Obsolete: how much old tech do you have

[mangoman]

I was trouble shooting some internet stuff today, and at some point went through boxes of old tech looking for stuff.

It made realize that over the last twenty years I have spent frightening amounts of money on bits and pieces that are now obsolete.

Dozens of external HDD's, the USB ones still usable but the Firewire ones are paper weights at this point. Tons of cables, too. 10-100Mbps ethernet switches, a MoCA extender (remember those?).

It all cost money, a lot of money. But it all pales in comparison to the amount of money I have spent on now obsolete Apple products.


Ah, the price we pay for the convenience of progress. Or the progress of convenience, not sure.


How much old tech do you have? Anybody still rocking SCSI out there?

I used to have boxes of stuff. So I made a human-sized totem pole from it, all the tech mounted to a steel pole and base. A fine art piece that spoke to our idolization of tech.

 

[JamesMay82]

I’m glad to see we are all in the boat.. I have the following and never use it but maybe once every year or 2 I fire up for some nostalgia

Xbox 360
2008 24 inch imac
2010 27 inch imac
2014 26 inch imac

I had some laptops but they always broke so I have just thrown them

 

[MacBH928]

Uhhhh…okay. Do you get into the PowerPC or Early Intel Mac subforums around here much? 😉

I do have a lot of old stuff. But most of it I paid cheap or got free. Because I average about 15+ years behind Apple's current model and it means most people are done with this stuff by the time I get a hold of it. This message being typed in on a 2009 MacPro running Sonoma for instance. My newest Mac is a 2011 MBA running High Sierra.

We'll just start here…

View attachment 2635162

Currently I am trying to get a handle on the disaster area that is my garage. I've got piles of old junk back to a Mac IIci I picked up in 2001 or so. And there is a pile of cables and whatnot sitting on a chair to the right of this photo that you can't see too. My wife will be happy when that disappears from the front room.

do you have the security keys to launch us nukes? are these 10 monitors connected to 1 mac pro?
do you utilize this many screens you just like the setup?

 

[eyoungren]

do you have the security keys to launch us nukes?

Uh…no. My wife however does derisively refer to this as 'Mission Control' a lot though.

are these 10 monitors connected to 1 mac pro?

Yes. 1x 55" HDTV, 2x 23" Dell/Lenovo monitors, 1x 23" Cinema Display, 1x 20" Cinema Display, 5x 30" Cinema Displays.

do you utilize this many screens you just like the setup?

Both. I like the setup, and different app windows (and their palettes) are placed on different screens.

 

[wyliej]

Do film cameras count?

Not obsolete.

 

[splifingate]

I've thought about it, but I think I'll keep it for extra usage on my desk (as an extra screen) for video content when my main MBA is docked ... and also for random needed Windows usage as I've installed Win10 LTSC on it with Bootcamp.

It's only really worth about $150-ish in my local market anyhow, just based upon what I've observed on FB Marketplace.

Gave my Early 2015 13" to a friend . . . she enjoys it more, now, than I ever did 🤷‍♂️

 

[MacBH928]

Both. I like the setup, and different app windows (and their palettes) are placed on different screens.

may i ask what is the use case for this many screens, i am just intrigued . Also how can you connect so many monitors to 1 computer i thought there was a limit.

 

[eyoungren]

may i ask what is the use case for this many screens, i am just intrigued . Also how can you connect so many monitors to 1 computer i thought there was a limit.

Use case?

Pretty much it's for whatever I want to do with it. I will admit that at one point my work Mac had three displays and I was not to be outdone by that at home. So, I stuffed three video cards into a PowerMac G4 Quicksilver and got six displays. That followed to a PowerMac G5 with two video cards and then to my Mac Pro with two video cards.

It stayed at six displays and two video cards until last year when I acquired additional 30" Cinema Displays and an additional video card became necessary to drive them. That made 8 displays. But it also bugged me that two ports were not being utilized on that third video card. So, I added two additional monitors.

