Pagers, PDAs and floppy disks are all technologies of the past. But other obsolete technology lingers on. Sometimes it's the cost of replacement that keeps them alive. Other times, it's just a comfort level that IT shops are not willing to give up.

CIO.com put together a list of technology that should be retired. Here are some of the website's picks:

• Fax Machines - You'd be surprised at the number of organizations that tell someone, "Fax it to me." Faxed documents usually start out in a digital form. Then they are converted to a paper format. Then the fax scans it back into a digital format. What a waste. Time to send the fax machine to the tech museum.
• www - Time to retire this prefix for addresses. The browser fills it in for you even when you don't type it. So why duplicate efforts?
• Business cards - These are an idea whose time is long gone. Everything is online these days, including business calling cards.
• Landline phones - About the only reason to have one at home is if you live in an area where there are blackouts that take down a cellular tower.

There are plenty of other antiques I would add to this list, starting with dial-up service and desktops. Mobile apps and social networks are making email ancient too.

We understand how difficult it is to get rid of tried-and-true technology, but we're sure there are better tools on the market and remarkable ones just around the corner.

For more on obsolete technology:
- see this CIO.com article

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