How can consumers keep-up with constantly changing tech?

[banquo's_bumble_puppy]

How can consumers keep-up with constantly changing technology? A perfect example of this is computers. See also- my vhs thread. Do you upgrade your computer every couple of years? Throw out the 35mm camera for a 5mpx jobbie? I know that industry depends on this sort of thing to survive.

[Captain Kidd]

I bought my computer in early 2001. Back then it was top of the line and cost me $1,600. Now Dell's $350 cheap job can run circles around it. Oh well, 4 years is an execellent run for a computer.

However, I can't afford to just up and buy a new one. So my solution has been to slowly upgrade this one until I hit a wall. I've added a USB 2.0 and IEEE 1392 card last week, a DVD burner last month when my CD drive went out. Here eventually I'll build up enough cash and spring for a case, motherboard, and CPU and transfer most of the 'guts' over.

We had a 35mm point and shoot camera until the Canon Digital Rebel fell below a grand and we sprung for that (along with probably another $500 worth of extra lenses, memory cards, ect.). We plan on using it until it finally falls apart. Same with the camcorder we just got, top of the mid-range line. That way it'll be a little longer until we have to replace it.

Bottom line I guess is our tendency is to use stuff until we just can't get it to work anymore. The recent computer purchase was when the games I played wouldn't install on my old one. We'll probably keep the camcorder until miniDVs become obsolete. I love new gadgets, but once I get something, I'll keep it for a long time. Heh, this weekend we traded in our cell phone on Verizon's New in Two program. The sales rep acted like the thing should be placed in the Smithsonian. Ok, so we waited 6 more months past the 2 year marks, it wasn't that old.

[PyroFreak]

I agree. I think most people upgrade based need (at least anyone with a family). However, we are a young married couple, so I can relatively still get away with these types of purchases. For instance, I am going to buy a stick of RAM to toss into the machine so it will play Half Life 2. I can't play it well if I don't have the added RAM, and I wouldn't get it otherwise, if I knew I didn't need it for future games. Hey, I'll soak it up while I can, cause I figure I'll have to put away these games sometime in the farther future.

[Tranquility]

I am basically also adopting Captain Kidd's approach. Basically upgrading a lot of components until I get enough for the heavyweight stuff - the motherboard, CPU and video card. Over the past year I've upgraded RAM, installed a DVD burner along with my CD-RW/DVD-ROM, and installed an Audigy 2 ZS today.

One thing I've learned is to never let the around the corner bleeding edge technology hinder a purchase for your PC, because you'll never end up buying anything. First they said DVD burners, but no, wait for the price to fall. Then when the price falls, no wait for the dual layer version. Dual layer appears, wait for its price to fall a bit and discs become more available. Before you know it, Blu-ray and HD-DVD will be out and its 2008 :lol: . Same with motherboards, with the hype over PCI-Express which after about 6 months of availability has problems, is more expensive with not much of a performance increase, limited compatible hardware, and low availability. Sure it might be the future, but it's not the present. I don't believe a lot in future-proofing your system, not in all cases anyway.

[Ut]

I take the stance of never buying into cutting edge technology, unless it's a sure bet. I bought a GF6800 the first opportunity I got. I didn't buy any DVDs, however, until they proved their worth. Because, you know, I remember LaserDisc.

[iFire]

Weren't those things like... huge? My old gradeschool has a laserdisc player... and one laserdisc...

[Tranquility]

I bought a GF6800 the first opportunity I got.

:o

All hail Master Ut.

[Ut]

Weren't those things like... huge? My old gradeschool has a laserdisc player... and one laserdisc...

They're the size of 45's, IIRC...
Mmm, vinyl.

[frogesque]

My heap o' junk pc is a CyrixInstead 6x86MX running Win98 with 111MB RAM (it goes 'peculiar' if I shovel more in) and the only extra card I have is my Ethernet card for cable. It's quirky, temperamental and lives permantly on my desk with the case open so's I can wave a big hammer at it when it acts up. It's going on 6 years old now and the only major thing I've replaced is the hard drive which crashed once too often when I was on AOL (ptoo!).

