GREETINGS!
Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. The photo featured above was taken on 9 Feb 2022 and shows the circuitboard from a 1991 Apple Macintosh Classic computer that I’ve been working with recently. You can see the individual transistors, capacitors, resistors, and other components. Today’s lowest priced entry-level Apple computers use an M1 chip with 16 billion transistors and the ability to complete 11 trillion operations per second. [More]
Tech Work
Since my last newsletter at the start of January, I’ve worked about 60 days straight of mostly 12 to 14 hour days. That’s why this newsletter is 28 days late. The reason for this extra work is because there has been a flood of tech support requests.
These aren’t the typical requests such as, “Hey, sometime I’d like you to show me how to make my mouse pointer larger and easier to see.” By now, most people find answers to those kinds of questions with a Google search.
The needs are complicated and time consuming. The computer circuitboard pictured above is from a refurbished and restored working Macintosh Classic computer that I purchased on eBay for a project I’m working on. I’m trying to assemble multiple computers that span 30 years for the purpose of getting some data from a very old computer, in approximately 10-year jumps, copying the data to successively newer computers and drives, eventually to a modern computer. Once setup, this process should work for a variety of applications.
Most of the support requests I am getting require a somewhat immediate response, and the solution is very time consuming. I’ve had multiple urgent requests related to critical computers that have crashed, some that multiple people rely on.
Supply chain problems and the aftermath of a depleted workforce from the pandemic makes it harder to solve problems when support staff and resources are limited.
Incidents of fraud and scams are on the rise, so I’m helping people protect the safety and privacy of their digital lives in all the ways I can — before trouble strikes.
I’m hopeful in March I can get a chance to get caught up on some of the basic administrative tasks and paperwork I need to do.
TECH ADVISORY — SIMPLIFY IN 2022
In November, I issued a tech advisory, encouraging people to simplify their use of technology for the coming year. [Read]
I shared some additional tech-related news in December that you’ll want to read if you’ve not done so already. [Read]
It’s clear that the need for simpler tech will increase in the months ahead as systems are failing and support resources are in limited supply.
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THANKS!
Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.
Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 21 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]
Hi Greg,
I’m a novice where technology comes in and after going through your update I was left wondering…..why isn’t previous data transferred/installed in newer computers automatically, why are you having to do the hard way? Ignore my query if it sounds foolish.
Kiran Mohan
Hi Kiran,
Thanks for reading my news updates. Your question is a very good one. Yes, most of the time, a person has a computer for 5 to maybe 10 years and then buys a new one. They put their files on a USB hard drive and bring them to the new computer.
In some cases, the person keeps using the old computer, but doesn’t transfer the files right away from the old computer to the new one. They just keep using the old computer since it is also working. Then one day when the old computer won’t start, they need to figure out how to get the files off. Hard drives over the past 10 years use a similar connector, so they can be more easily read. Prior to that, drives used a connector with many pins (called an IDE drive connection). So, to read one of those older hard drives, a person would need an adapter to go from IDE to USB.
Sometimes the file format is very old. So, the files must be converted to be read by new software. For example, an old word processing file may be in a special format not readable by today’s software.
On one occasion, there was a computer with an older finance program on it. The program may have been from the year 2000. Modern software could not read that version of the data. So, I had to go on eBay and buy a used installation disc for the 2005 version of the software. But that couldn’t be activated online because the company no longer supported the software. So, a special phone number had to be called to get the activation number. Once the software was installed and the finance files were converted, then the files could be exported and saved in a format readable by today’s finance software.
Some people use a program for finance called QuickBook. It can be expensive to get the new version each year. So, people may skip a year or two and then get a new version. If they skip too many years, it could be difficult going from a version from 10 years ago directly to a present-day version. Sometimes with software it is necessary to go from a 20-year old version to something that’s 10 years old and then from that to the modern one.
So, software programs and the computer hardware are both susceptible to this problem.
Thanks for asking!