Thursday, February 23, 2006

Slowing rate of advancement for PCs

We've been talking about this effect off and on at work. Back in the mid-90s, it was not uncommon for a 3-year old machine to be completely outclassed by newer machines. Processor speeds were doubling every 12-15 months, memory sizes were jumping and hard drive sizes grew by leaps and bounds.

Fast forward to the last few years (2001-2005). Processor speeds really haven't budged much, maybe a four-fold improvment in performance over the past 5 years. Some of that is simply due to the advent of dual-core machines.

For example, my 1.6Ghz Tecra 9100 laptop with WinXP is still a very viable machine for office work. Mostly because we've upgraded it along the way to have a 100GB HD and 1GB of RAM. I've been using it for 4 years straight (heavy use) and just replaced the keyboard and DVD drive. In another few months to a year, I'll be handing it off to another user who will probably use it as their primary machine for another 4-5 years. The major reason I plan on upgrading is because 1GB of RAM doesn't meet my needs anymore (I need 2-3GB).

It boggles the mind a bit to realize that this laptop will be in active use for 8-10 years. The first laptop (Tecra 8100) that I bought in March 2000 only lasted me 2 years before I handed it off to another user (who used it for 2 years). I reckon that the Thinkpad T60p that I'll be purchasing later this year will probably last me 4-5 years as a primary machine as well. It might even still be in use in 2020!

It was a subtle shift, but somehow we've moved into the domain where a 5-year old machine is merely middle-aged instead of hopelessly antique. At least, for office / school work.

Labels: 2006

posted by Wuphon's at 9:38 PM (0 comments)