Playing with Computers or Machines

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How many computers do you have at hand. Years ago I used to have two computers. A Mac Book Air and a Mac Book Pro. Eventually I sold the Mac Book Air and just used the Pro. I went to an event with the Pro and it was stolen so for a few days I was without any computer.

I then bought a much cheaper Mac Book Pro and since then my collection of computers has grown. My work horse from 2016 onwards was a Mac Book Pro, but during the pandemic I got an HP machine running windows. Now it’s running Ubuntu. I also have a chrome book as a spare.

Cheap Pi

I then have a multitude of Pi4 and Pi5 as well as Pi3, and more. I have the Pi because they are great for experimentation with linux, but also with self hosting. I really like to experiment with Raspberry Pi because you set something up, fiddle, break it, and start again. With time you gain confidence and experience.

Now I use Ubuntu on the HP machine, and I just remembered that I have Debian on a Pi5 SD card. I have Mint on a Mac Book pro and Suse and NixOS on another HP machine.

Finally I have an M4 Mac Mini running MacOS but I suspect I will keep this machine for video editing.

Cast Offs

Most of these machines were given to me, rather than having them recycled. I bought the Pi computers to use as learning platforms and it’s thanks to these single board computers that I re-acquainted myself with Linux after years of MacOS use.

And Finally

Years ago I wanted to buy the latest Mac Book Pro but now I find that a Pi works well for blogging, web surfing and more. This is especially true of the Pi5 with 8 gigabytes of ram. We often think "I want to get the high spec machine", but a low spec machine will be just as useful for simple things.

Years ago a low spec machine was a challenge to use but with technological advancements low spec machines that are not much bigger than a credit card but smaller than a wallet that is too full deliver a reasonable user experience. The barrier to entry is now lower.