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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by qyron@sopuli.xyz to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

While moving from one nest to another (we're lemmings here; RP it a bit) I realized I still have all computers I ever bought or assembled, except for those that literally broke beyond any hope of repair.

Some are no longer used daily but all work and being on a point in life where everything and anything in the nest needs to have a purpose or a function, led me think what actually renders a computer useless or truly obsolete.

I was made even more aware of this, as I'm in the market to assemble a new machine and I'm seeing used ones - 3 or 4 years old - being sold at what can be considered store price, with specs capable of running newly released games.

Meanwhile, I'm looking at two LGA 775 motherboards I have and considering how hard can I push it before it spontaneously combusts to make any use of it, even if only a type writer.

So, per the title, what makes a computer obsolete or simply unusable to you?

Addition

So I felt necessary to update the post and list the main reasons surfacing for rendering a machine obsolete/unusable

  • energy consumption

overall and consumption vs computational power

  • no practical use

Linux rule!

  • space take up
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[-] taladar@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago

I would say that it depends on a lot of different factors.

A computer can be obsolete because you require available spare parts to quickly repair it when something breaks and those are no longer available.

A computer can be obsolete because it is physically much larger, much heavier, much louder or less power-efficient than a more modern computer performing the same task for you.

A computer can be obsolete because of some external change, e.g. when Apple moved from x86_64 to ARM or when some new encryption algorithm or codec is not supported in hardware on that system and the software implementations are lacking in performance or power efficiency.

A computer can be obsolete when its hardware is no longer supported by drivers in modern operating systems with security updates.

this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2023
61 points (96.9% liked)

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