Tech Table Radio Show

Tech Table
Tuesday, August 12, 2014

August 12, 2014

Justin: Welcome to MPA’s Tech Table. I’m Justin.

Diana: And I’m Diana.

Justin: And we’re your hosts. We’ll be serving up a heaping spoonful of all things tech.

Diana: We promise, it’ll be easy to digest. Hey.

Justin: Hey. Hi. It’s Tuesday.

Diana: Hi.

Justin: Well, hello. It is Tuesday on the Tech Table. And today,

Diana: We talk about tech tips on Tuesdays.

Justin: We do. Tech tips on Tuesday. And today we’re talking about XP computers. What’s that?

Diana: Have you already forgotten?

Justin: Yes, well I’m just kidding. I haven’t really. But that’s kind of what’s happen. I mean Microsoft has forgotten XP.

Diana: Yes, well people are still frequently asking us what can they do to either speed up or protect their XP computers.

Justin: Oh dear.

Diana: Since they are now no longer supported by Microsoft.

Justin: I’m shaking my head. Do you hear the rocks rolling around?

Diana: We appreciate that you want to continue using what you have.

Justin: Give up though.

Diana: That’s good.

Justin: Let it go.

Diana: They’re trying to be good stewards of what they have.

Justin: Let it go.

Diana: Ok.

Justin: I call it being cheap.

Diana: Let it go. Oops. Got to be careful.

Justin: Yeah. But it’s true. I mean I know, it’s hard to accept when you get a piece of technology that you love, but XP came out 14 years ago. That means that kids that are in high school were even born when it came out.

Diana: Yes, and in the computer world, that’s just ancient. It just is.

Justin: It is.

Diana: So, it’s only natural that Microsoft would move on after 14 years.

Justin: Yes. So, there will never again be any real protection.

Diana: I hear the desperation in your voice.

Justin: Well, I hurt for the people because I used to be one of these people.

Diana: Yes.

Justin: Before I started working at a tech company, I would squeeze every bit of life out of my tech devices. And now I know, sometimes you just need to move on because there is so much better out there for you.

Diana: Right. And especially, you know, there’s no hardware that’s that old at this point.

Justin: Right, so you can’t add on any hardware to make them faster.

Diana: Right.

Justin: You can’t do.

Diana: There’s no software or hardware at this point. So, another question that’s often asked regarding XP systems is, “So, is my computer worth anything?”

Justin: If you target practice, maybe.

Diana: I think I hear your answer.

Justin: Yes, I know you spent a thousand to fifteen hundred-, I was one of those guys that tried to be an early adopter when they came out with the first Gateway computers.

Diana: Yes. Yes. Yes.

Justin: That had the tablet built into them and you’d switch the thing around. I used it in one meeting and paid $3,000 for it.

Diana: Yeah.

Justin: Yeah, so I understand this.

Diana: Learn your lesson.

Justin: Target practice. 14 years later, that’s what it’s good for.

Diana: You know what I like to liken it to is think back. Many of us remember the SONY Walkman.

Justin: Yes.

Diana: You know, cassette player.

Justin: Yes, they were very expensive.

Diana: When they came out, you know, 1979, and then a lot of us had them in the 80s.

Justin: I did.

Diana: They could cost upwards of $200, and only capable of playing enough songs that you’re cassette tape could hold. So, that’s like 12-20 songs.

Justin: Exactly.

Diana: And of course you had to manually fast forward, rewind, stop, you know.

Justin: And now you can get an iPod Shuffle that will hold thousands of songs for only $49 because the technology is not worth even as much today. So then your old technology- target practice, folks. I’m sorry to say, but that’s what good you’re going to get out of that old XP computer. Technology changes.

Diana: It does.

Justin: And, yeah, you’ve got a lot of good out of it, but it’s time to move forward.

Diana: Move forward.

Justin: Accept it and move forward. That’s the moral of the story today. And now we’re going to get lots of nasty e-mails.

Diana: Yes.

Justin: We’ll help you through it though. We will. We’ll hold your hand if you want us to. Until next time.

Diana: Take care.

Justin: TechTable is brought to you by MPA of Bloomfield, Iowa, and God’s country radio. You can visit us online at askmpa.com

Diana: If you have questions or comments, please send them to questions@askmpa.com. That’s questions@askmpa.com.

Justin: And thanks for listening.