Anyone else disillusioned with technology / turning into a luddite?

[VirtualLarry]

I still visit Newegg from time to time, but I no longer spend any money there. My PC building days are over...

 

[Charmonium]

I don't think that qualifies you as a Luddite.

Personally, the main reasons I used to build my own were . . . well, that's a bit of a long story. Let's just say that the only things I really need to add to a prebuilt now are maybe an NVMe and video.

 

[biostud]

They don't sell server parts at newegg?

 

[BoomerD]

I'm not the tech-crazy guy I was 20-30 years ago. I build/buy what I need...with the goal of keeping it for several years...then replace it if I need to do so.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

I wish they would stop changing things for the sake of change and maintain what works. I still use Win7 on a 10+ year old laptop. It works (for me).

But there's no money in that for them, is there?

 

[mikeymikec]

My PC building days definitely aren't over (early forties), I've managed to pick up components on black friday deals at a considerably cheaper price than expected, but the fact that I'm still running a Haswell rig is partly down to cashflow/priorities and partly down to experience and realising that upgrading just because I get an itch does not necessarily result in a worthwhile upgrade that I actually appreciate.

My wife will probably appreciate that my purchases for my new PC happened at a moment's notice like this because it stopped several months' worth of agonising and extra research in their tracks I still did plenty of research IMO before this build, but the 7800X3D £150 cheaper than its normal price was definitely a last-minute decision. I nearly got it £30 even cheaper if I had been quicker off the mark but I wanted to double-check its performance/efficiency in various aspects as I had not originally regarded it as a realistic option.

Some might judge me as a luddite because for example I don't have a tablet and my phone will likely only get replaced when I need a new one. I'm definitely not an "enthusiast" with smart devices all over the house for example. Apart from the fact that I have a hi-fi connected to my PC I'm pretty minimalist in most aspects of my life. It's going to be weird though going from a pretty old build that does all the essentials fine to a new build that can suddenly play much more modern games.

How are you "disillusioned with technology"? If you're anything like me then I'd say you know what to expect in real-world terms + your requirements when you read reviews for newer hardware. My new build is going to re-use the 840 PRO SATA SSD for Linux from my current build because I know that changing from a decent SATA SSD to a decent NVMe SSD is not going to make a ground-breaking difference for general apps usage, and the 980 PRO for my Windows gaming install will be perfectly fine despite the fact that the board I've picked is Gen5 and so I could get an even faster SSD. What's the point?

 

[VirtualLarry]

How are you "disillusioned with technology"?

What's the point?

Exactly. 14th gen follows 13th gen, which followed 12th gen. All basically mostly the same.

AM5 was neat, I built a Ryzen 7600 rig with a RX 7600, for myself, as my "new" daily driver, but then I ended up giving it away.

I'm mostly satisfied on neffing with a 4GB RAM Walmart-special laptop, whatever's newest whenever I break the hinge, which seems often.

 

[Charmonium]

I'm still using an HP Envy lappie with Win10. But for the past year or so I've a more recent version of that model. I must have skipped the part in between where everything got shrunkified.

 

[mikeymikec]

Exactly. 14th gen follows 13th gen, which followed 12th gen. All basically mostly the same.

This sounds like an argument I regularly hear from my customers. It doesn't matter that new tech supersedes old tech. Yes, upgrading to the next gen means you might get 10% more performance but are you really going to appreciate let alone notice the 10%, or is what you've got absolutely fine. I say use it until it's not fine.

Which I've mostly done with my Haswell rig and I'm a little conflicted about upgrading at this point, but I have two reasons: Blu-ray encoding will be a lot quicker I'm sure (4690K to 7800X3D), and IMO my rig doesn't measure up to the needs of modern gaming, for example CP2077 goes at like 30FPS or less the entire time, and the bit I'm conflicted about is that I don't have that "one chosen game" that I must upgrade for but I know it's time that I do a general upgrade so I can actually realistically think about playing some of these newer games like say Elden Ring.

