High-tech shopping basket ditches the minidisc

Frozen turkey, cheese slices and gin aren't the most obvious things you would link to the humble minidisc player. But it seems they all have one thing in common - they are so last year.

People simply aren't buying them any more, according to the Office of National Statistics' (ONS) annual update of its consumer 'shopping basket', which is used as a barometer of spending trends and patterns.

The minidisc player has been removed from the basket this year and has been replaced by CDs purchased over the internet. Digital cameras have also been added to the basket, with take-up boosted by falling prices.

Other non-technological goods to be removed from the basket include exercise bikes, children's fleeces and the local paper.

David Roe, statistician at the ONS, told silicon.com that technology is the one area that requires close monitoring, with changes happening faster than the basket can be updated.

"We keep the whole of the basket under review on a five-year rolling basis," he said. "You do find for certain classes of goods that looking every five years is not enough."

One of the other significant trends to emerge in this year's basket is the use of the internet for buying goods, with travel and holidays closely followed by books and then music and CDs.

"That area is growing very rapidly," said Roe.