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** It gets even worse with the Creator/{{Sprout}} Cubby tablet, which also had its own laundry list of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5IHSafKxNE reliability issues]], the most common being its ''delicate'' LCD panel. To give people an idea on how easily broken the Cubby is, one parent claimed that their daughter trashed the LCD screen ''within a day of use'', not to mention that disassembling the Cubby would reveal that the [[https://i.imgur.com/7lyYZx0.jpg internals look jerry-rigged]] compared to those of the Amazon Fire which while still regarded as cheap garbage, is more solidly constructed. You'd think that the company behind the device would take durability very much into account considering the Cubby's intended audience, but somehow they skimped on that and decided to pass off a shoddily-built device as something children would be able to play with reliably.

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** It gets even worse with the Creator/{{Sprout}} Cubby tablet, which also had its own laundry list of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5IHSafKxNE reliability issues]], the most common being its ''delicate'' LCD panel. To give people an idea on how easily broken the Cubby is, one parent claimed that their daughter trashed the LCD screen ''within a day of use'', not to mention that disassembling the Cubby would reveal that the [[https://i.imgur.com/7lyYZx0.jpg jpeg internals look jerry-rigged]] compared to those of the Amazon Fire which while still regarded as cheap garbage, is more solidly constructed. You'd think that the company behind the device would take durability very much into account considering the Cubby's intended audience, but somehow they skimped on that and decided to pass off a shoddily-built device as something children would be able to play with reliably.
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Fix mflop comparison


While OlderIsBetter is often depicted in fiction for swords, armor, and guns, this isn't the case for computers due the the exponential gains in memory and processing speed between the 1970s and today. A 1975 Cray-1 supercomputer processed at 80 [=MHz=]; in the 2020s, a schoolkid's laptop will run at 1.5 [=GHz=] and a good home computer may run at 5 [=GHz=].

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While OlderIsBetter is often depicted in fiction for swords, armor, and guns, this isn't the case for computers due the the exponential gains in memory and processing speed between the 1970s and today. A 1975 Cray-1 supercomputer processed ran at 80 [=MHz=]; [=MHz=] for a whopping 160 mega FLOPS; in the 2020s, a schoolkid's laptop will run the GPU in cheapest phones easily exceeded 70 giga FLOPS running at 1.5 [=GHz=] and a good home computer may run at 5 [=GHz=].550 [=MHz=] while its CPU had multiple cores running over 1 [=GHz=] .
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* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' has the [[MadScientist mad scientist]] Dean Martin (no, not [[Music/DeanMartin that one]]), who uses a UsefulNotes/TRS80.

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* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' has the [[MadScientist mad scientist]] Dean Martin (no, not [[Music/DeanMartin that one]]), who uses a UsefulNotes/TRS80.Platform/TRS80.



* Another early example was the Sinclair [=ZX80=], which in addition to an (allegedly) barely usable keyboard had the design flaw of not being able to display anything whilst a key was being pressed (making it unsuitable for anything like games, [[SugarWiki/GeniusProgramming not that this stopped developers from making them anyway]]), as well as the available display area shrinking the more memory was used. Like its younger and more famous brother the [=ZX81=], which had some of these design flaws fixed, it also only had a measly 1K of RAM (which could be expanded with a RAM pack that was often held in place with blu-tac) and monochrome display (even the Commodore VIC-20 had more than this). Nevertheless these trade-offs made it the first home computer in the UK available for under £100, ended up selling some 100,000 units and proving mass-market home computing was possible, leading to the phenomenally successful [=ZX81=] and UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum.

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* Another early example was the Sinclair [=ZX80=], which in addition to an (allegedly) barely usable keyboard had the design flaw of not being able to display anything whilst a key was being pressed (making it unsuitable for anything like games, [[SugarWiki/GeniusProgramming not that this stopped developers from making them anyway]]), as well as the available display area shrinking the more memory was used. Like its younger and more famous brother the [=ZX81=], which had some of these design flaws fixed, it also only had a measly 1K of RAM (which could be expanded with a RAM pack that was often held in place with blu-tac) and monochrome display (even the Commodore VIC-20 had more than this). Nevertheless these trade-offs made it the first home computer in the UK available for under £100, ended up selling some 100,000 units and proving mass-market home computing was possible, leading to the phenomenally successful [=ZX81=] and UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum.Platform/ZXSpectrum.



