what happens to cool gadgets?
What happens to cool gadgets when they are outdated? We all know they don’t mature like good wine. But, can they offer some use and age gracefully?
Dan of Dan’s Data has some thoughts:
Thankfully, some gadgets have a bit more substance to them. The cutting edge has left them way, way behind, but people who bought them years ago are still using them. And I’m not just talking about the vintage tech fans, with their Sinclair Spectrum with eight daisy-chained Microdrives that all actually work and “Xenon 1 4 Life” tattoo.
No, I mean people who’re actually doing useful things with superannuated technology.
It takes a special kind of gadget to still be lovable when it’s years old. Every now and then one of them makes it, though. Not everyone using gadgets ten generations out of date is a crusty Luddite.
The really great thing about old gadgets is, of course, that they’re cheap. If you missed the chance to pay a thousand bucks for them when they were new, you’ll now be able to pick them up on eBay for fifty.
Some whole classes of gadget fall into the old-cheap-and-good category.
Read the whole article here.