Clayton Alsub loves making cassette mix tapes because of the variety of sounds, length of the cassette tapes and personal enjoyment he gets from manual mixing.But his love has become a lost art with new technology.”Using cassette tapes gives you more freedom and different sounds,” the philosophy graduate student said. “You’re also more involved. You can get lazy making mixed CDs; all you do is drag and drop.”Technology is advancing at a rapid pace, with new releases like iPods and Blu-ray players replacing older classics such as vinyls and VCRs. And the constant advances may soon cause these older classics to become obsolete.Todd Board, senior vice president of Ipsos MediaCT — a marketing research company — said the technology industry uses a well-known marketing strategy of making products obsolete — a strategy dating back to the early auto industry. He said companies compete, trying to beat competitors in marketing a new product that outdates its previous product release.Many people are unsure about investing in new technology because they don’t know what will be released in the future, causing an uncertainty factor, Board said.”Part of the market is strategy, part is chaos,” he said. “Because of the uncertainty, people will buy what’s attractive to them, but that doesn’t mean the new releases will be a standard.”Jourdan Arnaud, mass communication sophomore, said she considers herself to be up to date on the latest electronic releases.”I have an iPod touch and just bought a new MacBook a few months ago,” she said.Board said Blu-ray players may soon be replaced by digital downloads of movies to video game consoles like the Xbox, because many consumers already have consoles.”There is the leap frog potential there,” he said. “Many people will want to download movies and games directly to a game console because they don’t want to invest in a Blu-ray player.”Board said smart phones may be on the path to extinction, with the possible popularization of net books, small laptop computers designed for wireless communication. Wireless carriers may start to subsidize net book sales, he said.Though smart phones are a current trend, in a few years consumers may switch to net books and Wi-Fi calling, reverting to cheap cell phones for emergency use only, he said.Board said in the past, researchers played around with the possibility of 3-D technology, before pushing it to the back seat. Researchers are bringing the idea back, developing 3-D gaming, 3-D eye wear accessories and the possibility of 3-D TV, Board said.Other outdated products to return to popularity are cassette players, used as MP3 player adaptors for automobile stereos, and vinyls, made popular by products like the ION turntable, which allows users to load vinyl tracks onto a computer. “I just got an ION turntable that lets me digitalize cuts on audio,” Board said. “MP3’s aren’t the highest quality to a true audiophile. They have a different sound than in the past — it’s too perfect.”Board said plastic casing could be the next step in electronic designs, creating a vintage, old-school look popular with some groups of consumers.”Plastic isn’t mined as much as it could be,” Board said. “It can be used to encase sleek, new quality electronic products.”Board said nine years ago, the idea of push technology — having information “pushed” over the internet directly to a person — was popular. He said push technology enthusiasm decreased in past years, before being revamped by Twitter.Board said though the form may change, the idea of television will remain long into the future because of the human need to experience other cultures and places.”Humans love shiny, moving objects,” he said. “TV will be here long after people no longer know why it’s called ‘TV.'”Ralph Portier, environmental studies professor, said dumping electronics into landfills was not seen as an issue a decade ago, but with assimilation of technology into everyday life, landfills are a growing concern.”The same problem occurred in the ’50s and ’60s,” he said. “Junk yards with abandoned automobiles were very common; now they sell them for parts.”Craig Colten, geography professor, said many companies have adopted the practice of exporting electronic waste oversees, using cheap labor to extract metal and reusable bits and pieces. He said many of these countries have problems with toxic metals found in circuit boards poisoning water supplies.”Some parts of computers and other electronics can be recycled, but the bulk goes into the landfill,” he said.Portier said dumping electronics, which contain lead, solvents and chemicals, into landfills can cause extremely expensive superfund sites and damage soil and groundwater.Portier said companies are starting to use cradle to the grave models for electronic production, keeping track of all chemicals and building materials, and creating plans on appropriate disposal.”If the economy slows to the point where recycling is no longer profitable, we’ll see a strong decrease in recycling,” he said.The Capitol Area Corporate Recycling Council is a local non-profit organization that collects used electronics for recycling and reuse in the community.”We put computers back into schools and low income families,” said Nancy Craig, executive director. “Lots of material goes into classrooms to teach students how to build computers and to Head Start programs.”Craig said reusing electronics saves energy, money and materials. She said non-reusable materials are sent to venders throughout the state for recycling.Arnaud said she has some gadgets from the past, such as a CD player and giga pets, but she has given the rest away.”I’m not much of a pack rat,” she said. “I usually give away old things to Goodwill, friends or siblings … I like the new technology — it gets faster with each generation.”Ladawn Dupree, biological sciences sophomore, said she avoids last decade’s popular technology by throwing away what she can.”I don’t touch that [old electronic] stuff,” she said. “They take up space, and I don’t like junk.”Tracey Rizzuto, psychology professor, said research shows the willingness or reluctance to embrace new technology is based on personality traits.Rizzuto said the main factor is experience — people exposed to new technology tend to be open to new ideas and creativity, while those with less experience stick to the tools they’ve always had.”It’s too expensive, unless you’re going to devote a huge amount of income to keep with new products,” Alsub said.—-Contact Steven Powell at [email protected]