Loadingā¦
4
A client in Denver handed me a 1998 Gateway desktop and asked if I could 'just make it like new'
He was completely serious, offering me $200 to upgrade it for his grandson's schoolwork. Has anyone else gotten a request that made you pause for a second?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
robin7777mo ago
I took a similar job once and just installed a lightweight Linux distro (like Lubuntu) on the old hardware. It actually runs okay for basic web browsing and word processing.
5
xena_taylor646mo ago
But what about the time and skill needed? @robin777 makes it sound easy, but most people just want a computer that works out of the box without learning a new system. That old hardware often has other problems too, like failing batteries or broken keys, so the software fix only goes so far. Sometimes replacing the whole thing is the simpler choice for a normal person.
3
david_singh617mo ago
Nice! That's exactly what I mean about tech waste. We throw out so much stuff that just needs a simpler system, like @robin777 said with Lubuntu. My neighbor tossed a laptop because it was "too slow" for Windows 11, but it runs fine on a light OS. Companies do this with whole offices of computers. It's not broken, it's just bloated software. Makes you wonder what else we could fix with a simpler approach, right?
1