I almost replaced it last year but getting broadband gave it a new lease of life and we've kind of got used to eachother. Figure I might get another year or so out of it unless I get a digi camera and need more graphics oomph.

(BTW, for the shocked and horrified out there I don't do any gaming)

[Tranquility]

Man this gaming sucks the life out of us. Time and money, and new hardware installs, and one too many diced fingers on rough edges of not-so-well-made cases.

And it's well worth it too :D

[kucharek]

Though I'm pretty interested in tech, I only buy something new when I really need it and it is not cutting edge. Just bought a digital camera when my old simple one was broken. Gave a few thoughts about film vs. chip and decided, that now there is enough infrastructure available to make the switch. Have a cheapo tv, a cheapo VCR, a cheapo DVD player and a small radio and already feel sometimes I've too much of this home entertainment junk. My last own computer I bought in '85 and since then always managed to have some box from work at home - and since a few months I also work at home.
My digital radio clock must be some 30 years old (yeah, red LEDs). I've no wristwatch. I never saw the need to have a driver's license, so I also don't have a car (my elder sister who always called me a technocrat and who's a Greenpeace member is the only in the family with a car - Glom will be happy to hear this :D )

Oh, yeah, bought an electric bread cutter a few weeks ago. I was tired of spending half of the breakfast time in the morning with cutting a leaf of bread for breakfast and the school breaks of my kids :D

[Ut]

I'm a technocrat by no means, but I do love me some gadgets.

Looking at the PC...

I'm running an outdated Athlon 2500+ with 512MB RAM (to be upgraded within the next year), 17" CRT monitor (which needs an adaptor to connect to my GF6800 video card, a source of great shame), M-Audio Revolution 5.1 sound card, Logitech Z-5500 5.1 digital speaker set (happy, happy birthday!), DVD-ROM/CDRW drive, with a dual layer DVD/RW on the way soon, 6 USB 2.0 ports, scanner, printer, TV tuner card, USB memory stick, logitech MX500 mouse, WingMan force feedback joystick, and wingman wireless gamepad.

She's getting on in years -- she's lived one and a half now -- but I'm hoping to let her age gracefully, like a classic car. Especially since my next binge of overspending is going to be wardrobe based. :)

Ok, enough gloating from the absurdly broke computer geek ;)

[frogesque]

Ut wrote:

..... She's getting on in years -- she's lived one and a half now -- but I'm hoping to let her age gracefully, like a classic car. .....

Getting on in years! She hasn't had time to wet her nappy yet. :lol:

[Swift]

...She's getting on in years -- she's lived one and a half now -- but I'm hoping to let her age gracefully, like a classic car....
Wow, what a great idea for separating money from fools, I mean for making money. 8-[

Sell classic computers to collectors. It would be just like classic cars. You wouldn't use it to take the kids to football practice, metaphorically speaking. You'd still have the real computer for your real life.

Maybe you could get together at shows with other collectors and run vintage software on them. Hey, dude classic IBM 286 running DOS 2.1, sweet.

The big bucks would be in the after-market accessories. Grab all the 40 MB harddrives and EGA monitors out of the trash and sell them to collectors so they can back-date their classics.

[Ut]

...She's getting on in years -- she's lived one and a half now -- but I'm hoping to let her age gracefully, like a classic car....
Wow, what a great idea for separating money from fools, I mean for making money. 8-[

Sell classic computers to collectors. It would be just like classic cars. You wouldn't use it to take the kids to football practice, metaphorically speaking. You'd still have the real computer for your real life.

Maybe you could get together at shows with other collectors and run vintage software on them. Hey, dude classic IBM 286 running DOS 2.1, sweet.

The big bucks would be in the after-market accessories. Grab all the 40 MB harddrives and EGA monitors out of the trash and sell them to collectors so they can back-date their classics.

Brilliant.

"Oh yeah, she's got all the bells and whistles, of course. Under the case, along side her original 50MB disc is a smokin' WD Caviar SE 40GB drive. I use it to store the mp3s I play at computer shows."

