[OT] Tatty, old computers.

[Richmond Mathewson]

As every single one of my computers is at least 5 years old (come, come, 
the parts out of which
my Frankenstein Pentium 4 are composed must have a half century between 
them), I have a
choice:

1. Chuck them out when bits go bust.

2. Learn, and repair things.

The former is probably the root of what we could call the "Western 
sickness"; try whispering
that in Gordon Brown's shell-like ear (well, its really a flappy, great, 
Scots lug!), or that of
Barak Obama (similarly large) and see where it gets you! As a right-wing 
eco-green sort of chap
(work that one out), I find both the reliance of socialists on state 
support, and
the horrors of rampant greed-fueled consumerism as awful.

Now, Alexander Taylor Annal, a man who my older son is named after, who 
died at 99
2 years ago, kept a 1938 Fordson tractor going until 2000; and cried 
when it finally died.
If he could do that, there doesn't seem any earthly reason why I cannot 
try to keep
a few computers going a spot longer than their warranty. And every time 
I do it is one
in the eye for King Camp Gillette, the inventor of inbuilt obsolescence.

Oddly enough, have just disembowelled a 40 year old Russian fridge and 
got it
working again :)

sincerely, Richmond Mathewson.


stephen barncard wrote:
> I guess the EU has lobbyists too. How nice for the manufacturers.
>
> -------------------------
> Stephen Barncard
> San Francisco
> http://barncard.com
>
>
> 2009/4/21 François Chaplais <francois.chaplais at mines-paristech.fr>
>
>   
>> Le 21 avr. 09 à 18:32, Richmond Mathewson a écrit :
>>
>>  <
>>     
>> .....
>>
>>     
>>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> I am bemused by all the commercial hype to endlessly upgrade; most PCs
>>> currently on the market
>>> can do a lot more than the average consumer will ever require.
>>>
>>> I run a G4 Mac (Mirror Door 2003, Dual Proc.), a PPC Mac Mini, a G3 iMac,
>>> and a "Bits-and-Bobs-flung-together-from-
>>> the-discard-pile" Pentium 4: between them they satisfy all my computing
>>> needs.
>>>
>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> My ability to get old computers working is strictly restricted to bunging
>>> an install disk into the CD drive!
>>>
>>> If the computing world would sit back and think a bit, instead of
>>> continually spending money on ever more
>>> spiffy computers, and filling up landfills like nobody's business; they
>>> might see the virtues of hanging on to
>>> older hardware and "milking it" as long as possible: this is, ultimately
>>> far more 'green' than buying
>>> Steve Jobs' "latest thang", which, supposedly, is so 'eco' that it gives
>>> free massages to members of greenpeace :)
>>>
>>>
>>>       
>> A few years ago I went to my favorite Apple reseller to repair my wife's
>> iBook. The technician told me it was not possible anymore; more precisely,
>> the older French law forced manufacturers to supply spare parts for ten
>> years, whereas, in a later application of a E.U. "regulation", only five
>> years of spare parts supply were required now; which means that, you
>> actually cannot spare parts after five years.
>> Which also means that, if a company does not have a brand policy,
>> everything will be designed to break apart after 5 years.
>> Recently tested with a washing machine.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>        François
>>
>>
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