r/accelerate • u/dental_danylle • 4d ago

Discussion What everyday technology do you think will disappear completely within the next 20 years?

Tech shifts often feel gradual, but then suddenly something just vanishes. Fax machines, landlines, VHS tapes — all were normal and then gone.

Looking ahead 20 years, what’s around us now that you think will completely disappear? Cars as we know them? Physical cash? Plastic credit cards? Traditional universities?

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u/UsurisRaikov 3d ago

Fossil Fuels.

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u/False_Process_4569 Techno-Optimist 3d ago

Hah! You're not wrong because it is a finite resource and we seem to be gobbling it all up faster and faster (XLR8?) so that it will run out sooner. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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u/Cheers59 2d ago

The Stone Age didn’t end because we ran out of stones.

Also, every resource is finite. Hell, our universe is finite.

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u/UsurisRaikov 3d ago

Plausible!

I just think grid conversion to fusion is gonna prompt a lot of downstream architecture to scale up to power demands. And ripping through coal and gas is, to your point, a limited purchase.

A country like China will be operating in energy abundance as soon as they get that fusion plant fired up, and countries that want to stay "competitive" (see also; relevant) will have to follow suit.

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u/False_Process_4569 Techno-Optimist 3d ago

It's only a matter of time. Hell, even without fusion, renewables like solar and wind are becoming cheaper by the year. The transition will happen.

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u/initiali5ed 2d ago

Is happening