Once a year (at least) I go through my collection of old PCs (and
other devices), fire them up, make sure they're still running, update software as necessary (or possible. There's not a lot you can do with
a Win95 machine with regards to updates these days ;-) and generally
make sure my collection of obsolete junk isn't actually, irredeemably
junk. It's time consuming and repetitive but (for certain types of
strange personalities, at least) fun work.
A lot of my older PCs, I don't really have much use for; I keep them
around for the nostalgic joy they bring me. That old 1997 IBM Lenovo
laptop is never going to be my main computer, but it's fun to use and
is surprisingly responsive. Less so that ancient Dell Inspiron, that I
keep around mostly because it is the sole archive of my ancient iTunes library that I'm too lazy to transfer.
Still, it occurs to me that maybe its time to cull the herd. But its
so hard to choose which computer gets sent to the slaughter-house
(a.k.a., the parts bin). Not my cube-like i5-4670 desktop; I love its
chassis and hot-swappable hard-drives too much. The MacBook 3? No,
that's (nominally) just a loaner given to me so not really mine to
scrap (Admittedly, it was loaned to me ten years ago and I'm pretty
sure the owner has forgotten all about it, but still). The old Gateway desktop? But how could I? That's the back-up to my back-up server!
Well, surely I could get rid of some of the mobile devices. That Palm
Pilot with the screen that doesn't respond to touch; that can go,
right? Oh, but I have such fond memories of using it as my MP3 player
and it takes up almost no room in the closet; keeping it would make
almost no difference. Maybe my first cell-phone... except it's a
flip-phone Motorola; they don't make the like anymore! It's
practically a historical artifact at this point!
Well, those Tzumi Bluetooth headphones can definitely go. The battery
is dead, they never were comfortable, I've no use for bluephone
headphones anyway, and I've no nostalgic feeling whatsoever for the
device. It's just a shame they're buried so deep in storage. I'd
literally have to move furniture just to open the drawers where
they're stored. It all feels like too much effort.
Hmmm. This old plastic screw I just found at the bottom of the parts
bin is broken, and I don't know what it goes to anyway. I'll toss
that. Yeah. That's a good start. But for now, I'd better just put
everything away so it doesn't look all messy. You know, just until I'm
ready to really start getting rid of stuff. Tomorrow, maybe. Or next
week. Next month surely. Definitely by next January, when I have to
check all the PCs again. But it'll happen; count on it.
In the meantime, maybe I should get rid of some of my computer games?
;-)
In the meantime, maybe I should get rid of some of my computer games?
;-)
On Sun, 19 Jan 2025 10:23:30 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
In the meantime, maybe I should get rid of some of my computer games?
;-)
Never. I still have all of my games going back to the C-64 days. The
only games I ever owned and don't own anymore are my Atari 2600 games
but I am not upset over them. Well, ok, I miss Adventure a little bit.
That was my favorite game on the system.
I did, however, get rid of all the extra computers, monitors and other assorted hardware crap I had lying around a number of years ago. I
still don't regret that decision. As Dimensional Traveler pointed out,
the games are the reason I kept those computers around. But then
DosBox came along and I decided those computers and all the hardware
for them weren't necessary anymore.
The only old hardware I still have and use are my Roland SCC-1 and
external midi modules.
On Sun, 19 Jan 2025 10:56:28 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
On 1/19/2025 7:23 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
In the meantime, maybe I should get rid of some of my computer games?
;-)
Aren't some of those games the reason for keeping some of the old computers?
Hey! Good point! And literally true; I built the WinXp and Win98SE
computer solely because some games from that era just don't run -or
don't run well- on modern operating systems and hardware.
And, of course, if I keep those computers because I have those games,
I obviously have to keep those games so I have something to RUN on
those computers!
I like this logic; it's so incredibly circular! Thank you! Six
Internet Points to you!
On 1/19/2025 3:43 PM, Ant wrote:
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
On Sun, 19 Jan 2025 10:56:28 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
On 1/19/2025 7:23 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
In the meantime, maybe I should get rid of some of my computer games? >>>> ;-)
Aren't some of those games the reason for keeping some of the old computers?
Hey! Good point! And literally true; I built the WinXp and Win98SE
computer solely because some games from that era just don't run -or
don't run well- on modern operating systems and hardware.
And, of course, if I keep those computers because I have those games,
I obviously have to keep those games so I have something to RUN on
those computers!
I like this logic; it's so incredibly circular! Thank you! Six
Internet Points to you!
Do you even play old games?
Isn't The Number and his obsession with old computer hardware an "old
game"? :P
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
On Sun, 19 Jan 2025 10:56:28 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
On 1/19/2025 7:23 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
In the meantime, maybe I should get rid of some of my computer games?