This is a Early 2009 Mac Pro running Sonoma via OCLP. A 4,1 MP that I upgraded to a 5,1. Its got two flashed NVIDIA GT640 cards (which originally allowed me to run Mojave on it) and I added an NVIDIA NVS 510 last year. So, three video cards is how I accomplish this.

I was not aware there was some sort of limit somewhere.

 

[GooniesG]

Hello everyone,

At first, I thought: "Oh no, what should I write? Where do I start and where do I stop?!"

But then, while reading your messages, I realized: "Ahhh, ohhh, yes, I have that here too" and "Oh, right—that’s floating around here somewhere as well..."

So, here are a few things that haven't been mentioned all that often:

• A working Zip drive with working cartridges
• Mac Plus (working)
• iMac G4 (the "Lamp"; see above—though it's broken [backlight issue])
• Apple LaserWriter 16/600 (working, but only from Mac-platforms via LAN accessible)
• Apple LaserWriter 800 (DIN A3; not accessible, but principle working)
• Apple II (working, home-built)
• Several SCSI drives
• Several FireWire drives (some with an additional USB port; still in use)
• A stack of Atari ST EPROMs
• Various parts from old MacBook Pros (CD/DVD/SuperDrives)

The devices in daily use here are almost exclusively "antiques":
• MacBook Pro 15" (2010)
• iMacs 21" & 27" (2012)
• MacBook Pro 15" (2013)
• MacBook Pro 13" (2015) <- The "newest" device in the household 🙂
• iPhone 7
• iPhone 11

And in the photo/video department:
• An old Leica M1...
• Various SD/MiniDV camcorders

Best Regards
Georg

 

[zephonic]

You guys must all have garages the size of silos…

 

[Mousse]

Not obsolete.

It's not easy to find film anymore. It's not like during the heyday when you can walk into any pharmacy or grocer and get some Kodak or Fujifilm. Heck, even specialty camera shops rarely has any in stock.

Good luck finding a photo lab. 30 years ago, every pharmacy had a 1 hour photo lab inside.

You have to be really dedicated--have you own dark room/photo lab--to shoot film nowadays. I don't know anyone who develops their own color film. I know one person who develops B&W film. It's a lost art.

Shooting film was a lot different from digital. For one thing, I was picky with what I shot. I took time to compose, think, frame and so on. With digital, I'm loose with what I shoot. Hey that's interesting. *click* Oh a cat. *click* Trash fluttering around. *click*

With film... What a gorgeous sunset, but there are people in the way. *puts camera away*😑

 

[MacBH928]

Use case?

Pretty much it's for whatever I want to do with it. I will admit that at one point my work Mac had three displays and I was not to be outdone by that at home. So, I stuffed three video cards into a PowerMac G4 Quicksilver and got six displays. That followed to a PowerMac G5 with two video cards and then to my Mac Pro with two video cards.

It stayed at six displays and two video cards until last year when I acquired additional 30" Cinema Displays and an additional video card became necessary to drive them. That made 8 displays. But it also bugged me that two ports were not being utilized on that third video card. So, I added two additional monitors.

This is a Early 2009 Mac Pro running Sonoma via OCLP. A 4,1 MP that I upgraded to a 5,1. Its got two flashed NVIDIA GT640 cards (which originally allowed me to run Mojave on it) and I added an NVIDIA NVS 510 last year. So, three video cards is how I accomplish this.

I was not aware there was some sort of limit somewhere.

View attachment 2636758View attachment 2636760View attachment 2636759

thanks for sharing man..

It's not easy to find film anymore. It's not like during the heyday when you can walk into any pharmacy or grocer and get some Kodak or Fujifilm. Heck, even specialty camera shops rarely has any in stock.

Good luck finding a photo lab. 30 years ago, every pharmacy had a 1 hour photo lab inside.

You have to be really dedicated--have you own dark room/photo lab--to shoot film nowadays. I don't know anyone who develops their own color film. I know one person who develops B&W film. It's a lost art.

