Viewed from the very narrow perspective of tech and related services that were discontinued, deprecated and disconnected, 2025 was pretty quiet. But not silent: 10 events stand out for me as a loooong-time observer and participant in the industry from the perspective of having a notable impact or representing the end of an era.
For comparison, in 2022, we lost some big names, like the iPod, Google Stadia and Internet Explorer. This year seemed to have fewer high-profile goodbyes and a lot more nostalgia and changes symptomatic of larger trends.
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Watch this: RIP to the Tech That Died in 2025 07:12
AOL disconnects its dial-up internet service
If you're of a certain age, like me, the screechy tones of a modem handshake connecting to the internet provide 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 later, in September, it ceased to screech and perhaps left a large number of rural customers without home internet access. (Some 2 million people were still using it as of 2015.)
The Humane AI wearable when it was new. Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Humane AI pin
I was baffled by the excitement around the Humane AI pin, a wearable AI voice chat device: It may be because I've seen so many of these one-trick ponies come and go, most replaced by multifunctional gadgets. In the case of the pin, which lasted only around a year, the fact that it wasn't very good compounded the problem. While HP bought Humane AI lock, stock and chatbot in February, the driver was the technical talent, operating system and patent portfolio; a revival of the hardware is unlikely.
The last home button, here on the iPhone SE. James Martin/CNET
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