* Back in the 1990s, before the [=iMac=] came out, Apple released a line of low-end [[UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh Macs]] only begrudgingly (Apple's stance, then as now, was that desktop Macs were meant to be high-end workstations), and so their quality was hit-or-miss.

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* Back in the 1990s, before the [=iMac=] came out, Apple released a line of low-end [[UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh [[Platform/AppleMacintosh Macs]] only begrudgingly (Apple's stance, then as now, was that desktop Macs were meant to be high-end workstations), and so their quality was hit-or-miss.



** The battery backed-up clocks used in many Usefulnotes/{{Amiga}}s (and particularly memory expansion boards such as Commodore's A501 (a standard upgrade for the A500 model for many years) mean that most vintage Amigas carrying them developed issues after 10-15 years, unless carefully treated by people with knowledge of the problem. Working Amigas are thus rarer today than most contemporary systems which sold similarly.

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** The battery backed-up clocks used in many Usefulnotes/{{Amiga}}s Platform/{{Amiga}}s (and particularly memory expansion boards such as Commodore's A501 (a standard upgrade for the A500 model for many years) mean that most vintage Amigas carrying them developed issues after 10-15 years, unless carefully treated by people with knowledge of the problem. Working Amigas are thus rarer today than most contemporary systems which sold similarly.



* One major reason [[UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows Windows Vista]] was so poorly received was that it was a major leap forward in system requirements after six years of Windows XP, during which a lot of computer manufacturers had stopped bothering to upsell customers on ever-more-powerful hardware and instead just lowered their prices. Laptops under $700 and desktops under $400, which would have been unheard of in the early 2000s, became commonplace. Once Vista came out, these manufacturers tried to unload their remaining inventory with Vista preinstalled -- a mandate from Microsoft -- and ended up selling machines that could barely boot up, let alone run anything.

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* One major reason [[UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows [[Platform/MicrosoftWindows Windows Vista]] was so poorly received was that it was a major leap forward in system requirements after six years of Windows XP, during which a lot of computer manufacturers had stopped bothering to upsell customers on ever-more-powerful hardware and instead just lowered their prices. Laptops under $700 and desktops under $400, which would have been unheard of in the early 2000s, became commonplace. Once Vista came out, these manufacturers tried to unload their remaining inventory with Vista preinstalled -- a mandate from Microsoft -- and ended up selling machines that could barely boot up, let alone run anything.



* Let's not forget the much-publicised hardware failures encountered by UsefulNotes/Xbox360 owners during its early days, where early-revision "Xenon" models tend to die easily from overheating and from broken solder joints caused by said thermal issues, and thus display the now-infamous Red Ring of Death (RROD), no thanks to Microsoft cutting corners to keep production costs at a minimum. And not only that, design flaws with the optical drive and certain system software revisions were also the subject of intense scrutiny and subsequent litigation.
* The UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 isn't spared from any hardware issues either, the most infamous of which is the "Yellow Light of Death" especially on older "fat" models. They're caused by a number of factors, namely but not limited to shoddy solder, capacitor issues, overheating or dying chips amongst other things. And the only reason why Sony wasn't scapegoated as much compared to Microsoft was the reported number of cases--10% of [=PS3=]s end up with a YLOD whilst nearly a ''quarter'' of the Xbox 360 user base had experienced the RROD in some form according to one source.

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* Let's not forget the much-publicised hardware failures encountered by UsefulNotes/Xbox360 Platform/Xbox360 owners during its early days, where early-revision "Xenon" models tend to die easily from overheating and from broken solder joints caused by said thermal issues, and thus display the now-infamous Red Ring of Death (RROD), no thanks to Microsoft cutting corners to keep production costs at a minimum. And not only that, design flaws with the optical drive and certain system software revisions were also the subject of intense scrutiny and subsequent litigation.
* The UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 Platform/PlayStation3 isn't spared from any hardware issues either, the most infamous of which is the "Yellow Light of Death" especially on older "fat" models. They're caused by a number of factors, namely but not limited to shoddy solder, capacitor issues, overheating or dying chips amongst other things. And the only reason why Sony wasn't scapegoated as much compared to Microsoft was the reported number of cases--10% of [=PS3=]s end up with a YLOD whilst nearly a ''quarter'' of the Xbox 360 user base had experienced the RROD in some form according to one source.
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Kaizo Trap misuse


