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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">You young whipper-snappers probably
don't remember a time, oh, it was probably back in the 1950s when
the term was "planned obsolesence." In them days it was cars,
auto-mobiles, when Deetroit was cranking 'em out, adding tail fins
and what not, while the Japanese were concentrating on fuel
efficient, well built small cars. <br>
<br>
What goes around comes around. Those to don't remember history are
condemned to repeat it. <br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Dennis Fowler
P. O. Box 70
Otego, NY 13825
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:dennisf63@wildblue.net">dennisf63@wildblue.net</a></pre>
<br>
<br>
<br>
On 12/31/2019 04:19 PM, Lynn Greiner via Ipg-smz wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal">It’s all marketing – it’s in companies’
best interest to get people to buy new stuff so they maintain
their revenue streams. Thus Y is the “X-killer”. The world is
littered with the corpses of last year’s model, if you believe
the hype (also, subscription and streaming models are simply
revenue tools – I’d rather have my movie on DVD and not be at
the mercy of some streaming service). My previous desktop was
retired after about 8 or 9 years, after it suffered a
catastrophic hardware failure that would have been too
expensive to fix. The one before it went 9 years and had to be
put aside because replacement parts weren’t available. Current
machine is 4, I think – had it for a couple of years before
the other desktop died, since I needed Win10 for some things
and the vendor refused to support Win10 on the old box. I can
run Linux on the new system too, of course – I configured it
with a ton of RAM so I could create VMs.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1
1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> Ipg-smz
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:ipg-smz-bounces@netpress.org"><ipg-smz-bounces@netpress.org></a> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Mark
Brownstein via Ipg-smz<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, December 31, 2019 3:51 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:ipg-smz@netpress.org">ipg-smz@netpress.org</a><br>
<b>Cc:</b> Mark Brownstein <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:IPG@brownstein.com"><IPG@brownstein.com></a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Ipg-smz] eBay vendors selling used
laptops with Linux Mint installed<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p>The whole issue of 'obsolete' has been a bit of a puzzle to
me, too. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Why is it necessary to get the latest and greatest? Why is a
phone, for example (maybe an iPhone 6 or a Galaxy S8) that was
once the latest and greatest -- and still works fine -
suddenly obsolete when a new model comes along? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Why is Word 10 (which I use to teach a 100 year old nun, and
usually use for most of my projects) obsolete - even though it
still works fine for me, and meets almost all of my needs? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The once state-of-the-art (or almost) Dell notebook that you
wrote about was hot shit a decade or so ago -- sure, new
software may require more resources - but this thing is still
powerful, and will do Linux Mint very well. With good desktop
apps - and a lot of apps that do things that are similar to
the Windows or Mac apps (or some ported across platforms to
provide equivalent features and capabilities) - why NOT keep
an 'obsolete' machine alive and vital? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>This isn't quite like it was in the mid '90s when the Pentium
or 80264 came out, and some apps wouldn't run on an earlier
CPU. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>I've been thinking about putting Linux on one of my virtual
machines and taking it for a spin.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 12/31/2019 9:45 AM, Phil Shapiro via
Ipg-smz wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
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<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black"> I've noticed several
eBay vendors are selling used laptops with Linux Mint
installed. I sometimes buy these<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black">and resell them to
community members at cost. I'm then able to provide
free tech support via my public library job.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black"> In some ways
my job is analogous to an open source Apple genius bar
-- although I'm given no scripts of what I can<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black">and can't say. I just
give people the best possible advice and support I
can. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black"> Anyway, there
might be an interesting story about Linux finding its
way into communities via eBay. I can.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black">pass along the vendors
names, if anyone might be interested in running with
this.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black"> An interesting
side angle to this -- the vendors would not be
installing Linux Mint if there were no demand<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black">for it... Another
angle, I installed Linux Mint 19.3xfce on a 2002 Dell
Dimension 4550 desktop this week. Darn<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black">computer feels
pretty snappy to me. Without Linux, that computer
would be out of commission. With Linux installed,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black">it could see a few more
years of use.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black"> Too often tech
professionals use the word "obsolete" as if it were a
factual statement, rather than a statement of opinion.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black">If you're a refugee
from some war torn country, a 2002 computer with Linux
installed would be a dream system to have at home.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black"> If your name
were J.K. Rowling - and you were receiving public
assistance -- you could use such a computer to write
your<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black">first books.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black"> Phil<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black">-- <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black">--<br>
Phil Shapiro, <a href="mailto:pshapiro@his.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">pshapiro@his.com</a><br>
<a href="http://www.his.com/%7Epshapiro/"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.his.com/~pshapiro/</a>briefbio.html<br>
<a href="http://www.twitter.com/philshapiro"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.twitter.com/philshapiro</a><br>
<a href="http://www.his.com/%7Epshapiro/stories"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.his.com/~pshapiro/stories</a>.menu.html<br>
<br>
"Wisdom begins with wonder." - Socrates<br>
"Learning happens thru gentleness."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black">"We
must reinvent a future free of blinders so that we
can choose from real options." David Suzuki</span><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<o:p></o:p></p>
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