We haven't seen many game changers in our lifetimes. The SSD is one, multi-core CPUs is another, for example.

AM5 was neat, I built a Ryzen 7600 rig with a RX 7600, for myself, as my "new" daily driver, but then I ended up giving it away.

I'm mostly satisfied on neffing with a 4GB RAM Walmart-special laptop, whatever's newest whenever I break the hinge, which seems often.

I'm not sure I understand your logic here. If I had to guess, I think you have a laptop, you thought you'd build yourself a new desktop only to find that you prefer the portability of a laptop? If so, I get that.

 

[Charmonium]

I didn't log the article but I read recently that a new substrate(?) made from various substances will allow chip several hundred times faster than currently possible.

I doubt we'll see anything like that soon but it's not impossible.

Fastest ever semiconductor could massively speed up computer chips

A record-breaking superatomic semiconductor material allows particles to traverse it between 100 and 1000 times faster than electrons pass through a silicon chip

www.newscientist.com

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'm saying, I prefer to sit down to a relatively state-of-the-art desktop, with an RGB full-sized keyboard, 4K 40" screen, etc.

But my needs are met with an ordinary laptop, no need for the fire-breathing desktop at all, really. Maybe just for bragging rights. But at my age, with my eyesight (50yro), I'd just rather not build at all.

 

[mikeymikec]

I'm saying, I prefer to sit down to a relatively state-of-the-art desktop, with an RGB full-sized keyboard, 4K 40" screen, etc.

But my needs are met with an ordinary laptop, no need for the fire-breathing desktop at all, really. Maybe just for bragging rights. But at my age, with my eyesight (50yro), I'd just rather not build at all.

It sounds to me like you're in the market for a new hobby!

Though it sounds like your inner fanboy hasn't died.

Curious mix. Human condition and all that.

Why did you give the desktop away then? If you prefer to sit down at a desktop, then why didn't you? I mean, I have a spare Broadwell-era laptop that my day-to-day basic needs could be served by, but I prefer a desktop so that's why I'm sitting at it

 

[Charmonium]

Eh, just plug the lappie into an external monitor plus wireless kb/mouse then ditch the desktop.

If you need more storage, add an external RAID array. I use level 5

 

[VirtualLarry]

Why did you give the desktop away then?

Oh, I've been giving away most of them. I still have Ryzen 1600 / RX 6600 / 32GB / RGB, as well as a really dusty 5900X rig in which it boots, but the AIO WC pump is busted.

 

[mikeymikec]

Oh, I've been giving away most of them.

Why though (the first one you mentioned)?

 

[biostud]

This sounds like an argument I regularly hear from my customers. It doesn't matter that new tech supersedes old tech. Yes, upgrading to the next gen means you might get 10% more performance but are you really going to appreciate let alone notice the 10%, or is what you've got absolutely fine. I say use it until it's not fine.

Which I've mostly done with my Haswell rig and I'm a little conflicted about upgrading at this point, but I have two reasons: Blu-ray encoding will be a lot quicker I'm sure (4690K to 7800X3D), and IMO my rig doesn't measure up to the needs of modern gaming, for example CP2077 goes at like 30FPS or less the entire time, and the bit I'm conflicted about is that I don't have that "one chosen game" that I must upgrade for but I know it's time that I do a general upgrade so I can actually realistically think about playing some of these newer games like say Elden Ring.

We haven't seen many game changers in our lifetimes. The SSD is one, multi-core CPUs is another, for example.



I'm not sure I understand your logic here. If I had to guess, I think you have a laptop, you thought you'd build yourself a new desktop only to find that you prefer the portability of a laptop? If so, I get that.

I played World of Tanks on my 5820k + GTX 1070 and I play World of Tanks on my 7800X3D + RX6800XT, so same game but ~45fps medium settings to ~110 fps highest settings. But I also once a week a gaming night where we play some co-op fps, where it is more smooth than before.