** At the turn of the millennium, Microsoft released two operating systems with confusingly similar names: Windows 2000, and Windows Millennium Edition (if you worked tech support at the time, you could expect about half your calls to be from someone claiming their computer runs "Windows Millennium 2000"). While 2000 earned a reputation as being stable, sturdy and nearly above any reproach[[note]]barring high-profile virus attacks such as Code Red and Nimda[[/note]] due to it running off NT underpinnings (which led Microsoft to add the subtitle "Built on NT Technology" on the boot splash), Millennium has multiple glitches and questionable design decisions that created some truly ''[[KaizoTrap remarkable]]'' problems, such as the System Restore folder feature ballooning out of control until the entire hard drive was consumed unless turned off, files going above 4GB getting automatically deleted[[note]]Due to the FAT32 file system being limited to files up to 4GB in size[[/note]] and system settings defaults setting up a ''constantly readjusting'' dynamic page memory that would keep the hard drive ''active at all times''. That last one could cause premature disk wear that might eventually lead to complete drive failure. Getting this version to work correctly could get a savvy tech user suspected of using black magic. Much of the criticism behind Me was because of the fact that it was derived from the now-antiquated Windows 9x architecture, albeit with real-mode DOS access DummiedOut, reputedly to shorten boot times and [[BlatantLies improve on reliability]]. Not to mention that Windows Me was ChristmasRushed for a summer release as a stopgap while Neptune, which was to be the consumer-oriented edition of 2000, was [[ExecutiveMeddling delayed]] in favour of Me for whatever reason. If there's any silver lining to it, the NT-derived Windows XP born from the ashes of Neptune and the failure of Me would be fondly remembered as one of the best if not the best Windows release of all time.

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** At the turn of the millennium, Microsoft released two operating systems with confusingly similar names: Windows 2000, and Windows Millennium Edition (if you worked tech support at the time, you could expect about half your calls to be from someone claiming their computer runs "Windows Millennium 2000"). While 2000 earned a reputation as being stable, sturdy and nearly above any reproach[[note]]barring high-profile virus attacks such as Code Red and Nimda[[/note]] due to it running off NT underpinnings (which led Microsoft to add the subtitle "Built on NT Technology" on the boot splash), Millennium has multiple glitches and questionable design decisions that created some truly ''[[KaizoTrap remarkable]]'' insane problems, such as the System Restore folder feature ballooning out of control until the entire hard drive was consumed unless turned off, files going above 4GB getting automatically deleted[[note]]Due to the FAT32 file system being limited to files up to 4GB in size[[/note]] and system settings defaults setting up a ''constantly readjusting'' dynamic page memory that would keep the hard drive ''active at all times''. That last one could cause premature disk wear that might eventually lead to complete drive failure. Getting this version to work correctly could get a savvy tech user suspected of using black magic. Much of the criticism behind Me was because of the fact that it was derived from the now-antiquated Windows 9x architecture, albeit with real-mode DOS access DummiedOut, reputedly to shorten boot times and [[BlatantLies improve on reliability]]. Not to mention that Windows Me was ChristmasRushed for a summer release as a stopgap while Neptune, which was to be the consumer-oriented edition of 2000, was [[ExecutiveMeddling delayed]] in favour of Me for whatever reason. If there's any silver lining to it, the NT-derived Windows XP born from the ashes of Neptune and the failure of Me would be fondly remembered as one of the best if not the best Windows release of all time.
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* In ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'', B.A. had a Trash 80 nicknamed Molly, whose slowness made it the butt of many jokes.

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* In ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'', B.A. had a Trash 80 80[[note]]a common nickname for the TRS-80 computer, which was a pretty low-power system even for its era[[/note]] nicknamed Molly, whose slowness made it the butt of many jokes.

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** Microsoft also decided to provide a very cheap Windows OEM license, but only as long as the devices don't exceed a very minimal RAM and display size, hoping to bank on the rise of netbooks without eating their profit from proper laptops. Unfortunately, for some vendors, it means it was more profitable to keep selling devices that were barely able to run Vista since crossing the maximum limit would force them to release much more expensive devices that generate far less sales.



