My primary
computer is a Thinkpad T61p laptop. It’s coming up on 6 years old, which is
impressive for a laptop. When I got it, it had Windows XP and a mere 1 gig of
ram. Now it’s got 4 gig of ram and a 640 gig hd, up from its original 120. I’ve
upgraded it to Windows 7 pro, and tricked it out with lots of customized
software. It still flies. It’s not a gaming machine, but I would put it up
against today’s average systems and bet on it.
The point
is that the technology is waay out of date. According to every advertisement
and most of society, it’s a useless antique. But I say as long as there are
ways to make it relevant, it’s still serviceable.
My current
phone is a Nexus One. It’s got pitiful ram and hasn’t received an Android
upgrade since Gingerbread, way back to 2.3.6. Nor will it get anything better
from the powers-that-be. But it’s not useless.
Even now
I’m planning to root the device and bring it up to speed. The old phone still
has life in it, and I’m not quite ready to relegate it to the scrap heap.
My old
X100e is the same, even though it’s got a short in its lcd ribbon, I’m going to
replace it and get it running. Then I’m thinking of a nice linux installation
to turn it into a home media server.
The point is that technology’s shelf life isn’t as short
as people might believe. With a little time and creativity, it can become
useful again. When I do eventually replace my phone, I’ll probably turn it into
a car-based mp3 player. It’s still got Bluetooth to connect to my transmitter,
and the SD card has all the tunes.