"No, no. While that may look like a 3.5" floppy drive, it's actually a zip disc."

"Oh yeah, the case may be mini, but I had some custom USB ports installed so that I can have all the modern luxuries, like this cigarette lighter!"

[Morrolan]

i hate to admit it but i have a serious case of upgraditis... :(

new gadgets seem to have a magical attraction for me... my house has lots of latest stuff: plasma TV, the latest 40 gig iPod, the latest Canon Ixus-i5 (despite the fact that i also own a Canon Eos 3 and Eos Digital Rebel, what was i thinking!). i'm always upgrading my pc (i now have 4 pc's in my house) and i have to restrain myself from buying a new top of the line stereo (but i did buy a new set of B&W speakers)...
i have three different Minidisk players lying around and a Minidisk deck that basically does the same thing, but looks cool.

gadgets, gadgets, gadgets... i want...

aargh! i need help....

[sarongsong]

MacGyver meets James Bond (http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/victorinox-swiss-memory-knife-review.html) #-o

[Morrolan]

MacGyver meets James Bond (http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/victorinox-swiss-memory-knife-review.html) #-o

:lol: now that goes too far even for me... i mean, get real: only 64 megs?!? 8-[

[kucharek]

MacGyver meets James Bond (http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/victorinox-swiss-memory-knife-review.html) #-o

:lol: now that goes too far even for me... i mean, get real: only 64 megs?!? 8-[
64MB is the smallest one you can get. Currently, 512MB is the max.

http://www.victorinox.ch/newsite/en/produkte/produktdetails/swissmemory/swissmemory.htm

You can also get one without knife blades - saves you from trouble at the airport. Victorinox is suffering heavily from the aftermaths of 9/11. Before, they sold a lot of their pocket knives at airport duty free shops.

Harald

[mid]

Weren't those things like... huge? My old gradeschool has a laserdisc player... and one laserdisc...

They're the size of 45's, IIRC...
Mmm, vinyl.

Laserdiscs were the size of LPs; 12" diameter. With the larger inner hole as well, they look just like some 'Land Of The Giants' version of a CD.

Lovely things; I've still got a bunch. Since I can't see Lucas ever releasing the original edits of the Star Wars films (well, the first 4 anyway) on DVD, I don't see me getting rid of them in a hurry, either. My Criterion box set of SE7EN has much nicer extras than my 2-disc DVD release, as well, even if the DVD has better picture for when you just want to watch the film.

[Spacewriter]

Ummm... we have re-discovered the old rule about computer upgrades: that no matter when you buy, it's going to cost you about $2500 USD to do it. Our first computer cost that much back in 1984, and our latest ones (workstations all) were about that much.

But, speaking of being early adopters -- we just got a Roomba vacuum cleaning robot.

http://www.irobot.com


The cats are mystified by it and we're absolutely delighted that we don't have to spend time vacuuming the floors anymore, but we can still get all the cat hair sucked up without much effort.

;)

[Ut]

Oh man. Do those little robots actually work?

Hrmm. I'm a lazy man, but I actually like vacuuming. At least, I do when it's done with a real vacuum cleaner and not the piece of junk we have in the apartment. I throw on music, and vacuum away. So maybe this gadget isn't for me.

[Spacewriter]

Oh man. Do those little robots actually work?

Hrmm. I'm a lazy man, but I actually like vacuuming. At least, I do when it's done with a real vacuum cleaner and not the piece of junk we have in the apartment. I throw on music, and vacuum away. So maybe this gadget isn't for me.

Well, yeah, it does work. We just turn it on and let it go while we're working. It's kind of interesting to watch it go through it's little "decision tree" as it moves around the room. It's almost like watching "If... then... " ad infinitum...

;)

[sarongsong]

Wow---just went out to pick up a newspaper and it looked like the Sunday edition---crammed full of advertising supplements. Electronic stores and their gadget ads led the pack! 6 A.M. store openings tomorrow for several.