* As smartphones were technically portable computers, those smartphones which could blow up due to various reasons from overheating to poor power management count, but Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 takes the cake with how hyped, how pricey, and how good performance and feature wise it was. Except the power regulations were poor and the battery quality was also poor, leading to the phone catching fire or popping up into a bar of hot metal in the most unfortunate situations. The backlash was tremendous, the phone quickly became a contraband, and Samsung ''even updated the phone to drastically lower the performance, even stopping charging above 15%!'' On the other hand, Samsung's full-disclosure approach to the problem contrasted with multiple other companies' "deny everything" scandals at the time, allowing the Samsung Galaxy brand to survive the Note 7's failure. The Note series didn't last much longer, though; Samsung would eventually roll the Note series' features into the Galaxy S series, starting with the Galaxy S21 in 2021.

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* As smartphones were technically portable computers, those smartphones which could blow up due to various reasons from overheating to poor power management count, but Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 takes the cake with how hyped, how pricey, and how good performance and feature wise feature-wise it was. Except the power regulations were poor and the battery quality was also poor, leading to the phone catching fire or popping up into a bar of hot metal in the most unfortunate situations. The backlash was tremendous, the phone quickly became a contraband, and Samsung ''even updated the phone to drastically lower the performance, even stopping charging above 15%!'' On the other hand, Samsung's full-disclosure approach to the problem contrasted with multiple other companies' "deny everything" scandals at the time, allowing the Samsung Galaxy brand to survive the Note 7's failure. The Note series didn't last much longer, though; Samsung would eventually roll the Note series' features into the Galaxy S series, starting with the Galaxy S21 in 2021.



* Apple's [=iOS=] devices tend to start throttling their speeds as they age in, so as not to stress their ageing lithium batteries too much in theory. In practice, it makes their performance drop off, leading to complaints of both their battery lives and their general performance ageing badly. Apple, naturally, helpfully suggests that the best way to resolve this is to trade in for a newer model.
* The most commonly-reported reason for performance issues in most ageing computers/electronics is that the primary memory storage is either suboptimal or degrades faster than expected. For example:

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* Apple's [=iOS=] devices tend to start throttling their speeds as they age in, so as not to stress their ageing aging lithium batteries too much in theory. In practice, it makes their performance drop off, leading to complaints of both their battery lives and their general performance ageing aging badly. Apple, naturally, helpfully suggests that the best way to resolve this is to trade in for a newer model.
* Apple's [=macOS=] devices that don't use SSD get ridiculously slow when they upgrade to newer macOS that require APFS. Unlike Linux and Windows which happily still use decades-old file systems, Apple believes it's imperative to force their user to migrate to the new file system which indeed works really well on SSD, but becomes unbearably slow on HDD.
* The most commonly-reported reason for performance issues in most ageing aging computers/electronics is that the primary memory storage is either suboptimal or degrades faster than expected. For example:
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** Likewise both cheap, low-end, Android Go-powered smartphones that use hardware that was already low-end in specs when it was released years ago and those of better specs but running resource-hungry Android-based [=OSes=] instead of pure, stock, Android. While they may work finely for calls, messages, or [=WhatsApp=] anything more than that and serious multitasking will mean [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading booting and/or apps having long loading times]], apps being closed in the background to get extra memory, and random freezes up to system lockups.
* Ever since the original [=iPad=] came out, numerous Android tablets from a myriad of manufacturers cashed in on the nascent smart device market. While some of them are of merit like Samsung's Galaxy Tab line, lower-end models especially those [[ShoddyKnockoffProduct budget]] devices running off a [=MediaTek=] or Allwinner systems-on-chip tend to end up like this either due to poor design, crappy hardware, or badly optimised software suffering of the same problems as the cheap smartphones noted above. Even name-brand tablets like those from Fuhu's Nabi line of children's tablets received criticism for the reasons mentioned above--in the case of Nabi, it suffered from a sluggish UI, had poor battery life and in some cases have their batteries bloat up as well. Unfortunately, the predominance of these crap tablets damaged the reputation of Android tablets before the good ones could be launched, causing a vicious cycle of developers not optimising their Android app for tablets because not enough people buy Android tablets and people avoiding Android tablets because apps aren't optimised for them, resulting in the [=iPad=] dominating the market.

