Investing In The Past

My reading list has been flooded today with lust worthy gadgets, the new Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book, the Nexus 6P phone and even a tap with a touch screen.  All amazing technology, but I’m having none of it.

I’ve just bought a two year old ThinkPad x230 laptop, like the top of the range Surface Book, it’s got a 512GB SSD and 16GB of memory, it’s blisteringly fast and light and has a world beating keyboard.  It doesn’t have quite the same battery life, but I don’t want to be sitting down using it for more than 5 hours a day anyway, nor do I need a ultra-high resolution detachable screen.  I’m happy investing in the best that the past has to offer at less than a fifth of the price.

When it comes to my phone I chose to invest in the past too, to stick with iOS and my existing multi-year commitment to the applications I’ve grown to appreciate and the Apple eco-system that ‘just works’ — most of the time.  I think there’s more innovation in the Android world, but I like the idea of only buying a new phone every two years, if that.

When it comes to my transport, I’m more interested in investing in my bike than a car.  I’m enjoying growing my own organic fruit and veg varieties much more than any innovation in supermarket supplied ‘future food’.  I’m buying simple, reliable household devices rather than investing in fancy home automation and I’d be more excited by an extension of the local electric tram network than by a Tesla.

I’m watching classic TV shows in preference to modern shows that struggle to complete and I’m reducing the amount of news that I read, and shifting focus to older books, reading about the amazing fundamentals of science for example, rather than just the very latest discoveries.

I’m definitely not turning my back on the future, but I am getting off the treadmill, saving money and slowing down.