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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Extending Technology


            My primary computer is a Thinkpad T61p laptop. It’s coming up on 6 years old, which is impressive for a laptop. When I got it, it had Windows XP and a mere 1 gig of ram. Now it’s got 4 gig of ram and a 640 gig hd, up from its original 120. I’ve upgraded it to Windows 7 pro, and tricked it out with lots of customized software. It still flies. It’s not a gaming machine, but I would put it up against today’s average systems and bet on it.
            The point is that the technology is waay out of date. According to every advertisement and most of society, it’s a useless antique. But I say as long as there are ways to make it relevant, it’s still serviceable.
            My current phone is a Nexus One. It’s got pitiful ram and hasn’t received an Android upgrade since Gingerbread, way back to 2.3.6. Nor will it get anything better from the powers-that-be. But it’s not useless.
            Even now I’m planning to root the device and bring it up to speed. The old phone still has life in it, and I’m not quite ready to relegate it to the scrap heap.
            My old X100e is the same, even though it’s got a short in its lcd ribbon, I’m going to replace it and get it running. Then I’m thinking of a nice linux installation to turn it into a home media server.
            The point is that technology’s shelf life isn’t as short as people might believe. With a little time and creativity, it can become useful again. When I do eventually replace my phone, I’ll probably turn it into a car-based mp3 player. It’s still got Bluetooth to connect to my transmitter, and the SD card has all the tunes.
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