﻿ Mixer 128 Techno Obsolete

128 Techno Obsolete

Listen to six people discuss what technology will become obsolete in the future.


Warren / Canada
speakerAs much as I like to read, I don't think books are going to be around forever. They take up a lot of space, and they use up a lot of material, a lot of natural resources. These days, we can already just have everything on an iPad or some other kind of electronic device. So, we don't really need them.

Antoinette / United States
speakerI wonder. I think the television will become obsolete. we can access news broadcasts and television shows through the internet and on our computers, and even on our cellphones. So, huge, large, clanky televisions are probably on their way out.

Sarah / England
speakerThe technology that will become obsolete, I think, will be the CD. Now, we have the ability to download music and put that track directly on to a music player. I think the tangible item of a CD will be obsolete, because there is no need for them now. You can put them onto a pen drive or you can put them onto a music player, and you can always have them wherever you are.

Matt / United States
speakerI think technologies, such as digital cameras and handheld gaming devices will become obsolete in the next two or three years. That's because they have new technologies that, such as cellphones that are gaming centers, that are digital cameras and do everything all in one. So, you don't need to have a cellphone and a digital camera. You don't need to have a cellphone and a handheld gaming device. You can have all in one.

Rese / Botswana
speakerI think the desktop computers have really started to become obsolete and will continue to become more and more obsolete because of the various technologies, like laptops and iPads and iPhones that already give you access to all the things that a desktop computer can give you access to and that are more mobile than the desktop computer.

Lindsay / United States
speakerI think cars someday in the future will become obsolete. We'll still have transportation vehicles, but it won't necessarily be a car dependent on oil. It might be like an electric car, or maybe it will be dependent on wind fuel or solar energy, something different.

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

by comparison with


Athletes do make too much money just by comparison with other professions, for example teachers.

Above the speaker is comparing the amount of money that professional athletes make compared to teachers. You can use this phrase to specifically compare two things. It is also common to use the phrase 'in comparison with.' Notice the following:

  1. Tiger woods is poor by comparison with Bill Gates.
  2. The moon is very near by comparison with Mars.


They're portraying their image publicly.


To 'portray' something means to present it. In this case it is referring to how athletes present themselves to the public.Sometimes how someone is portrayed and what they are in real life are two very different things. Here Rina thinks that athletes should be paid for having a public image.  Notice the following:

  1. Rappers like to portray themselves as bad, but that's not always true.
  2. The public image he portrays is far different from reality.

reap the benefits

They reap the benefits.


To 'reap the benefits' means to enjoy the results of one's hard work. Notice the following:

  1. Save money now and reap the benefits later.
  2. He reaped the benefits of his hard work with a vacation abroad.

the bottom line

The bottom line is that so many people watch their games.


There can be many opinions about the same thing. 'The bottom line' is the conclusion or most important thing that you should remember.  Notice the following:

  1. There are many things you can do to improve your health, but the bottom line is, eat less and exercise more!
  2. When learning English, grammar is important, but the bottom line is to understand and be understood.


They bring in a lot of revenue.


'Revenue' is money that you earn from working or investments.  Athletes are very important to how much revenue a sports team will earn.  Notice the following:

  1. Beckham is expensive, but he earns a lot of revenue for the team.
  2. Because of a losing season, team revenue is down for the year.


Answer the following questions about the interview.

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Complete the sentences with the words below.
take up space • obsolete • all-in-one
dependent • on their way out
  1. She is on her mother for help.
  2. The TV will soon become .
  3. My car is cool but it tends to in the garage.
  4. Have you seen my gardening tool.
  5. Those socks are no longer cool. They are with teens.