My computer should last FOREVER!

[DGoddessChardonnay]

One of my computers...still runs Windows 98. Right now, it's hiding in the closet, as there aren't any free network ports currently. That's not the only one--I have an ancient Dell laptop...with 95 on it. Only thing that's good for, is playing Castle Wolfenstein

My old desktop, which right now is running Windows ME (came w/Windows98se installed) is still chugging along.

Runs slow as molasses in January (but then it's almost 9 years old) but at least I can play Solitaire, FreeCell and some of my older games on it as well as be able to surf online.

Which, is what I'm online with right now until tomorrow, when my laptop comes home from repair.

Sucks not having my MySpace IM on here (only runs on XP and Vista) but at least I can hang out here.

[smileyeagle1021]

Hmm, old crap that I have. My mother is still running a HP with a P3 processor running ME (*hiss*) an old Sony Laptop running 2k, moving away from computers, she still has a Laserdisk player as well as record player (though FTR, so do I), she finally got rid of a microwave purchased the same year I was born and up until 2 years ago she had the TV that was given to her as a wedding gift... back in the early 70s

I on the other hand only have slightly obsolete equipment, my desktop is 3 years old, using a 5 year old CRT moniter, a year old macbook laptop, and a year old HP all in one printer... even then I'm starting to have problems finding stuff that will work on the desktop. Oh and the guy at Best Buy was shocked when I told him that I had a reciever in my sound system that doesn't have a coax input, only AV (you know, the red, white, yellow).

Though at the hotel I've had several people who are upset that we don't offer a wired internet connection in the rooms... umm, how antique is your equipment if you don't have wireless on it... even my mother's Sony has wireless in it

[prb]

One of my computers...still runs Windows 98. Right now, it's hiding in the closet, as there aren't any free network ports currently. That's not the only one--I have an ancient Dell laptop...with 95 on it. Only thing that's good for, is playing Castle Wolfenstein

Meh, I have a Tandy 1000 around here somewhere. And a TRS-80. And a Commodore 64. All in working condition.

[JoitheArtist]

i have an Apple PowerBook from...1995, I think. It's ancient, and doesn't do much more than word processing at the moment, but it does run!

I swear, if I ever wanted a date, all I'd have to do is sit in front of RadioShack with that dinosaur for a few minutes. For some reason, that computer brings all the tech guys running from miles around.

[CountryBoy]

I'm not going to get into the upgrades I've done but right now, I'm running a Commodore 128D with GEOS 128 v2.1. This is not my newest computer or my oldest but it is by far my favorite. My 486 has Windows 3.11 but I only boot into DOS. I have Windows 1.1 that I want to put on one of my computers but I've run into a couple problems with it.

[cinema guy]

Nothing to do with computers, but my nana had a washing machine with a mangle in the 40s (something like this) and it still worked when she died in 1999.

I know its a cliche, but they don't make machinery like they used to.

[Alpha Strike]

Anyone remember seeing pictures of that those big computers that IBM had to house in several rooms? I have one now.

Also, I have the very first calculator ever made, and I'm the proud owner of a 3000 year old abacus that was found in a recent archeological dig in Egypt.

I win!

[Lehk]

it is entirely possible to get a modern printer to work with an older machine.

any decent ($100-200 range) network printer should support PCL emulation and/or postscript. getting a working driver for windows 95 shouldn't be too awful either.

on the other hand the odds of j. random starfish getting it set up right, even with step by step directions is about as close to being negative 0 as you can get.

Nothing to do with computers, but my nana had a washing machine with a mangle in the 40s (something like this) and it still worked when she died in 1999.

I know its a cliche, but they don't make machinery like they used to.

selection bias. you don't notice all the broken machines made in the 40's because they have all been thrown out or recycled long since.

[Chromatix]

I'll admit that there were probably shoddy products made in the '40s as with any period of history. However, in general things were made well, priced accordingly, saved up for, and then handled carefully so they would last well.

The Colossus was the first "proper" electronic computer, built in the early 1940s to crack German encryption keys. Apparently, it was also remarkably reliable for something based on vacuum tubes and paper tape. They built about a dozen of them in order to increase processing capacity, so it wasn't a fluke. Most "tube" machines built commercially in later decades were very unreliable.