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** Likewise both the early cheap, low-end, Android Go-powered smartphones that use hardware that was already low-end in specs when it was released years ago and those of better specs but running resource-hungry Android-based [=OSes=] instead of pure, stock, Android. While they may work finely for calls, messages, or [=WhatsApp=] anything more than that and serious multitasking will mean [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading booting and/or apps having long loading times]], apps being closed in the background to get extra memory, and random freezes up to system lockups.
lockups. The hardware vs software race has relatively settled now, and even lowest-end devices running recent Android will work pretty well since Google's minimum requirements are now enough for decent performance, despite the vendor preloading dozens of ad-infested apps.
* Ever since the original [=iPad=] came out, numerous Android tablets from a myriad of manufacturers cashed in on the nascent smart device market. While some of them are of merit like Samsung's Galaxy Tab line, lower-end models especially those [[ShoddyKnockoffProduct budget]] devices running off a [=MediaTek=] or Allwinner systems-on-chip tend to end up like this either due to poor design, crappy hardware, or badly optimised optimized software suffering of the same problems as the cheap smartphones noted above. Even name-brand tablets like those from Fuhu's Nabi line of children's tablets received criticism for the reasons mentioned above--in the case of Nabi, it suffered from a sluggish UI, had poor battery life life, and in some cases have had their batteries bloat up as well. Unfortunately, the predominance of these crap tablets damaged the reputation of Android tablets before the good ones could be launched, causing a vicious cycle of developers not optimising optimizing their Android app apps for tablets because not enough people buy Android tablets and people avoiding Android tablets because apps aren't optimised optimized for them, resulting in the [=iPad=] dominating the market.market. Google gave up on tablets for years, leaving Samsung to pick up the slack until the available cheap hardware is finally powerful enough to bring back Google's attention.
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* In early 2021, ''WebVideo/{{Caddicarus}}'' decided to build a high-end gaming PC with help from [=LowSpecGamer=] (the latter of whom already had plenty of experience with PC building). But a ridiculous number of mishaps resulted in the computer not working properly at all. On top of difficulties getting the parts in the first place due to Covid-related supply chain issues, he ran into compatibility and power issues with the combination of parts he chose that kept the machine from booting up properly, requiring him to buy and swap out all sorts of different parts in hopes one would work. Even after he finally got it booted up, the computer started crashing frequently for reasons that neither he nor LSG or any other friends he consulted could discern. After losing 18 hours of recorded gaming footage to one reboot on the clunker, and after having spent more than £7,500 (about $10,000) on it, he finally decided to just go with a prebuilt computer. He would eventually post a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHVXp_fRGzE video]] detailing what happened in large part to explain why he had an abnormally long gap in his upload schedule.
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Obvious Beta is YMMV. Cleanup: (re)moving wick from trope/work example lists


** At the turn of the millennium, Microsoft released two operating systems with confusingly similar names: Windows 2000, and Windows Millennium Edition (if you worked tech support at the time, you could expect about half your calls to be from someone claiming their computer runs "Windows Millennium 2000"). While 2000 earned a reputation as being stable, sturdy and nearly above any reproach[[note]]barring high-profile virus attacks such as Code Red and Nimda[[/note]] due to it running off NT underpinnings (which led Microsoft to add the subtitle "Built on NT Technology" on the boot splash), Millennium was all but an ObviousBeta. Multiple glitches and questionable design decisions created some truly ''[[KaizoTrap remarkable]]'' problems, such as the System Restore folder feature ballooning out of control until the entire hard drive was consumed unless turned off, files going above 4GB getting automatically deleted[[note]]Due to the FAT32 file system being limited to files up to 4GB in size[[/note]] and system settings defaults setting up a ''constantly readjusting'' dynamic page memory that would keep the hard drive ''active at all times''. That last one could cause premature disk wear that might eventually lead to complete drive failure. Getting this version to work correctly could get a savvy tech user suspected of using black magic. Much of the criticism behind Me was because of the fact that it was derived from the now-antiquated Windows 9x architecture, albeit with real-mode DOS access DummiedOut, reputedly to shorten boot times and [[BlatantLies improve on reliability]]. Not to mention that Windows Me was ChristmasRushed for a summer release as a stopgap while Neptune, which was to be the consumer-oriented edition of 2000, was [[ExecutiveMeddling delayed]] in favour of Me for whatever reason. If there's any silver lining to it, the NT-derived Windows XP born from the ashes of Neptune and the failure of Me would be fondly remembered as one of the best if not the best Windows release of all time.

to:

