[mhammer]

Once upon a time, I was a relentless purchaser of Maximum PC and PC Plus magazines. I tried to stay on top of current trends. I started on a PDP-8i in 1976, bought my first personal machine (an Acorn Atom) in 1982, and have amassed a veritable museum of 80's and 90's computers: CoCos, Sinclairs, Pentium this and that, old Macs. I bought my Raspberry Pi and Arduino Uno 4 years ago, and a Micro:bit last year. So, I'm no luddite.

But once upon a time if I was in the vicinity of a decent computer store I just HAD to pop in and see if there were any bargains that could goose my computing capability, and now I just drive on by. I seem to have hit "peak computing" whereby the capability of my system/holdings is pretty much all I need or expect to need for the foreseeable future. I have 4gig of RAM on a 2.6G dual-core Athlon, running XP SP2, and I have only recently cracked 80gig of space on a 200gig hard drive (which needs pruning). I recently got a newer and larger used 22" monitor because my previous one was acting bizarrely. But that seems to be it. I'm not gassing for anything anymore. I'm pretty much done.

I'm not disparaging anyone who does. And my older son regularly shows off things he has bought to me at his uber-wired and blue-toothed apartment, including his recent acquisition of very good VR headset. So I understand and remember the appetite people have. But when it comes to that particular buffet, I'm full and I ain't going back for thirds. I have enough to do what I need, am disinterested in reading more manuals and learning about yet more features that will suck precious hours away.

Have you hit "peak computing" yourself?

 

[hollowbody]

I have an older AMD machine that's running full-bore on 16GB ram with an SSD and a larger, spinning-platter drive for storage. The CPU/Mobo/GPU are all many years old, but the rest of the system is upgraded enough that I don't notice any sluggishness, even running Win 10. The only reason I have maxed-out RAM and installed an SSD is so that I can use it for recording and video-editing, otherwise, I'd be happy with a lesser system.

I have a Samsung Chronos laptop that is also several years old, but was cutting-edge at the time (quad-core i7 CPU, 8GB Ram, 2GB GPU). It serves me well as a mobile workstation.

So while I have more raw horsepower at my fingertips, I totally get what you're saying, Mark. I don't find myself lusting over the lastest & greatest hardware upgrades. I'm much more into gadgets these days that offer connectivity (like your son). I have a 3TB NAS drive that sits on my LAN and is accessible my my desktop, my Smart TV and my PS4, so all my digital media sits on that and can serve-up content onto any of those devices. I find that computing these days is more software-based in terms of providing creature comforts than it is about max horsepower (unless you're a hardcore gamer, which I'm not).

 

[Guest]

Yes. i7 3770, 32 gigs ram, solid state c drive, 5 tb data drive pretty much handles things.

 

[Guest]

My brother was a gamer. He would get a new comp every 3 years or so and I'd buy his old one off of him for a case of beer.
Couldn't tell you the numbers of what I'm on now, only that it's Win 7.

 

[Budda]

My brain does.

 

[keto]

My system is much like Player's, though an older first gen i7 2600K that's been running overclocked from the day I bought it. Must have built this system in 2011, according to google of the release date for that cpu. Since then I've added a SS drive, and upgraded the video card once I think.

I don't game much any more - used to be hardcore, and build myself a new system every couple years max (been building my own since 1997), and upgrade video cards about annually. I don't know exactly when I put in the GTX780 vid card, but I am starting to get some artifacting after long sessions so might have to pony up for that piece in the not too distant future. But I have no desire to build a new system or add other parts.

Part of that is that I finally got hooked on an iPad. My family had bought me one for Christmas oh, 5-6 years ago and I scoffed and had them return it. Before that it was a Kindle and the exact same thing happened. Finally, they bought me one 3 years ago and it stuck, and now I wouldn't be without it. Sitting on the couch in front of the TV, on airplanes and in hotel rooms, it's much more convenient than a laptop (which is something else I used to keep fairly current and no longer use).

Yep, I reached peak computing. If the iPad dies or a 'must have' upgrade of that system comes out, count me in though.

 

[Lincoln]

I don't stay "cutting edge" by any means but I did recently upgrade and I am running an Intel i5 7600 with 12 gigs of ram, 1TB hard drive, GTX1050 video, on windows 10.1

I find I upgrade about every 5 years now. In the beginning, it was an upgrade every 4 to 6 months just to keep up to the Jones. But, you're right. I don't give a dam about the Jones's anymore.
Long as it runs, I'm happy.

