Keeping old electronics/gadgets, yay or nay?

[ian87w]

What do you guys think about keeping old electronics/gadgets?
There are obvious collectibles (eg. old iPods). But at the same time, due to wear/tear/battery/obsolescence, most of old electronics are probably useless in the bigger scheme of things.

For example, an old smartphone. Yes, it is probably collectible/carry emotional value, but in reality, it's probably useless (no 4G, old hardware/software, degraded battery). And using it probably is a security risk by itself. I happened to stumble upon my old Moto X. It's iconic, definitely, but practically it's useless.

I'm trying to live simpler. I see that I tend to keep many old stuff, to the point of them being obsolete/totally useless. This is worse on media, such as tapes and floppy disks. I have tons of them and I don't even have a player/drive to use them, making them practically useless. CDs are getting close.

What do you guys do? Do you guys tend to keep your gadgets? Or do you try to be as minimalist as possible?

 

[eyoungren]

I keep stuff - to a certain point. It has to be useful, even if it's purely decorative.

My PowerMac G3 is my main server, my PowerMac G4 is a glorified NAS. And I am typing this on a 2009 MacPro attached to six displays, the youngest of which is a 2018 HDTV.

I get simpler. I'm trying to throw things out as I clean up my garage, especially stuff for which I don't have good reasons to have. I'm keeping my CDs though as that is the base of my music collection. Every one of those was inserted into a drive and ripped by iTunes at some point.

Old iPhones are still useful, especially as media players. My 4s is a music player in the garage. I have a BT loudspeaker out there and a 30-pin dock. My 6s+ serves as a secondary phone. If I break a phone while out walking or riding a bike, that'll be the phone - not my 11 Pro Max.

Some women collect purses (my wife) and shoes. I collect Macs and old devices. In any case, that's how my wife is able to deal with me collecting this stuff.

 

[Apple fanboy]

What do you guys think about keeping old electronics/gadgets?
There are obvious collectibles (eg. old iPods). But at the same time, due to wear/tear/battery/obsolescence, most of old electronics are probably useless in the bigger scheme of things.

For example, an old smartphone. Yes, it is probably collectible/carry emotional value, but in reality, it's probably useless (no 4G, old hardware/software, degraded battery). And using it probably is a security risk by itself. I happened to stumble upon my old Moto X. It's iconic, definitely, but practically it's useless.

I'm trying to live simpler. I see that I tend to keep many old stuff, to the point of them being obsolete/totally useless. This is worse on media, such as tapes and floppy disks. I have tons of them and I don't even have a player/drive to use them, making them practically useless. CDs are getting close.

What do you guys do? Do you guys tend to keep your gadgets? Or do you try to be as minimalist as possible?

Trade them in when I buy the replacement mostly. That’s the point you get the most cash for it. Keeping it for longer just reduces the value.

 

[velocityg4]

There's a lot of stuff that's just old junk to me. Eventually I toss it. Some stuff I'm sentimental about and keep. I'm more apt to keep a computer I made or a Mac. Regular OEM PC's I don't give a toss about. I'll get rid of them when they are no longer useful.

I don't do trade ins. If something is good enough for money on a trade in. It's good enough for a second life. Such as home office desktop or media server.

I did sell some phones. But just don't feel like dealing with it. So, I just dropped their charge to 40%. Turned them off and toss them in a drawer. Eventually, I'll send them all off to a recycler. As I've got stuff going back to flip phones.

Got rid of my last VHS a few years ago. Also dropped a ton of tapes off at Goodwill. That's also the last time I bought I movie. When I looked at all the wasted money. Then thought of all the money I wasted rebuying these movies on DVD then BluRay. Which I never play anymore. I'm pretty sure I don't have a working DVD or Blu Ray player anymore. Luckily I ripped most onto my server.

I've got tons of cassettes, records and CD's. But I still have equipment to play them. Plus a very nice Yamaha Amp and Preamp. Along with a pair of huge Boston Acoustic speakers with 15" woofers. I don't see a reason to get rid of any of this. As the sound quality is amazing. Those little modern speakers can't compete with a real stereo system. The sound is just unbelievably crisp and clear at obscene room filling volumes.