** At the turn of the millennium, Microsoft released two operating systems with confusingly similar names: Windows 2000, and Windows Millennium Edition (if you worked tech support at the time, you could expect about half your calls to be from someone claiming their computer runs "Windows Millennium 2000"). While 2000 earned a reputation as being stable, sturdy and nearly above any reproach[[note]]barring high-profile virus attacks such as Code Red and Nimda[[/note]] due to it running off NT underpinnings (which led Microsoft to add the subtitle "Built on NT Technology" on the boot splash), Millennium was all but an ObviousBeta. Multiple has multiple glitches and questionable design decisions that created some truly ''[[KaizoTrap remarkable]]'' problems, such as the System Restore folder feature ballooning out of control until the entire hard drive was consumed unless turned off, files going above 4GB getting automatically deleted[[note]]Due to the FAT32 file system being limited to files up to 4GB in size[[/note]] and system settings defaults setting up a ''constantly readjusting'' dynamic page memory that would keep the hard drive ''active at all times''. That last one could cause premature disk wear that might eventually lead to complete drive failure. Getting this version to work correctly could get a savvy tech user suspected of using black magic. Much of the criticism behind Me was because of the fact that it was derived from the now-antiquated Windows 9x architecture, albeit with real-mode DOS access DummiedOut, reputedly to shorten boot times and [[BlatantLies improve on reliability]]. Not to mention that Windows Me was ChristmasRushed for a summer release as a stopgap while Neptune, which was to be the consumer-oriented edition of 2000, was [[ExecutiveMeddling delayed]] in favour of Me for whatever reason. If there's any silver lining to it, the NT-derived Windows XP born from the ashes of Neptune and the failure of Me would be fondly remembered as one of the best if not the best Windows release of all time.
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* The Coleco Adam: the list of "Problems" on its Wikipedia entry reads like a series of gags from a National Lampoon movie. Most notably, it generated an electromagnetic surge on startup that could wipe any tapes or disks left in or near it (and the manual ''recommended'' inserting them before booting up), and the whole thing ran off the power supply from its bundled printer. The one bright spot on the original machine was its keyboard, an early premium rubber-dome model made by parties unknown[[note]]possibly by a poorly-documented keyboard maker called Jelco, which in turn may or may not have been related to Topre, another keyboard maker in the same city that has a cult following among keyboard geeks; some users have noted the feel of the keyboard being similar to Topre "capacitive-dome" models despite being a simple rubber-dome keyboard[[/note]] in Japan.

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* The [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleco_Adam Coleco Adam: Adam]]: the list of "Problems" on its Wikipedia entry reads like a series of gags from a National Lampoon movie. Most notably, it generated an electromagnetic surge on startup that could wipe any tapes or disks left in or near it (and the manual ''recommended'' inserting them before booting up), and the whole thing ran off the power supply from its bundled printer. The one bright spot on the original machine was its keyboard, an early premium rubber-dome model made by parties unknown[[note]]possibly by a poorly-documented keyboard maker called Jelco, which in turn may or may not have been related to Topre, another keyboard maker in the same city that has a cult following among keyboard geeks; some users have noted the feel of the keyboard being similar to Topre "capacitive-dome" models despite being a simple rubber-dome keyboard[[/note]] in Japan.
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Add details


While OlderIsBetter is often depicted in fiction for swords, armor, and guns, this isn't the case for computers due the the exponential gains in memory and processing speed between the 1970s and today. A 1975 Cray-1 supercomputer processed at 80MHz; in the 2020s, a schoolkid's laptop will run at 1.5 GHz and a good home computer may run at 5 GHz.

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While OlderIsBetter is often depicted in fiction for swords, armor, and guns, this isn't the case for computers due the the exponential gains in memory and processing speed between the 1970s and today. A 1975 Cray-1 supercomputer processed at 80MHz; 80 [=MHz=]; in the 2020s, a schoolkid's laptop will run at 1.5 GHz [=GHz=] and a good home computer may run at 5 GHz.[=GHz=].
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While OlderIsBetter is often depicted in fiction for swords, armor, and guns, this isn't the case for computers due the the exponential gains in memory and processing speed between the 1970s and today.

to:

While OlderIsBetter is often depicted in fiction for swords, armor, and guns, this isn't the case for computers due the the exponential gains in memory and processing speed between the 1970s and today. A 1975 Cray-1 supercomputer processed at 80MHz; in the 2020s, a schoolkid's laptop will run at 1.5 GHz and a good home computer may run at 5 GHz.
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While OlderIsBetter is often depicted in fiction for swords, armor, and guns, this isn't the case for computers due the the exponential gains in memory and processing speed between the 1970s and today.
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It's a dusty, out-of-date computer with a wheezing hard drive that takes over a minute to perform a simple operation. A beaten-up computer that crashes and restarts unexpectedly and at the ''least desirable' time for a breakdown. It's probably a big tower computer but it might also be a heavy, clunky laptop the size of an attache case. It might have outmoded accessories like a floppy disk drive and a huge Cathode Ray Tube monitor. Bonus points for a CRT that is [[TheEighties 1980s-style]] monochrome [[CyberGreen green monitor]] or a [[TheSeventies 1970s-era]][[ComputerEqualsTapedrive reel-to-reel tape drive]].

