WaPo article on 'death dates' of electronics, Apple products are mentioned.

[irisblue]

https://democraticunderground.com/10181691466

Go to the link & open it.

B/C I get the paper, I get free articles to share, some of these may be useful info.

[usonian]

1. Couldn't access, but I know the basic story.

NOTHING has failed on me. I have an iPad 1 and it still chugs along.
Stuff lasts TOO long.

Software updates stop being issued, and apps march along, obsoleting things.

So, I was missing a Firefox extension to "bypass paywalls clean" (works well) on one computer. Look into it and the extension says it needs a newer version of Firefox. Update that and it won't run on the older OS on that computer (For years, I had a very limited and slow wireless hotspot for internet). So copy Firefox from an older computer andnow it demands a new profile, tossing ALL my preferences and trashing all my extensions. and BY THE WAY, I had to de-select all the sneaky-ass "hints" that Firefox/Mozilla wanted to pollute my browsing experience in favor of their paid sponsors.

I so hate software (I was mostly an admin/IT guy for many years, did some scripting).

Maybe I'm just in a mood today. PG&E shut down power last night (I am running on a propane-powered generator some 18 hours later) because they were found guilty for burning down a whole lot of Northern California with their 100 year old insulators and so on. So they set their "danger triggers" to ultra-high in places that have had fires (we just had two) basically to the "I think I saw a squirrel, shutting down power" level. And take about a day to find out that indeed WAS a squirrel. So, their CYA efforts go.

Now that I have a wired internet connection (DSL!! WOO HOO!! Best that's available here) I am more or less equalizing systems to some level of interoperability.

Hardware keeps working. Software keeps breaking, or actively breaking functionality it used to have.

(reaches for his soldering iron)

[exboyfil]

2. I got a refurbished IPAD 1 fairly close

to the stop support date. I didn't realize what was happening. They prevent you from getting access to the older versions of free applications so it has limited functionality now because I didn't have them before the OS was obsoleted out. It still is a wonderful tablet that I can watch Amazon and Netflix movies on still as well as read ebooks and emagazines. My smaller Fire tablets are my workhorse tablets, but I use the IPAD sometimes because of the larger screen.

The only Apple products I have ever owned is the IPAD and two IPOD Shuffles I got from Audible. The Shufflers had a very short life. I don't intend to purchase anymore Apple products.

[usonian]

3. In the old days, apps were stored in a separate directory under iTunes whatever.

I got it to hold music scores, and to this day, it has the scores and tons of reading material.

Apps sure are unavailable, even older ones (they used to say "you can download an older version of this app" ) so back things up.

And sometimes it's refreshing to think of all that one or two apps can do (I used ForScore and GoodReader, still do).

But Apple sure obsoletes stuff at an exponentially increasing rate. Basically one giant upgrade a year as new products roll out.

The big PITA is that software developers can't keep testing for all the versions and devices with this pace of change, so it's the apps that fall by the wayside, and unless you're a developer, you're stuck with what's out there.

Newer macs are going Linux, as should ALL computers. I looked at a Dell Linux-pre-installed laptop and for a lot more than a mac running Linux (Linus Torvalds uses one) it's older and slower technology.

I have been printing music scores so I can get BIG pages, but some scans are not so sharp (almost all of classical music is public domain nowadays) and MIGHT get a used iPad Pro for the size and brightness.

The smaller iPads are basically good for half a printed page of music at a time, hence, twice the scrolling.

Despite my tech-heavy background, my uses are pretty simple these days.

If you are so inclined, I *do* recommend writing web-based apps, or just installing open source ones (I love Moodle courseware. I was an early adopter) and there are so many others. A web-based app runs on anything, and since a lot are still written in the php language, you can actually read the code and modify it. You can run on a tiny RaspberryPi computer.

Don't laugh. I used to tinker with "newfangled" IMSAI computers, built them from kits, and from what I learned playing with the hardware and software (CP/M at the time) that set me up for a cool career in computing. You could say the same for RaspberryPi computers now, except that the 50 pound chassis is replaced by something the size of your wallet and a zillion times faster.

Anyone interested (in learning or sharing their knowledge) just pipe up here.

Oh, and when you use open source apps, you don't have to contact the damn LICENSE MANAGER at Apple or Microsoft, else your app won't start. Computer Power to the People. I believed that from day one:

Computer Lib, Dream Machines by Ted Nelson. (1974)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Lib/Dream_Machines
Free download: WOO HOO!
https://archive.org/details/computer-lib-dream-machines

[hunter]

5. Back in the 'nineties I'd limit my "new" computer purchases to $300 or less.

Now it's closer to $100, thanks to the magic of Linux. Some of my computers cost less than that -- they were diverted from the e-waste bins.

I only use Windows or Apple products if someone is paying me.

The last Windows I used on my personal machines was 98 SE.

The first real operating system I was exposed to was BSD, back in the later 'seventies, so Linux was like coming home again. My favorite computers are my Atari 8 bits. I've still got those.

The Raspberry Pi is a great way to learn Linux for anyone worried about messing up their regular computer.

[unc70]

4. Apple looks pretty good in this article

Unlike most of the other devices discussed, Apple has battery replacement services at reasonable costs for most devices (e.g. $69).