 3-ring binder. I used to have shelves of technical manuals and the like in 3-ring binders, all neatly organized with labels I made to slip into their spines to identify them easily. I, like so many others, have found such manual use of printed documents to be more of a hassle than simply viewing an electronic document with the ability to search it quickly and efficiently. So now, there seem to be a lot less 3-ring binders in offices.
Replaced by: computers and digital storage
6. 3-Hole Punch
This goes hand in hand with the 3-ring binders. If you don't have a need to store something in a 3-ring binder, you don't need to put 3 perfectly circular holes in the edge of a piece of paper.
Replaced by: nothing
5. Staplers
I know you still see them in offices. I know there are still uses for them. But once upon a time, everyone who started in an office was issued a stapler and usually a stapler puller. In the past 10 years I have seen that change. No longer are employees issued their own stapler. Now, they find one available on someone else's desk, in the mail room, or some other place. The paperless office really is more reality now than ever before and because of this, all those items to manipulate, store, and modify paper are becoming a rare item.
Replaced by: nothing
4. Floppy Disks
With the advent of the personal computer, boxes of floppy disks were common in all office supply cabinets. Everyone needed floppies and they were bought by the hundreds. However, as storage needs drove the development of CD-ROM and DVD-ROM, floppy disks were just not enough. You would be hard pressed to find them in today's offices.
Replaced by: CD-RW/CD-ROM
3. CD-RW/CD-ROM Media
Similar to what drove the extinction of the floppy disk, the sheer volume of today's storage requirements quickly exceeds that available in a CD-ROM. And with all laptops and desktop computers shipping with DVD writers in the past few years, it is more common to use DVD storage.
Replaced by: DVD-RW/DVD-ROM
2. Fax Machines
These have not gone away completely. Every office seemingly has the need for a paper fax. But this item specifically can be replaced by a number of things, including e-fax software that sends a scanned document image directly to someone else for display and storage on a computer.
Replaced by: software and scanners
1. Desktop Computers
More often than not, employers expect their office employees to do some work off the clock, or at home. So they are issued laptop computers instead of desktop computers. This is very common. This is so common in many offices that it is hard to find a modern desktop computer as most of them are a few years old. You will find these in offices that have no need or desire for their employees to take home any work or any technology. But in most modern technology companies, using laptops and mobile devices instead of desktop computers is becoming the norm.
Replaced by: laptops and tablets
There it is. My own person list of a dozen items that were once common in the American office but have either mostly disappeared, or are on their way out. There are always exceptions and an argument can be made for each of these items as to their utility and required presence. But I believe those are exceptions and not the norm.
Copyright 2012, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)
