Computing the old way - Is it a thing of the past?

That may be true of the hardware you get, but there _is_ good-quality hardware made even today. It's hard to find, and it costs (as quality always does), but it exists. I once saw a machine - architecturally a peecee - which looked as though it were intended for the sort of use where a failure doesn't just mean a truck roll, it means chartering a small airplane and at least two or three days of a bush pilot's time, and that's before you even _think_ about the costs of the replacement machine and the tech who goes along to do the swap. I too, though I suspect your passion on this point burns rather hotter than mine. Agreed. My parents were Depression-era kids, and it shows in some of the attitudes I got from them. "Use it up, wear it out, make it do-- or do without." I just recently (three days ago) explained to someone that taking a computer I was offering was actually doing me a favour, because it lets me get rid of a machine without tripping my "aak! throwing away working hardware!" issues. /~\ The ASCII Mouse \ / Ribbon Campaign X Against HTML mouse at rodents-montreal.org / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B