Americans Are Stifling Creativity on Outdated Computing Devices

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Americans are keeping their old technology devices long after they are useful, according to an Intel survey conducted by TNS to explore digital behavior. One in four Americans keep outdated technology devices because they contain important information they want to continue to access (such as photos, videos and music). While the majority of Americans consider themselves both digitally creative and tech-savvy, a disproportionate number of people are stifling their creativity by locking away their data on old technology and burdening themselves by continuing to use devices that are slow and bulky.
 
Sooo, Intel is releasing this information. That's credible because upgrading to newer stuff would totally not make sales for them and give them revenue. I don't see how this could at all have the potential for bias.
 
Thanks Intel! I didn't realize I was stifling my creativity because of my compulsion to hoard old computers and parts. Combined with Bloomberg recently telling me to pick up a hobby that will make me a better worker, I'm assured of my 3% raise this year!
 
Dear Intel........

My S775 Quad sitting on my old X48 chipset motherboard can still do most anything anyone in my family requires.......

I would be proud that my stuff had staying power, not that it was stifling my "creativity".
 
In other words, "SPEND, SPEND, SPEND!" Of course, forget your mortgage, food and other necessities, our Intel based computers are more important than life! However, at the same time, if customers spend money, that is better for the place I work for so..... :D
 
That is so true. My wife will not upgrade her phone because of all her pictures, numbers and all her other crap.
 
In other news, I'm stifling my sex life by continuing to use my old wife.
 
Tech-savvy? The average American is about as tech-savvy as a rock. I know, I talk to them every day.

P.S. I still have a Sony Walkman, yes the cassette kind.
 
according to an Intel survey
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lighter and more powerful, allowing users to unleash their creativity and work more productively.
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Yeah, having and older CPU stifles creativity, so says the company who wants to sell you the latest and greatest.

But, I can understand the majority of people who do not use computers for "creativity", they want something that looks and feels like what they've been using for years, which is probably the single greatest reason why there's so much resistance against changing operating systems and the like.

That "report" sounded more like a commercial for Intel products.
 
Auburn_Tigers said:
That is so true. My wife will not upgrade her phone because of all her pictures, numbers and all her other crap.
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What's sad is you haven't helped your clueless wife to move that stuff to the cloud or at least back it up onto your pc. Hell negotiate some booty into the deal! :D
 
A vanishingly small proportion of people are creative using their tech, and whether the tech is old is irrelevant. Penny Arcade was just fine being made on 15 year old computers 15 years ago, and wouldn't be a whit different now.

Asinine bullshit, you can do better Intel.
 
RadXge said:
Outdated computing devices, aka video game consoles.
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Fucking seriously.... This is what you think of from this post.

On topic, I have been waiting for this. We have reached a point that for the average Joe more raw power is not needed.

There needs to be software and content innovation (unfortunatlly this is being stiffled by Comcast, Hollywood, and the RIAA).
 
in these days I really don't think there's such thing as "old device" anymore. Computing has gotten to a point where processors of 3-4 years ago is still quite fast today.

I'm still using a Geforce 440 and an iPhone 4s and don't feel the need to upgrade them - well, as for the iPhone, they won't LET you upgrade until your 2 years are up unless you want to pay regular cost of the device.
 
XvMMvX said:
Fucking seriously.... This is what you think of from this post.
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I thought that was part of the self-assigned stereotype people were trying to give to themselves around here. :)

Seriously though, I had a random upgrade bug a few weeks ago so I got a Latitude D630 for like super cheap and then moved into it. It's like 2007's best business tech with a junky Intel video card that is faster than my D620 which had a GMA 950 in it and neither computer has hurt my creativity. I'm had to copy my current novel projects to a thumb drive and move them to the newer computer, but neither that or the D620 are really making my writing slower or of poorer quality than a more modern computer would.

In fact, if I would have gotten a tablet instead, I'd be a lot slower and less efficient as a writer because of having to find a way to prop it up while attempting to type with it in my lap on the couch because the screen can't stand up by itself or adjust to different angles.

A newer laptop wouldn't really have improved the creative writing process either. Intel is just being silly headed about this whole thing.
 