Anyways, I probably keep too much old electronics. I throw a lot of other stuff out. But I have a hard time letting go of electronics. At least the ones which I like and have some sentiment. I've still got my childhood RC cars and 27" Sony Wega CRT TV.

 

[eyoungren]

That’s the point you get the most cash for it. Keeping it for longer just reduces the value.

Where you place value on this is, I think, a major difference between those who sell on and those who keep their devices/tech.

 

[Danfango]

Minimalist here. This stuff enables other bits of my life. I have no sentimental attachment to it. Thus it goes the moment it is replaced or is no longer of use.

I used to hoard stuff right back to half a loft full of 1980s computer junk. Now I take the extreme opposite. I mostly live out of a couple of large rucksacks. After cleaning out a relative's place a few years back and having to deal with splitting assets after a divorce, I vowed to get my own stuff down to a bare minimum. I discovered that your stuff owns you, not the other way round very quickly and painfully. All it takes is having no money (because you spent it all on stuff) and a house full of stuff (that you bought) that you have to move pretty damn quickly.

The real breaking moment for me was intent on extracting as much value from the home clearance for the remaining spouse, I listed 250 things on eBay. None of them sold in a month so we had to hire a skip and I wrote off a not insignificant amount of time and money listing and buying packaging. They had no value despite her being convinced that the things her husband had collected are worth something because of the emotional attachment. I disposed of a lot of my own stuff in that way as well, with only a select few items which were worth selling.

After living like this for 5 years approx I won't go back. I have more time, money, space and peace and it is so much better. It's also good to know that my kids aren't going to have to spend 2 years dealing with my estate when I drop dead one day like my ex father-in-law.

 

[MBAir2010]

i use my touch G4 with 32GB more than i did in 2010.
i do wish we could add past apps and iCloud like we did just in 2017

 

[ian87w]

I keep stuff - to a certain point. It has to be useful, even if it's purely decorative.

My PowerMac G3 is my main server, my PowerMac G4 is a glorified NAS. And I am typing this on a 2009 MacPro attached to six displays, the youngest of which is a 2018 HDTV.

I get simpler. I'm trying to throw things out as I clean up my garage, especially stuff for which I don't have good reasons to have. I'm keeping my CDs though as that is the base of my music collection. Every one of those was inserted into a drive and ripped by iTunes at some point.

Old iPhones are still useful, especially as media players. My 4s is a music player in the garage. I have a BT loudspeaker out there and a 30-pin dock. My 6s+ serves as a secondary phone. If I break a phone while out walking or riding a bike, that'll be the phone - not my 11 Pro Max.

Some women collect purses (my wife) and shoes. I collect Macs and old devices. In any case, that's how my wife is able to deal with me collecting this stuff.

If the device still provides usefulness (eg your PowerMac server), then imo it's not counted, as it's still being used.

 

[ian87w]

Trade them in when I buy the replacement mostly. That’s the point you get the most cash for it. Keeping it for longer just reduces the value.

This is my thinking now. As much as I have nostalgic feelings on some of them, they don't really provide any usefulness other than taking up space. And for gadgets like phones, unless it's a specially recognized one like the original iPhone, it will be completely useless and obsolete. Imagine those holding on to their old blackberries, and now they cannot even function. Might as well traded them in sooner when there's still some value left.

 

[Apple fanboy]

This is my thinking now. As much as I have nostalgic feelings on some of them, they don't really provide any usefulness other than taking up space. And for gadgets like phones, unless it's a specially recognized one like the original iPhone, it will be completely useless and obsolete. Imagine those holding on to their old blackberries, and now they cannot even function. Might as well traded them in sooner when there's still some value left.

That said my wife is still rocking a Samsung slider phone from back in the day!

Samsung SGH-D600 - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Adarna]

Most of the time I wish I sold or gave away my devices right after buying their replacements.

Glad I kept some but wish I’d didn't buy others.