Shooting film was a lot different from digital. For one thing, I was picky with what I shot. I took time to compose, think, frame and so on. With digital, I'm loose with what I shoot. Hey that's interesting. *click* Oh a cat. *click* Trash fluttering around. *click*

With film... What a gorgeous sunset, but there are people in the way. *puts camera away*😑

The complete horror show in film camera is you do not know how the end result will be. you had to wait for it to be developed. Coming back from a trip you get surprise over exposures and "blinked eyes" photos. Too bad you can't reshoot them because you have to go back to the same trips with same people to reshoot. Of course if you are photographer you might know what you are doing but average simpletons just click the capture button.

in a sense, the difficulty and surprises and expense of film camera made them more sentimentally valuable. The 1 picture is really unique and iconic.😂

 

[MacBH928]

Do film cameras count?

View attachment 2635528

where do you buy film for it? and how much does it cost?

 

[Jumpthesnark]

where do you buy film for it? and how much does it cost?

Camera stores still sell film. Plus you can buy it online. Prices vary, depending on the kind of film, manufacturer, etc. It's a lot more expensive than film used to be!

 

[Pop357]

Long time listener, first time caller...

I'm a Unix guy from way back and Macs were pretty much off my radar until OS X hit the shelves. I bought my first Mac, a 12" iBook G4, in 2005 and they've been my preferred daily driver ever since. I have a small collection of mostly laptops that I've either used over the years or rescued from local buy & sells:

2005 12" iBook G4 1.33 (first Mac)
2005 12" iBook G4 1.33 (rescue, maxed out and added an SD hard drive, runs Tiger Shuriken, nostalgia-driver)
2005 15" PB G4 1.67 (rescue, non-hi-res, kinda beat-up)
2006 13" Core Duo 2.0 MacBook (rescue)
2008 13" C2D 2.0 Unibody MacBook (replaced the iBook as my daily driver)
2009 15" C2D 2.66 MB Pro (former work-issue)
2010 13" C2D 2.4 Polycarbonate Uni MB (rescue)
2010 Mac Pro 2.8 (rescue, slipped into the laptop mix somehow)
2012 13" i5 2.5 MB Pro (replaced the MB Uni as my daily driver)
2012 13" i5 2.5 MB Pro (rescue)
2012 11" i5 1.7 MB Air (rescue)
2015 13" i5 2.9 MB Pro (replace the 2012 as my daily driver)
Various generic PC boxen running ESXi, FreeBSD, or Debian

Non-obsolete hardware:
2020 i5 1.1 MB Air (lovely wife's daily driver)
2022 M2 MB Air (current work-issue)
2025 M4 MB Air (current daily driver)

 

[splifingate]

Uhhhh…okay. Do you get into the PowerPC or Early Intel Mac subforums around here much? 😉

I do have a lot of old stuff. But most of it I paid cheap or got free. Because I average about 15+ years behind Apple's current model and it means most people are done with this stuff by the time I get a hold of it. This message being typed in on a 2009 MacPro running Sonoma for instance. My newest Mac is a 2011 MBA running High Sierra.

We'll just start here…

View attachment 2635162

Currently I am trying to get a handle on the disaster area that is my garage. I've got piles of old junk back to a Mac IIci I picked up in 2001 or so. And there is a pile of cables and whatnot sitting on a chair to the right of this photo that you can't see too. My wife will be happy when that disappears from the front room.

Is that a Pollock on your wall (above the Inspire/Influence screens)?!?

 

[eyoungren]

Is that a Pollock on your wall (above the Inspire/Influence screens)?!?

Yes. But it's not real, just a mass produced retail copy. It's my wife's and she hung it there when we moved into this house. We've had it a while (near as I can tell, since at least 2014 and probably a lot longer than that) as it used to hang in the old house.

