IEEE Poll: Set-Tops, DVDs, MP3s Soon to Die

According to a recent IEEE poll, several entertainment gadgets will become extinct, desktop computers will live on, mobile phones will not be used as all-in-one devices, and paper will still be plentiful this year. These predictions come from the "2013 Gadget Graveyard," a Facebook application where more than 1,700 IEEE members, engineers, engineering students and CES attendees cast more than 25,000 votes.

• Respondents voted that CD-ROMs (75%), radios (58%), MP3 players (55%), DVDs (53%) and cable boxes (51%) will enter the Gadget Graveyard by the end of 2013. As Internet streaming services continue to rise in popularity, traditional media devices will likely be less relevant with consumers.



• Desktop computers are expected to live on for another year. The computing power of tablets and smartphones has not reached a point where people are ready to give up their towers, with three out of five (62%) voters indicating that desktops will not enter the Gadget Graveyard.



• While many smartphones have the ability to take great pictures, provide directions from point A to B, and host apps that can lock the car, many voters aren't ready to say goodbye to their single-function devices. The majority of voters expect cameras (75%), car keys (60%) and GPS units (58%) to survive another year.



• Despite the availability of laptops and tablets, the majority of voters said spiral-bound paper notebooks will hang around (64%). Other paper-based items, including printers (81%) and printed money (74%), also topped the list of gadgets least likely to die out in 2013.