The fast-moving world of technology

I was pondering the other day with a mate, what we did before the advent of digital cameras and mobile phones (or indeed mobile phones with digital cameras).
They are now ubiquitous, but even five years ago, if you had a mobile phone with a built in digital camera, you were the envy of your friends.
Nowadays, they are on the verge of being given away in packets of cereal such is their availability and affordability.
Nerds out there will often make reference to Moore’s Law of Computing which basically says that new computers will either double in capacity or halve in size every 18 months (if you’re a nerd and you disagree with my summation, tough).
The same rule can be applied to more areas of technology too, such as mobile phones, digital cameras, digital music players and the like.
My first mobile phone was one of the most popular Nokia models, the 5110, which provided a basic grey screen, some dodgy ringtones and the ability to buy multi-coloured covers.
Scroll forward and today my phone of choice is a Sony Ericsson W810i which, even though it has an mp3 player, a digital camera, bluetooth, a built in radio, a colour screen and a voice recorder, is still considered antiquated because it’s approaching its second birthday.
The digital camera I have has under 5 megapixels which makes it the equivalent of caveman paintings compared to the squillion pixel cameras currently on the market.
At least my iPod Nano is up to date, but the screen is bust so all I can use it for is music and not photographs, games, videos or podcasts.
Casting my mind back, I can remember getting my first walkman cassette player in 1989 after collecting NCF (now Connacht Gold) tokens. Music cassettes look and feel so antiquated now. Even CDs are considered old-hat these days.
My first twin deck cassette player was another milestone which seems hilariously out-of-date these days.
Ironically, it is now the older technology which has become more expensive. Walk into your local electrical retailer and you can pick up a DVD player for as little as E30. However, a Video Cassette Recorder costs more, because it is viewed by the home entertainment industry as a dying form.
The only format which seems to be bucking the trend is, ironically, the oldest still in use – Vinyl.
Vinyl long players from bands like Radiohead, Coldplay or Duffy are available by special order or from discerning stores. You never know. In ten years time, movie studios might release new films on VHS format, just for old time’s sake.