Since the days of the cassette player and landline phone, it's safe to say that technology has come a long way in a short time. This was illustrated Sept. 9 when Apple decided to introduce the Apple Watch and remove the iPod Classic from the list of products on its website.

The death of the iPod shocked people worldwide as news articles and opinion pieces sprung up about it. And with the electronics industry rapidly growing, one can't help but wonder which device will be killed off next.

With its debut in October 2001, the iPod made history with its ability to hold 1,000 songs in the form of MP3s. It was the first portable audio device people could use without having to haul around their music with them in the form of CDs or cassettes.

Then throughout the years that followed, Apple came out with a variety of iPod models: Mini, Shuffle, Nano, Photo, Video and Touch. The only three still surviving today are the Mini, Shuffle and Nano. Companies like Microsoft came out with various portable media players as well.

Now while we mourn the loss of the iPod Classic, let us take a look at other types of electronic devices that are no longer with us:

The Sony Walkman debuted in 1979 in Japan.

Audio players

Thomas Edison invented the first audio player in 1877 known as the phonograph, which could record sound and play it back. It could not, however, play music. That sort of invention wasn't introduced until 11 years later in 1888 when Emile Berliner invented the gramophone, also known as the vinyl record player. While these devices still exist, they've been modernized with the vintage ones being expensive and rare to come across.

When portable music devices came into play, it started out with the Sony Walkman — a cassette player that made its first appearance in 1979 in Japan. A few years later in 1983, the compact disc player was introduced. Both operated on AA batteries and required the use of headphones. Years later we gained the iPod, and now we have smartphones that double as music players.

Cellphones have seen rapid advancement in a short period of time.

Phones

In the early 1800s, Samuel Morse with the assistance of a few others invented the telegraph — a system that used electrical signals from location to location to convey a coded message. Then the landline telephone replaced it during 1876.

It wasn't until 70 years later in 1946 that the first mobile phone was introduced. Far from the lightweight, portable cellphones we carry around today, the equipment for this phone weighed 80 pounds and had to be installed in a car — which is the only place it would work.

Then in 1973, Motorola Manager Martin Cooper stepped it up a notch and used the world's first cellular phone call to Joel Engel from Bell Systems — the company that had first introduced the mobile phone concept to begin with. Cell phones didn't really take off until 1983 though when Motorola started selling them to the public.

Since then we've been exposed to a variety of cellphones that have come and gone, ranging from flip phones (which were once the biggest craze, especially Motorola RAZRs) to slider phones. A wave of features, such as cameras, Internet, GPS, apps, etc., were later added to upgraded models. In 2007, Apple came out with the iPhone — a move that sparked the creation of additional smartphones in existence today.

Now it's hard to pinpoint exactly how many people around the world currently own an iPhone, but as of March, Apple had sold its 500 millionth one. Also according to data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of 2013 only 58.1 percent of U.S. households still had a landline phone. Slowly, but surely cellphones are taking over.

It took 22 years before televisions showed a color picture.

TV

When television sets first came out in 1928, they only displayed shows in black and white. It wasn't until 1950 that color TV surfaced in the U.S. It was also in that same year that "Lazy Bones," the world's first remote control was invented. This remote control, however, used a cord that ran from the TV, unlike the wireless remote controls we have today.

TVs also used to be big, bulky box sets until 1995 when plasma flat screens started replacing them. Now box TVs are worth little to nothing.

Back when Blockbuster Video first opened its doors in 1985, people had VCRs and rented video cassette tapes they'd have to rewind before returning. VCRs ran strong for a few decades until 1997 when DVD players started to replace them. Now we have those and Blu-ray players that have taken the place of VCRS.

IBM introduced the first personal computer in 1981. (Photo: Wikipedia)

Computers

The computer has gone through a long, complicated process of revisions, but it wasn't until 1981 that IBM brought personal computers into the market. Complete with a keyboard, computer screen and monitor, this electronic device paved the way for future models.

The laptop computer can be traced back to the 1980s as well. It just took a while for it to become developed and highly used.

Once again in 2010, Apple made history in the technological industry with its introduction of the iPad, a tablet computer that soon became popular among users. This portable device had a following of others similar to it that were created later.

With the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets, one can't help but wonder if desktop and laptop computers will be the next to go.