Will The old Eighter (2X4 Brick) Phase out?

I am a newly found Lego Enthusiast, It has been an interest for some time but only recently I have been in a position to start a collection, therefore I only have a few sets that are currently on the market. Mainly Lego city ones.
A small observation I have had that differs from the Lego I remember as a child is the lack of the old eighters (2X4 Brick) as a fundamental building block of any structure. Instead it seems Lego has abandoned them in favor of smaller bricks making the kits more detailed.

I personally like this change but wanted to see others opinion on this, particularly those with young kids who just want to make a simple structure with four walls and a roof.

welcome, 

lego has evolved rapidly the last decade as they have developed more evolved brick shapes and pieces... and this again rapidly evolves the complex designs that we can make...

so, originally it was one of say 30 types of bricks, today it is one of 1000 bricks available.

I don't believe they will ever phase out 2 x 4 bricks, they are still used in many current sets, ie the modular buildings still use them on occasion....

The 2x4 still features prominently in the brick buckets, and is used extensively in large sculptural work at the Legoland parks so I can't see it disappearing any time soon.