One of the (literally) elephants in the closet is the need to sunset and say good-bye to old tech. Last week, I finally threw out a beloved possession, my very first palm pilot (pictured below). It had two lives (read: two owners) and served us well. It was an innovation in its time. It was small, discrete and deeply useful. Its battery lasted a long time. In short, it was well loved. But alas, its time had come… Not to leave it alone in its last walk, I decided to jettison another bastion of the “old days”: a Beatz music add-on to the ipod that allowed you tap along creatively with the music in your headphones.
Holding on to the past
The truth is that my cupboard is stuffed with a lot of old tech: worn cables, weird and unrecognizable plugs, dusty electronics and outdated devices. I suspect the same is true in many if not most households around the world. We hold on to them because of what…?
- fear that we may yet need them or be able to pass them along for another usage?
- belief that we’re being environmentally unfriendly or too consumerist if we are always throwing out electronics?
- that we’ll never find that same cable connection again?
- waiting for all that free time to sort them out and figure out which ones you need to chonk?
- waiting for spare time to put them up on eBay or Craigslist?
- thinking that one day their value will return (as in become museum pieces)?
- no idea where to take them for the most eco-friendly disposal?
- waiting for Godot…?
To sunset your digital activities and old tech
The same can be said for many of our digital efforts online, too. It’s a skill/mindset we should be upgrading: how to sunset our digital activities (for example an old website or an influencer marketing programme), tools and devices!
If we want to get truly digital and to stay ahead of the pack, I believe that digital hygiene also means cleansing oneself of our old anachronistic stuff… It clogs the mind as well as space.
What do you think? How to decided between the items to keep or throw away?
