Written by Theundercoverman on 2022-03-04
I think the world needs to understand. If something isn’t broken, don’t replace it. You save a lot of money and you still have something that works. The mindset many people have is they always have to have the newest and shiniest model of something, so they replace all of their devices every few years. Imagine going through five smartphones in ten years. I’m sure many people do that.
Not everyone can afford to replace their devices all the time. By doing so you are spending more money than you should, because technology is expensive. How much does it cost for a television? What about a cell phone? A car? You should be content with what you already have, using that until it breaks beyond repair. By doing this you’ll spend less money and nothing will be wasted because you will have used your devices to their maximum potential.
If you already have a laptop, keep the one you have for now. If not, get a used Thinkpad somewhere. They are cheap, last forever, and are easy to repair. You really don’t need a lot of RAM or a good graphics card unless you want to play the latest games, but even most laptops can run low-end games and even some newer ones on the lowest settings, as well as most emulators.
About resolution, you really don’t need anything higher than 1080p. 720p (1280x720) is good enough for some people, but 4k and 8k is just overkill. It’s sad that people think we need to have higher resolutions for everything, as if they aren’t content with 1080p, which is already really good.
Don’t bother with smart TVs. There is no reason to have your TV connected to the internet. If you want to watch YouTube (you shouldn’t even be watching YouTube), watch it on your computer. Use pipe-viewer or Invidious.
CRT, LCD, and LED monitors are all built to last for years. You could live with the same TV for 10-20 years, and maybe another 10 years after replacing the backlight. It is possible to use a computer monitor as a TV (i’ve seen guides online about it), but cable TV kinda sucks because it uses HDCP (a form of DRM) and it’s possible to live without it. Newspapers still exist or you can just get the news online via RSS feeds. To find out the weather, just look outside a window. Buy DVDs or Blu-rays of TV shows or movies (or find them online somewhere) or just read books. Don’t bother watching sports since they all suck.
It isn’t really worth getting these anymore since the older ones have worn out over the years and the newer ones all suck. You could probably find a used PS2 or DS for a low price but apart from those, just use your PC or laptop for gaming. You really don’t need to play the newest games like Cyberpunk 2077 or Fortnite or whatever. There are a lot of great older games, indie games, and even some free and open source games, that don’t require the newest console or computer to play.
You really shouldn’t be using a phone since it’s impossible to have any privacy on those devices. All phones nowadays, even the “dumbphones”, are loaded with spyware and apps like Google, YouTube, and shit. If you need a phone, remove all of the apps that can be removed (and disable what can’t be removed) and use it as little as possible. Don’t use a phone for anything that can’t be done on a computer (such as web browsing or watching videos).
Avoid using iPhones because Apple plans obsolescense. After a few years, your phone will stop working, it won’t get any more updates (for muh security), and you’ll have to buy a new one. Buy a phone that will last for many years or even better, don’t have one at all.
It’s sad that cars are pretty much required since you can’t really go anywhere on foot or even on a bike. A lot of people prefer leasing cars so they have a new car every few years and don’t have to worry about maintenance, but then they always have monthly payments, and today’s cars can spy on you just like your computer or phone. You’re better off buying a used car, preferably a long-lasting, low maintenance car, and using that until it breaks beyond repair, and don’t even use a car if you don’t have to. If you want to go somewhere that isn’t really far away, you could just walk there or ride a bike if you have one.