But otherwise, yes it is all just more of the same.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

PC usage doesn't require, nor benefit from, the upgrade cycles that used to exist. We don't see p4->core->i series upgrades anymore, so you can generally float on a system for much longer than you would have before. I've got an 8700k and a 6700k in my household that runs everything I need at full fps, and the only purchase I've made recently were some 4070tis to replace the 1080's I built those systems with.

 

[pete6032]

It follows the same cycle as any other technology. Really big leaps at first with lots of enthusiasm. Then the improvement with each generation becomes less and less and the tech becomes a commodity and then obsolete. Remember when people got excited for the newest CD burner reviews?

 

[MrSquished]

Everyone is talking about pc's, but we all know tech has gone beyond building a computer. And I'm very disillusioned with tech's applications in multiple ways for how it's affecting humankinds.

I guess I do keep up on tech, just not PC wise as much. What I have now is fine, desktop and laptop and tablet.

This past year I accumulated a few Sonos speakers and the mini sub. I added smart plugs and smart bulbs to parts of my place. I keep up with phone technology, some audio, I got a nest cam for inside my property, I use a smart doorbell, etc...

Tech is way beyond computers now.

 

[kn51]

I've been calling myself a luddite for several years now. Why? Because I'm at the point in my life where I just want "things to work" and...more importantly (calling out my age)...tired of change for change sakes in order to drive profits.

And the above comments are aimed at mostly mobile type/home use type operations.

Far contrast to my day job/hobby type stuff where I have more control.

 

[IronWing]

For PCs, I don't get all that excited about the new tech. My laptop is twelve years old and runs all the stuff I need it to run with sufficient speed. I over buy and then live with PCs for as long as I can. The new video card tech is interesting but so stupid expensive I can't justify buying it.

Greenman's laser engraver/cutter thread got me looking at those machines. The new tech there is really interesting and the price is right. The more I read though, the more space and more addons I find are necessary to get a working system and I realize I don't have space for one.

For my fluorescent mineral hobby, the tech is moving forward rapidly after stagnating for 50+ years. It's an interesting time. There is a small group of very knowledgeable enthusiasts working directly with LED manufacturers to develop UV LEDs that work for minerals and another group working with bandpass filter manufacturers to design and manufacture custom filter materials for the hobby.

 

[IBMJunkman]

I am 75. Recently built an i9-13900 with Win 11. Mainly because the jerks at MS require TPM. Still using old machine. Just need to move all my stuff to new machine. Getting VS and SQL running was fun.

Also recently built a machine for a friend. I had built the old one and friend wanted Win 11. Unit did not support TPM so new system. Used old case. Used i5-12600K as price was a big factor.

 

[DigDog]

Same answer again;

1. tech is something that you match power vs need. When you needed 2x X1900's in crossfire to run Oblivion grass on medium, you wanted all the computing power you could get.

2. "amazing graphics" is something we chased when it was new and .. well .. "amazing". there's nothing amazing about amazing graphics, today.

My PC works fine with what little i have, i would be perfectly happy to turn down the beauty settings (i disable Bloom & HDR & all that visual diarrhea anyway) because GAMEPLAY is what i care about, unless you PC starts to stutter when i have to load an enemy in a FPS (which is just not gonna happen in 2023 unless the game is complete garbage) i won't feel the need to upgrade.

.. i had a Haswell until just about a year ago ..

 

[skyking]

I haven't gotten out one of my old desktops in years. I need to go on a hard drive hunt and gather all the images that may still be there.
I do most of my work on an IBM Chromebook. Do I qualify as a Luddite?

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

It follows the same cycle as any other technology. Really big leaps at first with lots of enthusiasm. Then the improvement with each generation becomes less and less and the tech becomes a commodity and then obsolete. Remember when people got excited for the newest CD burner reviews?

That's not entirely true, unless you count 1990-2010 or so to be 'at first' I guess.