;-)
Aren't some of those games the reason for keeping some of the old computers?
Hey! Good point! And literally true; I built the WinXp and Win98SE
computer solely because some games from that era just don't run -or
don't run well- on modern operating systems and hardware.
And, of course, if I keep those computers because I have those games,
I obviously have to keep those games so I have something to RUN on
those computers!
I like this logic; it's so incredibly circular! Thank you! Six
Internet Points to you!
Do you even play old games?
Once a year (at least) I go through my collection of old PCs (and
other devices), fire them up, make sure they're still running, update software as necessary (or possible. There's not a lot you can do with
a Win95 machine with regards to updates these days 😉 and generally
make sure my collection of obsolete junk isn't actually, irredeemably
junk. It's time consuming and repetitive but (for certain types of
strange personalities, at least) fun work.
On Tue, 21 Jan 2025 14:27:37 -0800, Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com>
wrote:
I've still got a couple bookcases of D&D books and magazines, I couldn't >bear to let those go as I occasionally think I'll find some group to DM >them for, but it looks less and less likely as time goes on.
I had to let go of my tabletop RPG books several moves back... and
then expensively claw them back as PDFs. ;-)
I actually don't regret getting rid of the hard-copies, but I do
regret HOW I disposed of them: they went all of them to recycling. But
this was long before tabletop gaming made any sort of resurgence, and
the books themselves were considered valueless.
Still, I wish I'd hung onto them in storage for a few more years. I'd
still have gotten rid of them eventually, I think, but I could have
sold them instead of tossing them.
Hey, that's another reason for me to keep my Win95 box. That 3DFX card
and Gravis Ultrasound have value! I'm not hoarding, I'm *investing*
for the future! ;-P
On Fri, 24 Jan 2025 00:23:55 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
Hey, that's another reason for me to keep my Win95 box. That 3DFX card
and Gravis Ultrasound have value! I'm not hoarding, I'm *investing*
for the future! ;-P
Values? Like how much? :-P Do my old used SB Audigy 2ZS, GeForce 8800 GT >(512 MB of VRAM), etc. have high values? ;)
Not yet. But hang on to 'em for another sixty years and you'll be able
to resell them for half their original value! Two-thirds if they're Mint-In-Box!
Do it for the grandchildren! ;-)
On 1/22/2025 7:09 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
On Tue, 21 Jan 2025 14:27:37 -0800, Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com>
wrote:
I've still got a couple bookcases of D&D books and magazines, I couldn't >> bear to let those go as I occasionally think I'll find some group to DM
them for, but it looks less and less likely as time goes on.
I had to let go of my tabletop RPG books several moves back... and
then expensively claw them back as PDFs. ;-)
I actually don't regret getting rid of the hard-copies, but I do
regret HOW I disposed of them: they went all of them to recycling. But
this was long before tabletop gaming made any sort of resurgence, and
the books themselves were considered valueless.
Oof. I did get rid of most of my 4e D&D books last move, but I sold
them, surprisingly there was actually a reasonable market for them.
Sold the PS2 and most of the games for it for cheap to a used console
store, which I still somewhat regret.
All the old PC games I didn't want, no one else did either (including
the game store) so they ended up in the trash. I believe I listed them
here too but had no inquirers.
Still, I wish I'd hung onto them in storage for a few more years. I'd
still have gotten rid of them eventually, I think, but I could have
sold them instead of tossing them.
Yes, some rarer books and stuff could be worth the time and at least
they stay in circulation. Or drop them off for a pitance at a comic book
or used book store.
Mike S. <Mike_S@nowhere.com> wrote:
On Sun, 19 Jan 2025 10:23:30 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
In the meantime, maybe I should get rid of some of my computer games?
;-)
Never. I still have all of my games going back to the C-64 days. The
only games I ever owned and don't own anymore are my Atari 2600 games
but I am not upset over them. Well, ok, I miss Adventure a little bit.
That was my favorite game on the system.
I did, however, get rid of all the extra computers, monitors and other
assorted hardware crap I had lying around a number of years ago. I
still don't regret that decision. As Dimensional Traveler pointed out,
the games are the reason I kept those computers around. But then
DosBox came along and I decided those computers and all the hardware
for them weren't necessary anymore.
The only old hardware I still have and use are my Roland SCC-1 and
external midi modules.
Now the question is: Do you all still use these old stuff? ;) I still
use my old analog 3.5mm audio speakers, VGA, DVI, Belkin OmniCube KVM
from Y2K (how in the world does it still work today?), PS/2 clicky
keyboard and mouses, Casio Data Bank 150 calculator watch, etc. At
least, those are still useful to me. :)
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