Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

Until around 2020, I used a 2006-ish Thinkpad T42 for almost everything, including radio program production (warmest greetings to the author of Non DAW [1]!) and occasionally even live recording.

It's a 15" 4:3 model with IPS, Pentium M and my all-time favorite keyboard, so it's not easy to let go. Currently, it works, but the GPU is dying -- a pity, because I would still need that machine to work in WinXP and Avid Pro Tools about twice a year. I can stubbornly use it with Tiny Core Linux in framebuffer mode for lighter tasks and experimentation, though.

I bought that machine in around 2014 for 20€. Really fun to think about that, considering that I used it for years to do pretty much everything that another radio producer had to buy a shiny Macbook Pro for. :)

Probably because of grandparents' influence, I like using all kinds of gear until it stops working or seems irrepairable. I'm not a coder by profession, so my computational needs are really modest. Currently, I am making efforts to use a Dell Mini 9 as a daily driver in framebuffer mode. Interesting macine: 8.9" screen, Intel Atom, but fanless build, thus spookily quiet. Saw it in mint condition for about 20€ a few years ago, and, having recently been inspired by Joey Hess' endeavours [2, 3], I just couldn't resist. I added an anti-glare coating, and now it's actually a joy to use and carry along, especially considering that it is around the size of an A5 writing pad.

I guess I'm just one of those guys who likes to build himself a world where well-chosen tools could live forever. Not anti-progress, but old tools do have a lot of unused potential IMO. (What are the chisels, jack planes and scythes of computer hardware?) It is quite possible that climate warming will be a huge eye-opener for contemporary societies in this regard.

On the other hand: not quite sure, but I think it was Alan Kay who said that by using yesterday's technologies, you're also stuck to solving yesterday's problems. Even those can still be interesting, though.

1: https://non.tuxfamily.org/

2: Link from 2012: https://usesthis.com/interviews/joey.hess/

3: https://joeyh.name/blog/entry/xmonad_layouts_for_netbooks/

Seriously? You're such a hustler that you can't afford maybe 2 hours per month maintaining your house/car/electronics? You can't afford to be self reliant and self sufficient?

People used to write their own Haskell compilers, now they buy stagnant/slow computers as an upgrade.

>Gmail

I feel the early-00s PC I had at the time gmail came out would explode and kill everyone in the room with shrapnel if I tried opening gmail with it now, while remarkably, the 2005 (?) version had all the features I ever cared about

I haven't bought a new computer for myself since I started working full time in 2012. Since then e-waste computers with a new SSD have been fine for me. I don't even need to upgrade RAM since you can usually find a few identical e-waste computers at once and just fill up the slots on one.

In my area, there is a fantastic set of used computer shops. Much of my hardware either comes from or goes to them. Much of my used tech also goes to friends at a discount price.

I can't take the credit for this one, but a friend of mine is still using the Squeezebox media boxes from 2006 and on. He's had three or four different houses and still uses the same players, even picking up the off used one from used shops and eBay.