Ways to use a computer that has become “obsolete”

In a previous post I considered why you might find that your perfectly healthy and still functioning computer may need to be replaced, at least as your main computer for daily tasks and internet access. However,  is there a way you might keep it out of the Recycle Depot a while longer?

Well yes, you simply need to consider ways it can be useful without internet access.

So let’s consider some ways:

1.  Use it as a word processor, or glorified typewriter. It has a screen, and you can connect it to a printer. However, if you want to share documents with others you will need to save them to an external disk and then email or share them from your main computer.

2.  Use it to play games that do not need an internet connection. There are lots of computer games;  card games, scrabble, word games, crosswords, and so many more, that will still run on older hardware and an older Operating System. If your computer is a laptop, and therefore portable, it can be a great entertainment portal for someone who is confined to home, or for use at a cabin where there is no internet, or when travelling, as long as the battery holds out.

3.  Load it with educational programs for children, again ones that need no internet connection, and use it as a teaching tool. There are many excellent  programs for teaching Reading, Math, Colours and Shapes at every age level. There are also videos and books that are educational and do not need a sophisticated computer setup.

4. Load it with a COPY (never trust an older computer with the only copy of any of your data) of your music collection. Hook up a nice set of speakers and use it as a stereo system, either in your home or cabin.

5. Load it with a COPY of your video collection. Install a media player that can play your files and will run on older hardware. VLC is a program that can play most digital video formats. There should be a version available that is supported your older system. If it doesn’t work, you will likely find a program that does work for you.

When you travel you’ll have an entertainment system separate from your working computer.

6. Load it with a COPY of your photo collection, then set up a screensaver that cycles through your photos, and hook up a nice monitor, possibly mounted on the wall. Now you have a digital photo screen!

7.  Load it with some delightful screen savers and hook it up to a monitor. Now you can enjoy a digital aquarium, or fireplace, or swimming dolphin, or any other screensaver that  appeals to you

It’s moving artwork!

You might have even more ideas. Or you might be ready to let it go, but you know a family member or friend who would like to implement one of these ideas -  so ask around before you take it to be recycled. Bear in mind that after a certain age that older computer is not worth anything financially, you’ll likely be giving it away. If you give it away be sure to remind the recipient that if it’s not running a current supported version of Windows it should not be connected to the internet.

All of the above ideas can be implemented with a Mac computer too, but Macs have historically been less vulnerable to viruses and do in general have a longer usable lifespan, but you may be wanting to replace your Mac anyway once it doesn’t run the latest version of the MacOS,  if there are features in the newer version that appeal to you. That’s how this industry is driven!