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MY BROTHER-IN-LAW just told me about a technology issue that he’s been struggling with. He was trying to get an old scanner to connect with his Mac. The solution required him to upload some outdated software.
When he finished explaining how he resolved the issue, I was happy he could scan again. I was even happier that I had a $250 personal computer. Nothing irks me more than paying a premium—the Mac premium, in his case—and winding up with connectivity issues.
This reminded me of an article from 2014 titled, “In Praise of Crap Technology.” The author extolled the virtues of his Coby mp3 player. It was an ancient piece of technology, even then. But it allowed him to listen to music while exercising at a very reasonable price.
Now, when I say crap technology, I’m referring to older technology that still gets the job done. Not crappy technology that never got the job done, like Google Glass.
I like crap technology for several reasons. The first is economics. Until a few years ago, I’d never owned a laptop. I was issued a series of expensive laptops at work. They were high-end because they needed to run company software, like SAP and enormous spreadsheets.
After I retired, I wanted a laptop for myself. My computer needs were small. A little Microsoft Office, some blogging and a lot of internet surfing. Buying a $1,200 Mac just didn’t make sense. Besides, I’m a PC guy. I did a little research and settled on a bare-bones HP for $250. It has worked out just fine.
If asked, most people will say that they just want to pay a fair price for a product or service. I believe this is an out-and-out lie. Most Americans want to pay less for more. Getting a good deal is the American dream.
In 2019, I needed to buy a car. I didn’t relish the idea of spending $50,000, even if it came with air-conditioned seats, a smart key, teen-driver technology and a 360-degree camera. After a little research, I decided to buy a 2013 Hyundai Elantra for $9,300.
It came with enough technology to ensure my safety and convenience: anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control, and iPod, aux and USB inputs. It also came with a manual transmission.
That last bit of outdated technology has many advantages. It made the car that much cheaper to buy. It’s better on gas milage. And it provided built-in theft prevention. Nobody knows how to drive one.
Another advantage of crap technology is security. In 2013, I received a promotion that came with a BlackBerry. When it was handed to me, I thought, “What the hell is that thing?” But I quickly learned to love it because I had zero concerns about anyone stealing it. Why would they?
It also seemed metaphysically impossible to lose. You only lose costly things, like an iPhone 12 or a Montblanc pen. All this meant that I’d never have to explain to my boss how I lost the company cellphone.
Finally, crap technology can provide peace of mind. My wife just purchased a $170 coffeemaker. In my view, paying more than $30 for a glorified water heater is incomprehensible. What’s worse is this technological wonder is so complex. It requires two different filters, one for fewer than four cups and another for four or more. Its spout is sometimes open and sometimes closed. And the carafe has an interior lip that’s hard to clean. Trust me when I say that paying a premium for inferior technology doesn’t improve my morning coffee.
You technophiles can keep your $999 iPhone 13 or your $2,500 Sennheiser AMBEO 3D Soundbar. I’ll invest the difference in a low-cost index fund. Or even better, if the alternative is $6,000 HiFiMan SUSVARA Headphones, I’ll take two first-class tickets to Berlin.
Michael Flack blogs at AfterActionReport.info. He’s a former naval officer and 20-year veteran of the oil and gas industry. Now retired, Mike enjoys traveling, blogging and spreadsheets. Check out his earlier articles.
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AMEN!
I had PCs for my first 20+ years as a computer user, and I spent countless hours on the phone with Dell support, wiping and reloading my hard drive, etc. etc. I got a new job in 2008, and they gave me my choice of computers. I said “Get me a Mac,” and I have never looked back. I’ve never once had a hard drive crash. Not once. You couldn’t pay me to go back to a PC.
DrLefty, thanks for your feedback. I agree: If you are going to pay the “Mac premium” for me, then sign me up for a 16-inch MacBook Pro with 64GB of RAM and an 8TB SSD. Where should I send the bill for $6,099?
Aren’t the Curtas now considered rare and expensive antiques?
There are things to buy where used, inexpensive, or basic models will fulfill your needs. There are other items where is makes sense to splurge for the latest and greatest. The challenge is knowing which is what. And above all, avoid purchases that are totally unneeded.
The important things in life cost what they cost, everything else isn’t worth it . . . no matter what the cost.
Michael, great article. I’m the same way in general and like our $30 Mr. Coffee just fine. But I confess to a love for newer and faster laptops. Every few years I’ll spring for a new one and it’ll have several times the computing power of the one it’s replacing, at a lower cost. Hard to resist.
Andrew Forsythe, if you use your laptop to do lots of high-tech stuff, then an expensive laptop makes sense.
When I helped my daughter find a used car for $5,000 while she was in grad school, the only reliable one we found was a Honda Civic with a standard. I taught her to drive it, and she grew to love the stick, and was proud to be among the few women (or men) in their generation to know how.
Ronald Wayne, knowing how to drive a stick is a valuable skill, especially when renting a car overseas, as outside the U.S., manual transmission rental cars are significantly cheaper than automatics.
I have a Thinkpad T430 from 2012 that I bought used from eBay for $125. I upgraded it with memory ($50) and an SSD ($100) and now it rivals the performance of laptops costing hundreds more. Plus the ease of repairability means I can keep it going forever.
Jim Nelson, thanks for your feedback. I like the way you think, compadre.
My Dell 790 that I am typing this on is from 2011, so it’s 10 years old. However, I don’t use Windows. It easily runs the latest version of Mint, which I settled on after trying several other distros.
If you didn’t work in IT, this may not be for you, but I love being able to open a command window and typing in the Unix commands that my fingers still remember.
Ormode, the command window, huh? Did you run out of punch cards?
Great article Michael. Lots of truth here. I especially love the characterization of a manual transmission as an “anti-theft” device. So true.
I have a 6 yearly MacBook air that works fine for me. Yesterday I was trying to access my former company’s Open Enrollment website to sign up for medical benefits. Lots of issues, so I called tech service. I had to sign to my wife’s PC with Chrome to make it work. Seems like creating web sites of multiple browsers is an issue.
Rick, I use Mac. Have Chrome loaded on it and use it when a site won’t work with Safari.
Rick Connor, thanks for the kind words. I’ve run into the same issue re: website access via Apple products.
Hey Michael, is this about anti-technology or anti spending money? 😎. All the engineers I’ve known delight is figuring out the technology. I’ve got a used Curta calculator you can have cheap.
R Quinn, a Curta calculator huh? Did your abacus break?