Marketing speak aside, Intel has a point here. Sure there are old devices out there that still run great. My main Windows 8.1 dual screen desktop is running a Core i7-920 with a mild OC to 3.3 Ghz, 12 GB of RAM, 250 GB SSD and a single 580 GTX. I have another 580 I could put in it to make is a more competent gaming machine but I don't really use it for high-end gaming, it's great for Office, VS development, HD video, TV recording with Media Center, etc.

But when new this is all top of the line stuff. A lot more PCs are out there that were cheap low-end stuff that wasn't all that great to begin with. Modern cheap x86 devices have very solid performance, come in all kinds of shapes and sizes with battery life to weight ratios on the mobile side that devices just a couple years old at the low end simply can't touch. No, not everyone needs a new PC but a lot of people would find some good prices and hardware that's just much better and more fun to use than what they have.
 
heatlesssun said:
Marketing speak aside, Intel has a point here. Sure there are old devices out there that still run great. My main Windows 8.1 dual screen desktop is running a Core i7-920 with a mild OC to 3.3 Ghz, 12 GB of RAM, 250 GB SSD and a single 580 GTX. I have another 580 I could put in it to make is a more competent gaming machine but I don't really use it for high-end gaming, it's great for Office, VS development, HD video, TV recording with Media Center, etc.

But when new this is all top of the line stuff. A lot more PCs are out there that were cheap low-end stuff that wasn't all that great to begin with. Modern cheap x86 devices have very solid performance, come in all kinds of shapes and sizes with battery life to weight ratios on the mobile side that devices just a couple years old at the low end simply can't touch. No, not everyone needs a new PC but a lot of people would find some good prices and hardware that's just much better and more fun to use than what they have.
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No, I don't think that's correct. I'm glad people think that way so someone is buying new stuff, but that doesn't make it right.
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
No, I don't think that's correct. I'm glad people think that way so someone is buying new stuff, but that doesn't make it right.
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It's not a matter of right and wrong but flat out obsolescence. I've seen too many old and slow XP machines, like a lot of folks around here, that just don't run well. Maybe an OS refresh or some new parts might help, but my point is that even todays cheap PCs in the $300 to $400 dollar range are so much better now that it's might be easier and more cost effective to my a new device.
 
For my work machine I feel this is partly true. Have a i5 2400 on a win 7 completely hobbled by only 4 gigs of ram and a f*$%ing 160 gig mechanical HD! Thanks IT dept, totally incompetent selection of parts make this rig no more powerful than the one I had before it.

Intel, here is your challenge: teach people in charge of purchases in IT depts about platter density performance and how a cheap SSD will pay for itself in a few months in gained productivity.
 
This is such an easy "insert industry here" to drive sales.

Americans Are Stifling Architectural Creativity by Not Purchasing New Homes Every Year
 
heatlesssun said:
It's not a matter of right and wrong but flat out obsolescence. I've seen too many old and slow XP machines, like a lot of folks around here, that just don't run well. Maybe an OS refresh or some new parts might help, but my point is that even todays cheap PCs in the $300 to $400 dollar range are so much better now that it's might be easier and more cost effective to my a new device.
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But that isn't at all related to creative thinking or the act of being creative.
 
Although I will say, isn't this basically [H]'s (and my own) argument about the last gen of consoles and gaming?
 
Right, and using my Nikon F5 stifles my creativity because it's film.
I play a piano that was made god knows when - it's definitely not holding my creativity back.
I'm using an old school laptop, a 2012 Macbook Air. Not stifling my creativity.

If your creativity is being stifled, it is your own fault. Not the tool's.
 
Addendum: Google ran on old Sparcstations for a while.

How can I edit my posts?
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
But that isn't at all related to creative thinking or the act of being creative.
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And I initially stated that I wasn't addressing Intel's marketing. But they do have a point when it comes to the advantages that newer hardware would have for a lot of folks. Faster, lighter and better battery life. And it's not like these things would have a negative impact on creativity.
 
klljm said:
Intel, here is your challenge: teach people in charge of purchases in IT depts about platter density performance and how a cheap SSD will pay for itself in a few months in gained productivity.
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Sorry, explain to me how that works, whats the gained productivity?
 
Chimay said:
What's sad is you haven't helped your clueless wife to move that stuff to the cloud or at least back it up onto your pc. Hell negotiate some booty into the deal! :D
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No, what's sad is that Intel believes that having an old phone is somehow stifling her creativity and innovation. :)
 
The gist of that paragraph is: Intel wants your purchases. Every tech company wants your data. By keeping your old hardware past their opinion of useful life is stifling their bottom line.

