Whit a lot of different varieties of products coming out, the classic stethoscope seems to have fallen a bit behind the times. It is not the first time this has happened to any product in the history of the world. It is basically survival of the fittest and the natural order of things: evolution. It happened to the dinosaurs, it happened to the Neanderthals and it can very well happen to simple inanimate objects. Some fine examples are the following: chisel and stone is replaced by pen and paper; pen and paper is then outshone by typewriter; typewriters are quickly made obsolete by desktop computers; desktop computers are then getting replaced by laptops; finally, tablets are slowly gaining more popularity from laptops and other mobile devices. The painful process of evolution happens to everything; that is why they have a very clear and effective saying of “evolve or die”. In some instances, evolution renders the old versions obsolete, but that is not always the case.

The classic stethoscope, being the grandfather of its kind, is clearly far from dead. If you want proof, just visit any stethoscope shop and you sill still see a lot of classic stethoscope designs available for purchase. The reason for this is simple: no matter how good the current designs of stethoscope that comes out in the market, the classic stethoscope is still the simplest and most efficient way to get a basic diagnosis of a patient. Most of the time you do not need any of the additional features that modern stethoscopes offer; they just add to the complications and the cost. That is clearly not how the stethoscope is designed, because its main purpose is to hear the heartbeat so that the medical practitioner can make a clear observation and diagnosis of the patient. Sometimes, simple is way better that getting overcomplicated, and that is exactly what a classic stethoscope offers – simplicity.