Viewed from the very narrow perspective of technology and related services being discontinued, unused and disconnected, 2025 will be relatively quiet. But not silent: The 10 events stand out for me as a loooong-time observer and participant in the industry from the perspective of having a remarkable impact or representing the end of an era.

For comparison, in 2022, some big names are missing, such as iPod, Google Stadia and Internet Explorer. This year there seem to be fewer high-profile farewells and more nostalgia and changes symptomatic of larger trends.

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Check it out: RIP to Tech That Dies in 2025

07:12

AOL has cut its dial-up internet service

If you are of a certain age, like me, the loud tone of a modem handshake connecting to the internet provides an audio sense memory of the slow, formative years of the web. In those early days, you logged into a particular service, so the biggest fish — AOL — became synonymous with dial-up. Thirty-four years agoin September, it stopped screaming and may have left many rural customers without internet access at home. (Some 2 million people still use it in 2015.)

Human AI pin

I was confused by the excitement around Human AI pina wearable AI voice chat device: Maybe because I’ve seen a lot of these one-trick ponies come and go, mostly replaced by multifunctional gadgets. In the case of the pin, which only lasted a year, the fact that not so good which adds to the problem. while HP buys Humane AI lock, stock and chatbot in February, the driver is technical talent, operating system and patent portfolio; hardware recovery is unlikely.

The last iPhone home button has left town

You can’t go home again, at least not soon with the iPhone. the last model with a dedicated home button is the iPhone SE, which was replaced by the home buttonless iPhone 16e in February. In some cases, you can map another control to take you home, but this means giving up direct access to another capability, and I curse its absence every time my iPhone gets persnickety about recognizing upswipes from the bottom of the screen.

Micron forgot Crucial consumer memory

Memory manufacturers are flocking to high-demand, high-margin, AI-friendly high-bandwidth memory thanks to the seemingly deep pockets of popular AI companies that needed data centers yesterday. Because there are only three important manufacturers – SK Hynix, Micron and Samsung – when Micron has announced that it is moving away from consumer markets in November, the end of these days of impossible to find, impossible to reach memory for PCs seems further away than before.

Black is the new blue screen of death

Windows’ blue screen of death has been a tech staple since the early days of the graphical user interface, one of the most dreaded and least useful jump scares to be delivered since a system crash. As Microsoft improves recovery speed and backend data collection for operating system crashes in October 2024, the company replaced BSoD itself in the October 2025 release of the OS, with a “simpler UI” on a (less anxiety-provoking?) black background. We will miss you, giant forehead emoticons. Although I still expect it to pop up in the usual unusual places, such as digital billboards and taxi entertainment systems, which often run on older versions of Windows.

Amazon has fired up its Android App Store

Amazon has always had a laser-sharp focus on the bottom line, which includes pushing buyers to its own branded products. Taking that to a whole new level in August, closing its store for general Android apps and switching to apps meant to run only on its own Fire device, which runs a custom version of Android. The store lasted quite a long time, though, 14 years from now 2011 its launch.

Microsoft Skype has become a Teams player

Before FaceTime and ubiquitous VOIP communication, in the first years of this century, Skype entered the mainstream consciousness as a cheap alternative to expensive long-distance and international phone calls (voice), gaining momentum when it was acquired by Microsoft in 2011 and added video calling to its expertise. In February, Microsoft announced that we will say buh-bye of the veteran standalone app and that it folds into its company’s free version not so dear Teams app.

The Google Nest Learning Thermostat is silent

on Google lobotomy of the first two generations of the OG smart thermostat in October gives us another object lesson in the 21st century planned obsolescence. The hardware is good, just old by technology standards: It was launched by Nest Labs in 2011, and Google bought the company in 2014. But by disconnecting it from the app (euphemistically called “end of support”), it will lose a lot of the features you bought it for, such as remote operation and notifications, as well as stopping security updates – essentially encouraging people to upgrade.

Google bricks the last Stadia controllers

Google’s custom-designed controller, with its proprietary connection to the company’s short life Stadia cloud gaming servicestopped when the service is closed by the end of 2022. The company refunds hardware purchases, but also provides firmware upgrades to convert it to Bluetooth; it’s a well-designed controller, so throwing it away seems like a waste. But at the end of 2025, the company stopped offering the upgrade — if you haven’t converted before, you can add the controller to your shelf of obsolete collections.

US based DJI drone imports

One of the major drone manufacturers — it’s probably the most famous — now numbers products you’d be hard-pressed to buy here in the US, thanks to a import ban on everything foreign made drones which started last December. You can still fly in and buy it, you’ll have trouble finding it.