I feel sorry for the spouses and partners of literal hoarders. They’re paying extra real estate taxes or rent to store unused idle assets that depreciate every time a new product release occurs

 

[ian87w]

That said my wife is still rocking a Samsung slider phone from back in the day!

Samsung SGH-D600 - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

If it still works, sure, why not.

But technology devices like phones will get obsoleted whether we like it or not.
For example, many countries have shut down 2G, making phones like that Samsung pretty much useless for daily use. Even 3G is not safe in the near future, with some countries already shut it down.

 

[ian87w]

Most of the time I wish I sold or gave away my devices right after buying their replacements.

Glad I kept some but wish I’d didn't buy others.

I feel sorry for the spouses and partners of literal hoarders. They’re paying extra real estate taxes or rent to store unused idle assets that depreciate every time a new product release occurs

That's what I'm trying not to become... Especially when space is getting more and more premium nowadays.

 

[Adarna]

That's what I'm trying not to become... Especially when space is getting more and more premium nowadays.

Sell, recycle, give away or hand me down to someone else and let them figure it out themselves. Just get it out of the house.

iPhone 2G to iPhone 4s I did not sell and they're taking up space in my shelf. iPhone 5s to iPhone 11 Pro Max I liquidated at a respectable return while freeing up space. I replace every 2 years so I only had 6 out of the 15 years of iPhones.

I know a couple of Apple aficionados that have piles of Apple products piled up in their homes and their wives just learned to put up with it. Space that otherwise would have been actual living spaces people can move around in and not be walled in imprisoned with aging tech.

The appropriate action on my part would have been to replace the Fusion Drive of my 2012 iMac 27" to a SATA SSD 5 years after I received in early 2013. Replace with a 2022 iMac Pro as late as early 2023.

Similar reasoning for me not to buy any physical optical media with and for movies and TV shows from year 2000-onwards. Paid streaming and downloads to HDD would be a better option as I only watch these things once. These take up space and only worth revisiting when a remaster comes out on DVD (1996), 2K Blu-ray (2006) & 4K Blu-ray (2016).

 

[TechRunner]

Most of the time I wish I sold or gave away my devices right after buying their replacements.

I usually do. I enjoy using my electronics, but sell off/recycle/give away when I buy new.

 

[eyoungren]

So we talk about selling on our devices. Okay, I'm the minority in this thread as I keep mine. As long as I have a use or someone I can pass a device on to.

This is my first smartphone, a 2008-2009 HTC Touch Pro. It can still get email via Wi-Fi and get on the web - although I don't use it that way. Mostly, it's a desktop clock with the screen on all day. When the screen finally dies - it won't be replaced. I will have gotten my use out of it. And yeah, that is an external iSight to the right - attached to my 2009 MacPro with a FW400/800 adapter. It works with Zoom.



Back to what I opened with…I will just say that if I asked my with to live simpler and separate with her purses and her shoes and her sets of dishes for the kitchen, I would soon be a divorced man. You might accuse me of being a tech hoarder and feel sorry for my wife because all that stuff is here but just try making your spouse or SO see your point of view when it comes to their valued stuff.

 

[Adarna]

So we talk about selling on our devices. Okay, I'm the minority in this thread as I keep mine. As long as I have a use or someone I can pass a device on to.

This is my first smartphone, a 2008-2009 HTC Touch Pro. It can still get email via Wi-Fi and get on the web - although I don't use it that way. Mostly, it's a desktop clock with the screen on all day. When the screen finally dies - it won't be replaced. I will have gotten my use out of it. And yeah, that is an external iSight to the right - attached to my 2009 MacPro with a FW400/800 adapter. It works with Zoom.

View attachment 1959694

Back to what I opened with…I will just say that if I asked my with to live simpler and separate with her purses and her shoes and her sets of dishes for the kitchen, I would soon be a divorced man. You might accuse me of being a tech hoarder and feel sorry for my wife because all that stuff is here but just try making your spouse or SO see your point of view when it comes to their valued stuff.

Pls do not feel attacked.

We're talking about how we do things in our respective households. I'd like to believe @ian87w intent was to learn from each other.