Does that about sum up its purpose?

The issue is that PCs got "fast enough" years ago. Most people don't use intensive apps, so that leaves a small portion of the upgrade base to make a market out of.

These PC makers (and chip suppliers) made a fortune on the tech boom. That market bubble has since passed. Now they're all butthurt wondering where their massive profits went.
 
Spidey329 said:
The issue is that PCs got "fast enough" years ago.
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But there are plenty of PCs that are older than even what you're thinking here. And it's just not about performance. How many older laptops are out there that have totally crappy battery life? Even with a new battery many cheaper Vista era laptops wouldn't get anywhere near the overall performance and battery life of a modern day Bay Trail device.

Not sure why there's so much resistance to a pretty obvious point, even if it is shrouded in marketing speak. There's just a lot of crappy PCs out there and many people would be more than thrilled with new PCs compared to their old ones for not necessarily a lot of money.
 
heatlesssun said:
But there are plenty of PCs that are older than even what you're thinking here. And it's just not about performance. How many older laptops are out there that have totally crappy battery life? Even with a new battery many cheaper Vista era laptops wouldn't get anywhere near the overall performance and battery life of a modern day Bay Trail device.

Not sure why there's so much resistance to a pretty obvious point, even if it is shrouded in marketing speak. There's just a lot of crappy PCs out there and many people would be more than thrilled with new PCs compared to their old ones for not necessarily a lot of money.
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I posted a screenshot a while ago at you of my Latitude D620 at like 11 hours of life and it was made when XP was still for sale. In fact, I'm pretty sure Micron used to like try to sell Pentium MMX laptops with 10-12 hours of battery life. I remember seeing one in mega ancient Computer Shopper that I got in a box when I was going yard sale browsing years ago and those were full powered computers in their era rather than low voltage/wattage stuff that is what Bay Trail stuff is today.
 
I still use my old Athlon XP computer for a lot of the things I do. What stifles my creativity more than old computers is the fact that where I live AT&T can only provide me with 1.5M DSL service. Heck I didn't have that until a few years ago, was on dial up until then.

Even my laptop which is an AMD A6 quad core is plenty fast for the things that I do. Now if Intel wants to give me an i7 laptop to keep me up to date and creative I won't argue with them. I just am not gonna buy one.
 
I wonder if intel wrote that piece on some old tech---it doesn't seem very creative.

Maybe that's what they were trying to say through example?
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
I posted a screenshot a while ago at you of my Latitude D620 at like 11 hours of life and it was made when XP was still for sale.
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11 hours of battery life is many times what the D620 was originally reviewed getting when new in 2006 with the standard battery running XP from one of the most reputable mobile PC sites around: http://www.notebookreview.com/notebookreview/dell-latitude-d620-review-pics-specs/

•Battery life with 6-cell battery is under 3 hours with wi-fi on and medium screen brightness, would have been nice to see it over 3 hours
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And it weighs 5 lbs. with the standard battery. Even with your claim of 11 hours of battery life that's still 1/5th the battery life to weight ratio of a modern $200 Dell Venue 8 Pro. Using the numbers in this review it's closer to 1/20th. Granted the D620 has a keyboard, optical drive and HD drive bays but still the weight to battery life numbers just aren't anywhere near today's x86 devices with comparable performance.

CreepyUncleGoogle said:
In fact, I'm pretty sure Micron used to like try to sell Pentium MMX laptops with 10-12 hours of battery life. I remember seeing one in mega ancient Computer Shopper that I got in a box when I was going yard sale browsing years ago and those were full powered computers in their era rather than low voltage/wattage stuff that is what Bay Trail stuff is today.
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Then post some numbers from a 3rd party review or explain how you'd get numbers multiple times better than a professional review at the time the device was new.
 
And it's not like these things would have a negative impact on creativity.
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But it can.

What's standard now? Win8.1 right? I don't know about you guys, but I hated win8 the moment I got that stupid tiled environment and the only thing that has improved it has been learning how to make it boot to desktop. That one issue alone would have many folks wasting a bunch of time learning a new UI that does nothing at all for their productivity or creativity, in fact, it's a distraction by it's very design.
 
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