Why I use old hardware

Re:Why I use old hardware by WhompingWindows on Wednesday January 23, 2019 @01:31PM (#18981070)

I agree with the first point: wasted time will quickly stack up with old/cheap tools. I don't buy your second argument about morale. The vast majority of professionals don't get to pick their tools, they are handed work and tools based on what is available and cost-effective. If these professionals' flexibility does not include programming on a 2 year old laptop vs a brand new one, wow, that's weak grit. If your employees' morale is destroyed by not working on the latest gadget, why is that, what else about the company is insufficient to degrade their morale so far?

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Re:Why I use old hardware by jacobsenscott on Wednesday January 23, 2019 @02:34PM (#18981833)

As a professional I know what is cost effective for me better than anyone else. For example I know that I'm always bumping up against my 16 gig memory limit, but I have plenty of CPU. I know that I get less eye fatigue on a 4k monitor - so I picked a smaller 4k monitor that was cheaper than the monster lower resolution wrap around thing my colleague prefers.

I know that I'll be significantly more cost effective with 32 gigs of ram because I don't need to spend time killing processes and rebooting VMs after half a day of work.

I know what keyboard and mouse is still comfortable for me after working 8 hours, etc.

I know I'll be more productive on a macbook not because I'm an apple fan boy. I hate apple because they've done more to kill open source than any other company - even MS. I'm a linux fan boy. But I need to use various tools that don't run on linux. I could "tough it out" on a cheaper windows machine, but it wouldn't be cost effective. I would be less productive.

A professional knows what is cost effective and spends their hardware budget wisely to optimize their productivity. They don't rip off the company for the latest shiny gadget. It is stilly to trust a dev to essentially run a multi-million dollar company, but not to pick out a computer.

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Re:Why I use old hardware by pseudalopex on Wednesday January 23, 2019 @02:24PM (#18981708)

The hit to morale comes from management dismissing a serious cost-benefit analysis with phrases like "weak grit" and "latest gadget".

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Re:Why I use old hardware by eanzenberg on Wednesday January 23, 2019 @02:30PM (#18981786)

The literal difference between good and poor management. Being objective vs. subjective.

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Re:Why I use old hardware by PascLeRasc on Wednesday January 23, 2019 @02:33PM (#18981830)

Do you make your employees only listen to one genre of music while working? Do you only allow specific food for lunch? Why do you just care about this specific point in how they work?

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