No need to upgrade your PCs anymore

[Ivo]

The Raspberry Pi is ultra cheap and can serve the basic needs of the common user.

http://www.raspberrypi.org/

I'm actually tempted to buy one, although frankly I don't really need it. Great concept though.

[isiolia]

It depends on how much you want to stretch the term. Mr Popo is talking about the core concept, which is making a product worse so it breaks down earlier and you have to buy a new one. What you guys refer is to the broader concept of making it "obsolete" in the costumer's mind*.

It's a semantics debate, I don't think we disagree at all.

They're both facets of the larger concept of planned obsolescence (among others). It's a very broad term.

[Erik_Twice]

They're both facets of the larger concept of planned obsolescence (among others). It's a very broad term.

That's what I'm saying, yes

[RCBH928]

@General_Norris

I see what you are saying but the truth is that people don't give up their computers because they feel its fashionable , maybe some, but other times its necessary .

You cant use a '98 computer in todays world. yes it will do stuff it used to do like Word processing and play games of that era but here are some examples:

1)Electronics die. hard-disk or processor dies or whatever happens to it. It makes no sense to go out and buy a '98 mother-board, you might as well buy a new PC. Not all will die but I will be surprised if more than 10% are still surviving .

2) I noticed this using Windows up to 2002. Within 4 years, the computer for some reason would turn out to be extremely slow unlike the time you buy it. Its like, its dying. Maybe a full format and re-install helps, but don't forget its pre-2002 so hard drives are expensive(I dont remember external hard drives at all) for back ups and no high speed USB. I personally have a 2002 $2000 iMac , backing up with its USB was a pain for 60GB of data.

3) Software updates. There will be stuff like where you go to Youtube and they would say :
"To view this video you need Flash 8.0"
So you go to download Flash, ,and it says :
"To download Flash 8.0 you need to have Windows XP SP2 or later"
and then your '98 PC specs do not meet minimum requirements for WInXP .

There are a lot of simple software that requires you to run very recent updates. I think new iOS devices for example will only work with iTunes 10. and iTunes 10 requires an OS that was released 2 years ago, and that OS will not work with hardware that was released more than 3 years ago. basically if you have 5 year old hardware , you can't connect it to your iphone 5 or iPad.

This is not to mention stuff like playing HD video which is the norm now. I also believe that your old hardware won't run new browsers (Firefox 16, Chrome) which many sites will require a recent version to be displayed well because they run HTML5. You see how this goes.

I am giving Apple examples because I know about Apple more, but I believe the same can be applied to the Windows world.

I for one love to buy a machine once and make it work forever, but its a bit difficulty as everything around you does not play well with it.

This is what I think planned obsolescence is, they make certain hardware or software not work with your older stuff forcing you to upgrade. Even uTorrent which is famous for like being very light and low on resources wont run on something earlier than WinXp(as their site says)

[Menegrothx]

You cant use a '98 computer in todays world. yes it will do stuff it used to do like Word processing and play games of that era but here are some examples:

1)Electronics die. hard-disk or processor dies or whatever happens to it. It makes no sense to go out and buy a '98 mother-board, you might as well buy a new PC. Not all will die but I will be surprised if more than 10% are still surviving .

You could say the same thing about retro gaming on older consoles. Late 1990s computers are indeed a bit different story, but 1980s computers like C64 and Spectrums are pretty much indestructible (like 2600 and Genesis).

[Frag Mortuus]

What would I even do with that much space over the next five years? Why would I need 3TB of data with me on my PC?

I have 6TB worth of storage space with only about 2.5Tb free. My Steam installation takes up about 900GB alone. Then my stand alone games are another 100GB. Add on the other programs I have installed, my music collection, my movies and TV shows and it all adds up fast.

[AppleQueso]

1)Electronics die. hard-disk or processor dies or whatever happens to it. It makes no sense to go out and buy a '98 mother-board, you might as well buy a new PC. Not all will die but I will be surprised if more than 10% are still surviving .

Compatible hardware for '98 era computers is still very plentiful. It's not at all hard to find an IDE hard drive for example.

You severely underestimate the lifespan of computer components. Why do you believe that a motherboard and various components from a computer from around 1998 is likely to be already dead, but have no problem believing that the motherboard and various components in a Super Nintendo from even earlier is still working no problem?

There are tons of Commodore Vic20s and Atari 400 computers from the 80s that still work just fine. Heck I'd even wager that the majority of them still work today.

This is what I think planned obsolescence is, they make certain hardware or software not work with your older stuff forcing you to upgrade. Even uTorrent which is famous for like being very light and low on resources wont run on something earlier than WinXp(as their site says)

I think you're confusing "planned obsolescence" with just "obsolescence".

[BoneSnapDeez]

Pretty much.

If anything, old hardware is guaranteed to work better - less moving parts.

I expect my Atari 2600 and C64 to stay operational for a long, long time.

Generally, when the average person proclaims their computer to be "dead" it's really just a minor problem the user can't or doesn't want to fix.

Case in point, I needed a floppy drive a couple of weeks ago. My 2010-era gaming PC doesn't have one, so I dragged my father-in-law's "old, dead" Dell out of the basement. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it.

[RCBH928]

You cant use a '98 computer in todays world. yes it will do stuff it used to do like Word processing and play games of that era but here are some examples:

1)Electronics die. hard-disk or processor dies or whatever happens to it. It makes no sense to go out and buy a '98 mother-board, you might as well buy a new PC. Not all will die but I will be surprised if more than 10% are still surviving .

You could say the same thing about retro gaming on older consoles. Late 1990s computers are indeed a bit different story, but 1980s computers like C64 and Spectrums are pretty much indestructible (like 2600 and Genesis).

Are you saying these will work forever? Last time I asked I was told all electronics eventually die

[BoneSnapDeez]

Nothing is going to work "forever" - eventually the sun is going to consume the Earth, etc.

In the scheme of human history, electronics are so "new" that it's difficult to give them a lifespan.

But take care of your stuff, do regular maintenance, and you can expect things to last the remainder of your lifetime.