All it means is that those who like their yellow light will need to switch over to power-saving alternatives such as CFL bulbs that guzzle less power. That is good news for the tube-light loving population of India, bad news for almost everyone else.

The bulb, as useful as it may be for drying out electrical gadgets that you’ve dropped in water, is energy inefficient as most of the power it consumes is wasted as heat.

But is the bulb the only anachronism left in the world? Hardly. t2 turns the light bulb on some other products that have outlived their utility…

Paper plane ticket

Discontinuing this makes sense — it saves money for the airlines and, with direct online booking, it saves time for the passenger. And it spares the trees. In 2007, it was reported by the International Air Transport Association, which represents around 240 airlines that operate most of the world’s flights, that the removal of paper ticketing would save $9 per passenger — and 50,000 trees a year.

Shreya Mukherjee, 24, content developer last held a paper plane ticket when she was 15. “It was a family trip and we were all going to Kerala. These days our agent just mails us our tickets and that’s what we use.”

But some associate the thick paper ticket with the charm of a simpler time. “Yes it’s far riskier since I keep losing things. But it doesn’t really feel like I’m on a holiday if I’m not waiting to board ticket in hand,” rues college student Madhushree Roy.

Postcards/Letters

When was the last time you “wrote” a letter? Or sent a postcard? This mode of communication is all but extinct now, traded for typing quick emails, instant messages and even texts. For who has the time to buy a postcard or an inland letter, find a pen, gather ones thoughts (since there is no backspace key to delete your indiscretions) and get writing? Electronic means are far more convenient, and often far cheaper.

How many people still even get hand-written snail mail? Most mailboxes are packed with printed bills or updates about investments. “Which is why stopping it altogether makes sense. Business mail is what I’d much rather have in my inbox than lying around gathering dust on my table,” points out Madhushree.

And even the mail that does find its way into your letterbox usually gets there via courier, making our relationship with the post office all but over.

Wristwatch

Though it makes a statement and is one of the very few accessories available to men, more and more people find themselves taking a peek at their mobile screens when they are in need of the time.

Business analyst Srijani Datta last used a wristwatch during her MA Part II exams, as mobiles were not allowed in the hall. “And I used it one year before during the Part I exams.”

But what is stranger is that people still seem to buy watches — and are willing to splash out quite large sums on them. “They just don’t wear them. Or they wear them as jewellery when they are dressing up,” points out Srijani.

Cassettes

If video killed the radio star, the CD killed the cassette business. The decline of cassettes started soon after its peak in the 1980s. By 2001, cassettes accounted for only 4 per cent of all music sold. Sales of pre-recorded music cassettes in the US dropped from 442 million in 1990 to 700,000 by 2006. Now the sound recording format that uses magnetic tape is as good as extinct. Yet this technology, which takes up more space and offers less clarity of sound compared to CDs, still lingers on, particularly in India — despite the fact that the CD is now receiving a thrashing from the iPod.

Software professional Ankit Basu, 26, who carries nearly all his music and documents in his pen drive, laughs. “Who even uses cassettes anymore? They are a waste of time, effort and space!”

Photo album

The last photo album media professional Devina Mukherjee, 24, remembers putting together was in 2004. And even though she doesn’t own a digital camera, all her photographs are put up online or stored in her laptop. “I miss the feeling of turning the pages of albums but it doesn’t make sense to get prints of every photograph we take.” For management student Sneha Gupta who takes her camera with her nearly every time she goes out with friends, taking prints is simply impractical. “I take more than 20 photos every time we go out. And that happens at least twice a month. It’s far simpler to mail the pictures or put them up on Facebook and let my friends figure out if at all they want prints,” she says.

Very few people t2 spoke to were willing to see the landline go altogether. Could it be that Preity Zinta and the ghastly BSNL ad had a point?

But chances are, it is only a matter of time. As technology updates itself, familiar features of the past will be replaced by objects that pack in ever more convenience and efficiency.

Bye-bye bulb.