[Morrolan]

But, speaking of being early adopters -- we just got a Roomba vacuum cleaning robot.

http://www.irobot.com


The cats are mystified by it and we're absolutely delighted that we don't have to spend time vacuuming the floors anymore, but we can still get all the cat hair sucked up without much effort.

;)



DROOOOL!!!


now you've done it.... #-o

[Spacewriter]

But, speaking of being early adopters -- we just got a Roomba vacuum cleaning robot.

http://www.irobot.com


The cats are mystified by it and we're absolutely delighted that we don't have to spend time vacuuming the floors anymore, but we can still get all the cat hair sucked up without much effort.

;)

If you order the Discovery series Roomba through Amazon.com you can get a discount on it (something like $25.00 off) -- at least that's the special they were running last week when we ordered it. Then if you take the free super-saver shipping, all you have to do is wait.

Now, I will say that this thing does have a few issues, but they're not worse than the issues one has with a full size vacuum. We have a two-story house, and lugging a HUGE vacuum up and down the stairs is a PITA. But this guy doesn't weigh 5 pounds, and it's easy to take him up. He doesn't do stairs though, so you still have to use the old vac for that. other than that, you let him go and as long as you keep his dustbin cleaned out and the bristles clean (which you have to do with any vacuum), he runs by himself and certainly vacuums more often that we do!

;)





DROOOOL!!!


now you've done it.... #-o

[Brady Yoon]

Our family's pretty slow on most things. For example, we got DSL only a few months ago when everyone's had it for years.

[sarongsong]

Oops, almost forgot about TechTV's Gadget Section (http://www.g4techtv.com/gear/index.html), til Leo's morning radio slot (KFI-AM)---talk about sensory-overload!

[Spacewriter]

Oh, absolutely! TechTv has got great stuff.

I'm waiting for the heads-up computer monitor...

;)

[Enzp]

How exactly does that selling collectible computers thing work? I have an old Radio Shack TRS80 Model 3 upstairs in perfectly functional condition. Now it only has the 48k memory. At the time I saw no purpose in springing for the full 64k. It has both internal 5" floppies, and a third floppy in an external module. Otherwise you were swapping floppies all the time. Program disc, work disc, data disc. Even have software with manuals. It wants a good home. This is a real prize for the serious collector. Maybe I should spring for that extra 16k to make it more attractive to today's collector, y'think?

Talk about Laser Discs, I have one of the other video disc machines of the era, the RCA format. Got no discs for it, but it works. Actually used a needle - sorry, stylus - to track the disc. Those were the disks in the plastic carriers.

Still have a functioning Beta VCR, and some new still wrapped blank tapes for it.

I never did buy a CD player until my car came with one. What do I do for a living? I repair audio gear.

We got a DVD when they went under $30, the wife likes movies.

ANd when DTV finally gets here and the current broadcasts cease - and not very far into the future - I will be in the line getting a set top box, not a new TV.

Now what is all this about new stuff coming out?

[Spacewriter]

One word: Ebay.

;)

we have an old 8-track studio mixer that we need to unload, and possibly some old 1" and 1/2" tape recorders. They're just sitting in storage (not at our house, thankfully!). We're figuring the Ebay route... but maybe there's a museum somewhere... ;)

[sarongsong]

How exactly does that selling collectible computers thing work? I have an old Radio Shack TRS80 Model 3...This is a real prize for the serious collector...
http://www.old-computers.com/news/default.asp
http://www.earlycomputers.com
http://vintagechiptrader.com
From Don't Trash It---Treasure It! (http://www.computoredge.com/Archive/archive.htm)
November 5, 2004

[Maksutov]

[edit]Talk about Laser Discs, I have one of the other video disc machines of the era, the RCA format. Got no discs for it, but it works. Actually used a needle - sorry, stylus - to track the disc. Those were the disks in the plastic carriers...
Wow, RCA SelectaVision and its CEDs (capacitance electronic discs)! I tried one of those out back in 1981. Got the Planet of the Apes CED. Found out they were sensitive to any kind of vibration (even when used in the basement, which had a concrete floor) such that if the vibration caused a skip, that skip became a permanent part of the disk. Back they went for a refund in no short order.