Computers seem to get old really fast these days. Every six months or so computer manufactures release their latest and greatest machines with about a 10% supposed speed boost. But is it really necessary to keep buying these new computers? The answer is yes and no. It all depends on what you are doing with your computer that determines weather or not you need the latest and greatest.

So Apple just released some new Macbook Pro's on June 8, 2009. So what's so good about them? Well, they are a bit faster, have a little more hard drive space, a little cheaper and have an SD card slot! Wowie! So what? Really it's not much of an upgrade. Except for the SD card slot - the machine is just the same as it's former machines. Funny how Apple brought back the 'disk' media. With the iMacs many years ago Apple took out the floppy disk drive and relied on people copying files over the Internet and by other media - USB flash disks and CD copies.

But what makes a computer obsolete? Well, the developers can do this by just not making the newest software updates work on your computer. Apple just did this with their new Snow Leopard 10.6 update. This was going to be a beautiful update - the whole update was only focused on speed and optimization. Something all of us could use a little more of - a speed boost without having to buy a new computer. On top of that, they are offering this update for only $29 if you have Leopard running on your system right now! Wow, what a deal! But wait - the update will only work on computers with INTEL inside! Oh no! So our 2.5 year old G5 iMac is now OBSOLETE! Wow, that was a fast cycle.

So Obsolescence happens when the software companies no longer make software for your computer. This does not mean that your computer is any less functional. At least not for a while. As the Internet grows more and more complex - more sophisticated computers will be required to run the applications that are streamed to your computer. This could be another 5 years away - so don't worry to much. If google has anything to do with it, their software is bare bones and quick on all computers. So lets encourage them to start making our software.

I'm still running an old G5 tower that I just recently upgraded to 4 gigs of RAM. The RAM upgrade improved the preformace from night to day for me. This computer feels new again. Another great upgrade would be a new faster hard drive. Even a flash disk drive for all of your core software. The benefits of upgrading are great - they breath new wind into your old obsolete computers. But you shouldn't wait to long to upgrade - I found it very hard to find RAM sticks for my 5 year old G5 tower - I finally did find some from a guy on eBay - but I could not find new RAM anywhere. So don't wait too long to max it out.

The key with obsolescence is to keep your current software. The new software doesn't really offer much (sometimes) and it will only slow down your computer. So unless you need the new feature in the new update don't bother. If it's a security update, then get it right away. But most often it's just a little feature that adds some sort of functionality that most of us won't use.

These little things will keep your computer not feeling like an obsolete door stop and if you're lucky you can get a good 8-10 years out of it. Just don't be sucked into the gimmick of the latest and greatest and you'll be fine out there.