I suspect that part of the quality reputation came from design work only being done by (or heavily supervised by) certified geniuses, these being the people who knew how to communicate a detailed design on paper. Also, making a prototype wasn't much more expensive than building the finished product, so they didn't skimp on testing those. Finally, there wasn't any point in outsourcing the manufacturing to China, because it cost so much to import it all afterwards.

[MadMike]

I know its a cliche, but they don't make machinery like they used to.

Tell me about it.

I have a microwave that my grandma got me for when I was in college, roughly 21 years ago. It still works, and I still use it. I'm sure when she got it for me, she never thought it would outlast her (sadly, we lost her to cancer 14 years ago.)

I'm sure when that thing finally craps out, its replacement won't last half that long.

[Crosshair]

Well to be fair, lots of stuff used to be built to last. The jail I was running cable in yesterday still had quite a few of the original light fixtures and light switches from when the jail was built..............in 1905.

I also found some hand held radios from the 1960s and some gas masks from the 1940s in one of the storage rooms.

My uncle bought a "new" bulldozer a few years ago. It was built in 1973.

[Dave1982]

Well to be fair, lots of stuff used to be built to last.

That's not the point. Obviously the computer in the OP is still working. The point is that at the rate that computer technology is advancing, it became obsolete years ago. Not non-functional, but obsolete. It's one thing to keep using an old microwave that still works, or a light fixture, but you can not reasonably expect any computer to remain relevant and supported for more than a few years.

[Mara-chan]

Yeah, it's not necessarily the fact that they're using the old computer, it's the fact that they KNOW they have an old machine and yet still expect us to support it.

Just like people get pissed off we don't have antivirus programs for windows 95 and 98. C'mon! They're 10 years (or more) old! I'm surprised you can still get on the internet at all! And the date of the program is in the name!

To use some of the other examples in the thread, would you expect Sears to carry a handle for that wringer-washing machine? Or a new glass tray for the 21 year old microwave? Looking to buy the new Batman movie on Beta or Laserdisk? Nope. So why should we have stuff for old computers too?

[Chromatix]

Railway equipment usually lasts a long time. This is partly because it's deliberately over-engineered, and partly because it gets heavy maintenance, both for safety reasons. It takes a heck of a long time to rust through a thick piece of steel which has been liberally slathered in paint.

There are locomotives still in daily service which were originally built over a century ago. The ones I'm thinking of have been rebuilt or even upgraded in that time (including several boiler replacements), but they still contain many original parts and the original builder's plate. Heck, the original builder for some of them is still in business and still makes spare parts for them!

There are many British locomotives and even DMUs which were built in the 1950s, and are still perfectly usable today. Many were sent for scrap long before the end of their working life, in the name of "progress" - those that survive today were often bought from the scrapyard and then rebuilt.

One of the steam locomotives that was saved from the scrapyard was a "failed experiment". Those who bought the rusting hulk discovered that serious errors had been made in it's design and construction. After correcting them, and adding a few logical refinements, that locomotive is now roughly equal in power to the best diesels on British railways today. (But not in tractive effort, where steamers have always been at a disadvantage.) 3500hp in a single unit is not to be sniffed at.

The quality of design did vary at different times. Some of the 1950s diesel designs were badly built or used immature, overstressed components, and were among the first to be removed. Some, such as the Class 37, proved to be so sound that some operators are stockpiling them against future demand.

This was also true of DMUs - when 1950s units were removed from the Conwy Valley line and replaced with "modern" four-wheeled railbuses, there was an outcry because of the extreme flange noise the railbuses produced on the line's almost continuous curves. The older units were quickly repainted in "heritage" livery (as a PR spin exercise) and re-introduced!

[RetailWorkhorse]

At work our registers and computers are running Windows 98. Hate those blasted machines.

Though at the hotel I've had several people who are upset that we don't offer a wired internet connection in the rooms... umm, how antique is your equipment if you don't have wireless on it... even my mother's Sony has wireless in it

Because I could never figure out how to turn on the wireless, that's why. And my laptop was only 5 years old as of last Summer.