5 ms·

I think it would be awesome to have a list of things you can do with old devices. For example, I'm using the original Nexus 7 as a MIDI interface (virtual pian

I think it would be awesome to have a list of things you can do with old devices. For example, I'm using the original Nexus 7 as a MIDI interface (virtual piano) for FL Studio even though it's a 2012 product.

gambiting 6y ago
Perhaps that's not what you had in mind, but I still use daily a Late 2008 MacBook Pro without any issues. With some patching I've installed Catalina on it so it will still receive security updates until.....2023 I think? I just keep it as my kitchen laptop for playing music, watching YouTube and looking up recipes. It's completely noiseless, has pretty good speakers, and since I replaced the drive with an SSD 6 years ago it's pretty quick as well. Even the original battery still holds about an hour of charge if needed. Laptops just don't age the way they used to.
- nanomonkey 6y ago
  I've also got a 2008 Macbook Pro that keeps proving to be useful; new batteries are dirt cheap too. Any links to patching or reasons for upgrading to Catalina?
- Joeri 6y ago
  Same here with a 2009 base mac mini, upgraded a long time ago to 8gb and an ssd. My kids use it for scratch, youtube and homework. My wife uses it for online shopping. The key hardware features are dual cores, 8 gb ram and an ssd (not emmc or hdd). Anything with that kind of spec can still run modern software reasonably well.
reaperducer 6y ago
I think it would be awesome to have a list of things you can do with old devices. I have a smattering of old gear around the house. Some being used for their original purposes, and some doing things they weren't designed for. My wife has an old iPhone 5 plugged into an AM transmitter she found at Goodwill for a whole-house radio station. When she wants to hear her music, she just clicks on the cheap-as-chips radio in the room where she is. My wife has a four-foot-tall early 1950's console radio, made in East Germany, that she uses as both an amplifier and a stand for her state-of-the-art 2019 record player. I have a 2002 iLamp running OSX Leopard that I use as an iTunes media server. The current AppleTV interfaces with it flawlessly. I have a 2006 U2 edition iPod that I use occasionally to move files between computers. I found it at the bottom of an elevator shaft in 2010. I have a TRS-80 Model 100 that I occasionally use to write stories on. Every six months or so I transfer the documents to my main computer via null modem as a backup. The computer I use every day is a 2011 MacBook Air. (Though I plan to get one of the new ARM MacBooks as soon as they're available.) I use my iPod shuffles (1st and 4th generation) almost every week. I think they're the ultimate music playback machines, thought the 1st generation ones don't like modern headphone plugs. When I drove for Uber, I strapped a couple of $5 Goodwill Nooks to the headrests of my car. I put a series messages on the screensavers to display to my passengers. Things like the week's weather forecast, amenity information, and a QR code they could scan to take them to a web site with local event information.

gambiting 6y ago

Perhaps that's not what you had in mind, but I still use daily a Late 2008 MacBook Pro without any issues. With some patching I've installed Catalina on it so it will still receive security updates until.....2023 I think? I just keep it as my kitchen laptop for playing music, watching YouTube and looking up recipes. It's completely noiseless, has pretty good speakers, and since I replaced the drive with an SSD 6 years ago it's pretty quick as well. Even the original battery still holds about an hour of charge if needed. Laptops just don't age the way they used to.

nanomonkey 6y ago
I've also got a 2008 Macbook Pro that keeps proving to be useful; new batteries are dirt cheap too. Any links to patching or reasons for upgrading to Catalina?
Joeri 6y ago
Same here with a 2009 base mac mini, upgraded a long time ago to 8gb and an ssd. My kids use it for scratch, youtube and homework. My wife uses it for online shopping. The key hardware features are dual cores, 8 gb ram and an ssd (not emmc or hdd). Anything with that kind of spec can still run modern software reasonably well.

reaperducer 6y ago

I think it would be awesome to have a list of things you can do with old devices. I have a smattering of old gear around the house. Some being used for their original purposes, and some doing things they weren't designed for. My wife has an old iPhone 5 plugged into an AM transmitter she found at Goodwill for a whole-house radio station. When she wants to hear her music, she just clicks on the cheap-as-chips radio in the room where she is. My wife has a four-foot-tall early 1950's console radio, made in East Germany, that she uses as both an amplifier and a stand for her state-of-the-art 2019 record player. I have a 2002 iLamp running OSX Leopard that I use as an iTunes media server. The current AppleTV interfaces with it flawlessly. I have a 2006 U2 edition iPod that I use occasionally to move files between computers. I found it at the bottom of an elevator shaft in 2010. I have a TRS-80 Model 100 that I occasionally use to write stories on. Every six months or so I transfer the documents to my main computer via null modem as a backup. The computer I use every day is a 2011 MacBook Air. (Though I plan to get one of the new ARM MacBooks as soon as they're available.) I use my iPod shuffles (1st and 4th generation) almost every week. I think they're the ultimate music playback machines, thought the 1st generation ones don't like modern headphone plugs. When I drove for Uber, I strapped a couple of $5 Goodwill Nooks to the headrests of my car. I put a series messages on the screensavers to display to my passengers. Things like the week's weather forecast, amenity information, and a QR code they could scan to take them to a web site with local event information.