 

[eyoungren]

Pls do not feel attacked.

We're talking about how we do things in our respective households. I'd like to believe @ian87w intent was to learn from each other.

Oh, no worries. Not feeling attacked. Just expressing an opinion. That said, I am honestly in the minority on this forum as a whole. The way I do things seems to be unique in some respects across the broad spectrum of forum members here. And most forum members are not your average Apple device user either.

Things did get a lot easier for me at home though when my wife finally made the connection between my tech stuff and the stuff she keeps and collects. But I should say that I do not keep everything. Ultimately, what I use needs to have a purpose to be used in order for me to justify having it around - even if all it's doing is being a desktop clock. Nostalgia only goes so far.

 

[Huntn]

What do you guys think about keeping old electronics/gadgets?
There are obvious collectibles (eg. old iPods). But at the same time, due to wear/tear/battery/obsolescence, most of old electronics are probably useless in the bigger scheme of things.

For example, an old smartphone. Yes, it is probably collectible/carry emotional value, but in reality, it's probably useless (no 4G, old hardware/software, degraded battery). And using it probably is a security risk by itself. I happened to stumble upon my old Moto X. It's iconic, definitely, but practically it's useless.

I'm trying to live simpler. I see that I tend to keep many old stuff, to the point of them being obsolete/totally useless. This is worse on media, such as tapes and floppy disks. I have tons of them and I don't even have a player/drive to use them, making them practically useless. CDs are getting close.

What do you guys do? Do you guys tend to keep your gadgets? Or do you try to be as minimalist as possible?

I use them until they break or they are replaced. Now I have a couple of really old game consoles I kept thinking they might be worth something soneday, but they are gathering dust in a box in my attic.

 

[minik]

Last year I pre-ordered KID A on cassette tapes and arrived weeks ago. Sadly my cassette tape player didn't work anymore. It may be a bad motor. In the same box, I have the SONY Discman and Mini-Disc recorder from the late 90s. Everything still works as expected. I tend to keep all my old gadgets even they're broken. That SONY Discman was listed at over $500 on eBay.

 

[eyoungren]

Last year I pre-ordered KID A on cassette tapes and arrived weeks ago. Sadly my cassette tape player didn't work anymore. It may be a bad motor. In the same box, I have the SONY Discman and Mini-Disc recorder from the late 90s. Everything still works as expected. I tend to keep all my old gadgets even they're broken. That SONY Discman was listed at over $500 on eBay.

My dad took our family to London in 1982 with his frequent flier miles. We lived in California at the time. On the way home, before boarding the airplane we went into a duty free shop at Heathrow and my dad got my sister and I these red Samsung cassette players. They were not a Walkman, but in that style. I was 12, my sister would have been 10.

I still have that cassette player and it still works. So, 40yrs old now I guess.

 

[max2]

I throw them away

 

[ian87w]

My dad took our family to London in 1982 with his frequent flier miles. We lived in California at the time. On the way home, before boarding the airplane we went into a duty free shop at Heathrow and my dad got my sister and I these red Samsung cassette players. They were not a Walkman, but in that style. I was 12, my sister would have been 10.

I still have that cassette player and it still works. So, 40yrs old now I guess.

For media, it's sort of fine if you still have a functioning player for them. I have a bunch of cassette tapes, but I don't have any player to play them on.... ?

 

[Apple fanboy]

For media, it's sort of fine if you still have a functioning player for them. I have a bunch of cassette tapes, but I don't have any player to play them on.... ?

I really don’t miss tapes. A horrible media. Especially in cars.

 

[JT2002TJ]

I really don’t miss tapes. A horrible media. Especially in cars.

When it comes to cars, consider what tapes were replacing, tapes were AWESOME, and for several years after CDs were out, tapes were still better. CDs skipped when you looked at your car wrong, until they added memory. Even with memory, it took years until you could drive without a skip.

Personally I think CDs were one of the worst medias for cars. To me after tapes, the next good media for cars were mini-discs (never really picked up in the US) then USB/Flash.