 

[butterknucket]

I don't want to sound like a weirdo, but I'm growing weary of technology. I think we're at the point where it's controlling us.

 

[hollowbody]

Y'all with your fancy vid cards! I'm still running a GTX660!

 

[Lord-Humongous]

It's hard for me to need more computing power to run outlook, excel, word, and browse this forum. They'll need to figure some super intensive 3d graphics into MS Office 2020 and make it an immersive experience to get my money.

Also, it's a little off topic, but I can't figure out what Snapchat is or does. My wife put it on my phone and I cannot for the life of me comprehend how it works or what I'm doing. I'm probably not going to be adopting anything new at this age.

 

[Mooh]

Gave it up long ago after deciding I couldn't keep up, or understand the jargon, or handle the financial stress. Started with a Vic20, then a Commodore 64, then a Compaq, then an Acer laptop. At that point I became exhausted. I think I had another Acer, then an HP or two, the last one lasted about 8 years and one of my kids has it now as a back up for something to do with games I think.

The only time I care anymore is when I upgrade. Last time was 3 or 4 years ago when replacing an old HP laptop with a new Apple iMac, and iPad. Best computers I've ever owned and they've been gloriously trouble free, do everything I want or need, and don't piss me off.

When shopping, store clerks twice breached my caution that I wouldn't stand for any talk about gaming as it holds absolutely no interest for me. Both times they wouldn't shut up about gaming when I was very clear about my requirements for recording and writing music. One was a jerk about it, insisting that I would become a gamer with the right computer. So much for the customer ever being right! I literally walked away from him. The Apple store never pulled that shit on me, addressed my needs directly, and had great suggestions plus business support.

 

[jbealsmusic]

I actually don't keep up with modern technology, but I do buy a new decent spec PC every 10 years or so because there always comes a time when my PC can no longer do the things I need it to do (either with software or attaching hardware). This is my first new PC in over 10 years:
Win 10 x64
Intel Core I7-7700 @ 3.60GHz (4 cores, 8 processors)
32GB RAM
250GB SSD + 2x 2TB HDD
GTX1080

This one should last me another 10 years or so before I upgrade again. I'm actually so averse to new technological trends that I generally spend the first several hours on any new PC, phone, etc disabling all the fancy new functions and hidden background services while re-skinning/re-working the GUI to function more like an old-school PC. If it were up to me, they should have stopped at XP SP3.

Don't even get me started on phones..... I would rather not have a cell phone at all, but my wife won't let me get rid of it.

 

[mhammer]

Also, it's a little off topic, but I can't figure out what Snapchat is or does. My wife put it on my phone and I cannot for the life of me comprehend how it works or what I'm doing.

As I understand it, it's what the kids use to sext their Napster when they're fingering their ping on Reddit.

Clearer now?

 

[GuitarT]

The roll of a computer in my life has got to the point where I don't even own one anymore. If you would have told me that 10 years ago I would have said you're nuts. All I have now is a tablet and smartphone.

 

[dcole]

I am at my peak now but will probably increase that soon. I have always bought off-lease computers and ran them for 5 years at a crack until the Internet browsers would slow down. I bought a slightly better, new system a few years ago and have started recently gaming on it. Mostly console emulators and what not. I've always wanted to build my own machine, sure have repaired enough of them for people, so I think I will do that with my next machine.

 

[shoretyus]

I am peaked out ... I have enough recording/streaming etc to meet my needs.. I still run an older version of Reaper .. this is enough ... but it took twenty years of computing improvements for the computer to meet all my needs.

 

[vokey design]

The techno train left me in the dust years ago. I can’t see the need for anything faster than I currently have. I replace when the device reaches the planned obsolescent date that was put in place just to make me buy a new one.

Our phones and computers have been AMAZING for years now.

 

[vokey design]

The roll of a computer in my life has got to the point where I don't even own one anymore. If you would have told me that 10 years ago I would have said you're nuts. All I have now is a tablet and smartphone.

So you have two supercomputers not one

 

[High/Deaf]

Would you kids please get off my lawn?

The world would be a much better place if 64k really was enough for anyone.

 

[SaucyJack]

I work in IT and these days if I don't have to fix it, I don't want to know it exists.