• the_riviera_kid@lemmy.worldEnglish
    14·
    7 days ago

    If you look at it in a “Ship of Theseus” sort of way this might be true. For example I have a machine that I built in 2006, Over the years parts here and there have been swapped out to the point that the only original piece is the case. I still think of it as the same machine I built in 2006 even though it most definitely is not.

    Of course, the ship and my machine both slowly changed over time where as this machine here would just be swapped out entirely every 2 years.

    • gothmog@lemmy.today
      3·
      6 days ago

      Interesting thought. I transferred files I wrote in the 80s over the years from system to system, and still have those. I’ve upgraded my parts so many times it must be at least 10 distinct PCs could be made out of all the parts.

      The hardware has all changed.

    • MissingGhost@lemmy.ml
      3·
      6 days ago

      My PC started in 2003. It had a 32 bits CPU and Windows XP. Now it has six 64 bits cores and Debian. Still the same case, but it’s mostly the fourth iteration. Except I’m only on my second screen and keyboard.

      • the_riviera_kid@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        6 days ago

        I love the modularity of OG PC cases, I plan to keep mine until I can no longer stuff computer bits inside it and then it’s going on display.

  • Ann Archy@lemmy.world
    7·
    6 days ago

    Yes. The guarantee is in the computer lease- every two years you come in with your old computer and they replace it with one using the newest hardware.

    It was a quite popular setup in the 90s.

  • Soapbox@lemmy.zipEnglish
    6·
    5 days ago

    My brother got the 400mhz version of this when he went to college. I later got is as a hand me down, for my first PC that wasn’t shared with the family. When I later built a computer, I stripped the emachine down and mounted all the parts to a board and hung it on the wall where it still ran. It became the machine I tried installing linux on and stuff.

  • pjwestin@lemmy.world
    6·
    7 days ago

    If you post this on Lemmy, sooner or later someone is going to come along and explain how to get this machine to run Linux.

    • pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip
      3·
      7 days ago

      Yes. I would give even odds that the exact one pictured is humming away, under a desk, forgotten, serving someone’s email, somewhere.

  • zod000@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    1·
    7 days ago

    My wife’s family had that exact model eMachines PC when we started dating. I made it a priority to build her a better PC as soon as I could.

    • jj4211@lemmy.world
      1·
      6 days ago

      I hope you built it inside that exact case with sticker intact to fulfill the promise of the sticker.

      • zod000@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        1·
        6 days ago

        Sadly, I didn’t because it was technically her parents PC even though they didn’t know how to use it much.

  • MoonMelon@lemmy.mlEnglish
    64·
    8 days ago

    I was there, Gandalf. IIRC this was because emachines had a type of subscription program for upgrades. They were shit machines, btw. The power supplies were trash and had a non-standard form factor.

      • tiramichu@sh.itjust.works
        28·
        7 days ago

        However, you had to ship the current machine back to them at your own expense, and have no computer while you waited on the new one.

        It was an upgrade scheme carefully crafted to be such a pain in the arse that nobody would use it.