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It's a dusty, out-of-date computer with a wheezing hard drive that takes over a minute to perform a simple operation. A beaten-up computer that crashes and restarts unexpectedly and at the ''least desirable' time for a breakdown. It's probably a big tower computer but it might also be a heavy, clunky laptop the size of an attache case. It might have outmoded accessories like a floppy disk drive and a huge Cathode Ray Tube monitor. Bonus points for a CRT that is [[TheEighties 1980s-style]] monochrome [[CyberGreen green monitor]] or a [[TheSeventies 1970s-era]][[ComputerEqualsTapedrive 1970s]]-era [[ComputerEqualsTapedrive reel-to-reel tape drive]].
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It's a dusty, out-of-date computer with a wheezing hard drive that takes over a minute to perform a simple operation. A beaten-up computer that crashes and restarts unexpectedly and at the ''least desirable' time for a breakdown. It's probably a big tower computer but it might also be a heavy, clunky laptop the size of an attache case. It might have outmoded accessories like a floppy disk drive and a huge Cathode Ray Tube monitor. Bonus points for a CRT that is [[TheEighties 1980s-style]] monochrome green monitor or a [[TheSeventies 1970s-era]][[ComputerEqualsTapedrive reel-to-reel tape drive]].

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It's a dusty, out-of-date computer with a wheezing hard drive that takes over a minute to perform a simple operation. A beaten-up computer that crashes and restarts unexpectedly and at the ''least desirable' time for a breakdown. It's probably a big tower computer but it might also be a heavy, clunky laptop the size of an attache case. It might have outmoded accessories like a floppy disk drive and a huge Cathode Ray Tube monitor. Bonus points for a CRT that is [[TheEighties 1980s-style]] monochrome [[CyberGreen green monitor monitor]] or a [[TheSeventies 1970s-era]][[ComputerEqualsTapedrive reel-to-reel tape drive]].
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This is The Alleged Computer. This computer, to put it kindly, isn't the most viable to use to lollygag or search. In fact, you could probably benefit using an old 1990s mobile phone with Internet capabilities over this type of "computer". Their best use is probably a novelty doorstop or tire chock for an RV.

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This is The Alleged Computer. This computer, to put it kindly, isn't the most viable to use to lollygag or search.search funny cat videos with, let alone do real work on, as it struggles with sending an email. In fact, you could probably benefit using an old 1990s mobile phone with Internet capabilities over this type of "computer". Their best use is probably a novelty doorstop or tire chock for an RV.
RV. Or donate it to a museum.
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It's a dusty, out-of-date computer with a wheezing hard drive that takes over a minute to perform a simple operation. A beaten-up computer that crashes and restarts unexpectedly and at the ''least desirable' time for a breakdown. It's probably a big tower computer but it might also be a heavy, clunky laptop the size of an attache case. It might have outmoded accessories like a floppy disk drive and a huge Cathode Ray Tube monitor. Bonus points for a CRT that is [[{{The Eighties}} 1980s-style]] monochrome green monitor or a [[ComputerEqualsTapedrive reel-to-reel tape drive]].

to:

It's a dusty, out-of-date computer with a wheezing hard drive that takes over a minute to perform a simple operation. A beaten-up computer that crashes and restarts unexpectedly and at the ''least desirable' time for a breakdown. It's probably a big tower computer but it might also be a heavy, clunky laptop the size of an attache case. It might have outmoded accessories like a floppy disk drive and a huge Cathode Ray Tube monitor. Bonus points for a CRT that is [[{{The Eighties}} [[TheEighties 1980s-style]] monochrome green monitor or a [[ComputerEqualsTapedrive [[TheSeventies 1970s-era]][[ComputerEqualsTapedrive reel-to-reel tape drive]].

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