 

[splifingate]

Yes. But it's not real, just a mass produced retail copy. It's my wife's and she hung it there when we moved into this house. We've had it a while (near as I can tell, since at least 2014 and probably a lot longer than that) as it used to hang in the old house.

Nice.

I was going to say something like "Why not display it prominently?" then I re-remembered that you have ~31㎡ of screens 😉

Remember to double-check it's lack of authenticity before the next yard sale...

 

[eyoungren]

Nice.

I was going to say something like "Why not display it prominently?" then I re-remembered that you have ~31㎡ of screens 😉

Remember to double-check it's lack of authenticity before the next yard sale...

Yeah…there's not a lot of space. When we moved in here I had an old desk, a Parson's table with long legs and much smaller (and fewer) displays. The TV was actually the dominating object then.



As to authenticity…it is a real mass-printed REPRODUCTION of a Pollack and was bought in some store somewhere and framed. That's as close to a real Pollack painting as it's going to get. 😉

 

[Global_traveler]

Hoarding is a sickness. Perhaps we all need “help”. I tossed all my old stuff, and wish I’d never sold my IIe. Learned Basic and then Pascal on it. Also had a 300 Bd modem, and a 1 megabyte expansion card. But I still have my working Newton 110, with a 1 megabyte memory card. Used to dial out to Yahoo and get my email while on the road, but lost the modem card. Sad. Anyone have the cable to connect to a PC? Lost that as well.

 

[Brettka7]

Figured this might be fun to post. I have a lot of tech much older than this one, but this is my XS Max. It has a brand-new screen and 95% battery capacity. Decided to pull it out and clean it up today.

The bezel was the only part that looked bad. Went to town with cape cod pads, then followed up with a jewelry polishing cloth.

 

[ejb190]

Oh geez. This thread is right up my ally.

There's a huge difference between having old tech and using old tech on a regular basis. My early 2008 iMac is on my desk next to my MacBook Air M2. It has some archived records on it as well as serving as my music server. I have an iPhone SE (1st gen) that I'm working on turning into a proper iPod. (Headphone jack FTW.) I do have an original iPod Shuffle that I got up and running last year. The battery is toast, but I have the AA battery adapter that can keep it running for a while.

I sold most of my old film camera gear to a collector. My first Kodak VR35-K10 point and shoot is in a drawer somewhere. I got my first newspaper job with that camera. My main camera is a Nikon D50D70. It's gotta be 25 years old but suites my needs just fine. Though now with iPhones, it doesn't get much use.

 

[Pacific1972]

---

---

Macbook Pro 2012 - 15.4" - i7 - 16GB
with animated Desktop Theme​

---

---

Apple iMac 20" - MacOS 10.7 Lion​

---

---

Apple iMac 20" - Windows 7 (BootCamp)
Freelancer + Hurricane + NEXUS TaskBar​

---

---

Alienware X51 - i5 - 8GB - 250GB SSD​

---

😉...hope you like the old stuff ! 😎​

---

ROCK CANDY - Keyboard & Mouse Set
(Sky blue, Lime green, Hot Pink) ​

 

[zephonic]

---

View attachment 2638314

---

Macbook Pro 2012 - 15.4" - i7 - 16GB
with animated Desktop Theme​

---

View attachment 2638315

---

Apple iMac 20" - MacOS 10.7 Lion​

---

View attachment 2638316

---

Apple iMac 20" - Windows 7 (BootCamp)
Freelancer + Hurricane + NEXUS TaskBar​

---

View attachment 2638317

---

Alienware X51 - i5 - 8GB - 250GB SSD​

---

😉...hope you like the old stuff ! 😎​

---

ROCK CANDY - Keyboard & Mouse Set
(Sky blue, Lime green, Hot Pink) ​

I still have my 20" iMac (late 2006)! But I had to reinstall the OS (10.6.8) and didn't bother with Bootcamp, so at this point it's just a paper weight. A very old version of Firefox kind of works on it, barely. I keep it packed up in an iLugger. I traveled half the world with that computer.