These 5 devices are over 10 years previous, however I nonetheless use them day by day
The tempo of technological growth is scary, with AI instruments doing issues we’d have barely believed just some years in the past. That does not imply newer is at all times higher; I nonetheless use a number of devices every day which can be 10 years previous or extra.
A fourth-generation Kindle
Abandoned by Amazon, however nonetheless extremely succesful
In May 2026, Amazon dropped assist for all Kindle fashions launched in 2012 or earlier, together with my Kindle 4. Despite being in excellent working order, I can now not entry the Kindle Store to purchase or borrow books, obtain books from my Kindle library, and even signal again into my account if I have to factory-reset the machine. The Send to Kindle function can also be now not obtainable.
Since my Kindle is now not supported, I lastly bought round to jailbreaking and installing KOReader, and my eReader is now extra helpful than ever. I can learn a a lot wider range of file formats, and with KOReader plugins, my Kindle can do way over it might earlier than. I exploit it day by day, making a mockery of Amazon abandoning the machine.
A Sonos Play:1
The app could also be dangerous, however the {hardware} is not
I’ve owned my Sonos Play:1 speaker for properly over a decade, and it is introduced me numerous hours of listening pleasure. The comparatively small speaker delivers nice sound high quality: a 3.5-inch mid-woofer handles vocals, midrange, and bass, and a separate tweeter handles the excessive frequencies, every with its personal Class-D digital amplifier. Trueplay room correction measures how speaker placement impacts the sound and adjusts the EQ to optimize it for the room.
Sonos actually screwed the pooch with its disastrous release of an updated app in 2024. The replace was lacking a ton of options equivalent to alarms, sleep timers, playlist modifying, and extra. Thankfully, I wasn’t bothered by these points; I exploit the speaker by way of Music Assistant, so I by no means want to the touch the app. The Play:1 remains to be going robust and affords much better sound than the opposite sensible audio system round my house.
A mini hi-fi system
It’s greater than a decade previous however nonetheless beats my sensible audio system
My Sonos Play:1 lives within the eating room so we will take pleasure in music whereas we eat. I spend way more time in my house workplace, and for years, I listened to music by small sensible audio system and thought nothing of it.
It was solely when my dad handed on the previous mini hi-fi system that he was now not utilizing that I realized what I’d been missing. It’s a Panasonic SC-PMX9DB, launched in 2013. It’s solely a small system, with two bookshelf audio system, however the sound high quality is vastly superior to listening to music by a wise speaker.
The first time I set it up in my house workplace, I genuinely thought one thing had gone unsuitable as a result of it sounded just like the music was coming from the course of my pc in the course of my desk. It took me a second to comprehend that it had been so lengthy since I’d listened to music in stereo on something apart from headphones that I’d forgotten what an enormous distinction it makes.
I now take pleasure in listening to music much more as a result of it simply sounds so significantly better. Whenever I’m working at my desk, music is at all times enjoying by the stereo, and it is greater than a decade previous.
A 27-inch iMac 5K
It’s barely hanging on, however I am unable to let go
It’s a stretch to name a big all-in-one desktop pc a gadget, however I exploit it day by day. My iMac Retina 5K (Late 2014) handed its tenth birthday a while in the past, however it’s nonetheless the machine that I exploit greater than some other. While my MacE-book Air M2 handles duties that require extra highly effective {hardware}, I nonetheless do all my writing and modifying on the iMac as a result of its beautiful 27-inch show is simply so stunning to work on.
My iMac remains to be hanging on, however solely simply. The inner Fusion drive has died, so the entire thing runs from an exterior SSD. I’ve even needed to arrange a script that kills the Fusion drive each time it tries to spin up as a result of it crashes the Mac.
Many apps, equivalent to browsers and Microsoft apps, are now not supported on macOS Big Sur, the final model the pc formally helps. To preserve utilizing these apps, I’ve needed to use the unofficial OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP) to put in variations of macOS past Big Sur. My iMac will not final endlessly, however I’m going to maintain utilizing it for so long as I can.
A Logitech Harmony Hub
It’s now not supported however retains on doing its job
I purchased my Logitech Harmony Hub and the companion distant in 2015, and it served me properly for years, letting me change the remotes for my TV, encompass sound system, Apple TV, Roku stick, and extra with one distant to rule all of them.
Like lots of Logitech’s most helpful merchandise, the corporate deserted the {hardware} and stopped making it. When the buttons began to fall out of my distant, I wanted one other resolution. Eventually I ended up constructing my very own universal remote with an affordable Wi-Fi distant and a really sophisticated automation in Home Assistant.
The Harmony Hub remains to be a key a part of this, nonetheless. Some units, equivalent to my encompass sound system, can solely be controlled via infrared, and my Harmony Hub lets me management each IR and Bluetooth units. Updates have made my Harmony app successfully ineffective, however because of Home Assistant, the hub nonetheless helps me management my TV and different AV tools every day.
Old tech does not need to develop into digital waste
We reside in a disposable planet the place firms attempt to persuade you to improve your completely practical smartphones yearly, and units that work completely are deserted by their producers. I’ve loads of devices that show that tech can final ten years or extra and nonetheless be a central a part of your every day life.
