Get a Computer
[link—standalone]We live in a world of mobile devices, and it sucks. Smartphones and devices in the same vein (tablets and other small portables) encourage consumption rather than creation. Think TikTok, Instagram, etc. Most users of those platforms are on mobile (all of them in the case of TikTok), and most of them (I'd wager more than 90%) are simply scrolling and nothing else. Platforms that are more computer-centric (think mySpace, old Facebook, old Reddit 🤮, Geocities, forums) are also keyboard-centric. People tend to be nostalgic for these sorts of platforms because the people on them were actually creative, making engaging (and sometimes genuinely thought provoking) content.
The keyboard is inherently something that encourages creation. Just think about what it is used for: to type. If you log into your computer, open a text editor, and do nothing, nothing will happen. The keyboard won't type your ideas for you. What is a screen used for? To watch, to consooom. You don't have to continuously interact with the screen for something to happen. With just a few clicks, you can lazily be rewarded for time multitudes longer than it took to get there.
"Okay, but both computers and mobile devices have keyboards and screens."
Yes, but in completely different ways. Typing on a touch screen just sucks. You won't be writing software or college dissertations on your smart phone. Your phone, tablet, etc. are pretty much entirely screen. These devices are by extension almost entirely for consumption rather than creation. "b-but photography! But digital art!" The reality is that most people don't really ever use these devices for either one of these use cases. They use their phones to doomscroll Tiktok and Instagram. Computers, on the other hand, have physical keyboards. These take up real space, infinitely more than a software keyboard, and thus occupy more mental space. They're also infinitely better to type on too. It's why people write their dissertations, articles, blogs, programs, using them rather than a digital alternative.
"Computers are expensive!"
Computers can be had for less than $100 nowadays. The laptop I'm writing this on was $60. It's not a toaster either. 2c, 4t CPU @ 2.6GHz with 16 GB of RAM. Plenty capable for office workloads (it's literally designed for this, it's a Thinkpad t440p), heavy web browsing, and even some light gaming (emphasis on light, it's rocking an Intel iGPU).
Getting a Computer for Cheap:
Buy used! This is the only way to get truely cheap hardware. A custom build from new will be cheaper than a prebuilt with equivalent power (unless you pay somebody else to build it), but there are good enough (with upgrades) builds that cost hundreds (or even thousands) less. People don't want to believe it, but computers really haven't gotten much faster in the last 10-15 years for most workloads. If you have the money and want to do a custom build with new parts, go for it. This blog isn't about you.
If you're in the US, Goodwill has an online storefront. They sell many things, but the most relevant to us are the computers, parts, and accessories. If you're on a tight budget, I advise that you just get a desktop or laptop here, you'll at least have a computer. IRL thrift sores and electronics recyclers are also great places to find cheap computers and components. If you're just going to be casual computing, go for a laptop. For anything intense, like media creation or gaming, go for a desktop. Ebay's an option as well, but stay away from anything gaming (laptop or desktops). People tend to overvalue these, and you'll be paying for it.
Of the two, laptops will be the cheaper option. For those, look for Thinkpads or Dell Latitudes. These are business class laptops and tend to be more durable and repairable than most other laptops. That being said, be careful of the newer ones. If they look like a Macbook, they are. You'll have a hard time upgrading/repairing these, which is extremely important when it comes to longevity. Upgrading components will get you significant performance boosts for relatively cheap.
Desktops will be more expensive than laptops because you'll need to buy the peripherals in order to use them, assuming that you don't already have them lying around. These can be thrifted too for relatively cheap. In terms of which desktop to buy, you can really go for anything because they tend to be much more upgradable. Just avoid mini towers and small form factor (SFF) PCs. The go to for this sort of stuff is Dell's Optiplex line. These were the go-to for a lot of businesses, and so there's a lot of them on the market for cheap. Just thrown in a GPU, CPU, or whatever upgrades you find necessary, and call it a day. Hardware compatibilty is an in-depth topic, you can look into that yourself, but it's only really an issue with CPU/Motherboard. Most other components are plug-and-play. Again, upgrades are your friend.
Whatever you buy, do your research first. You will more than likely be disappointed if you just buy something blindly.
Software:
I don't like being an evangelist, but I'd advise that you stay away from Windows. With Windows 11 requiring TPM 2.0, and Windows 10 being discontinued, it's just not the best idea for older PCs. I could go on about Windows being terribly slow and cumbersome, but I won't. Just pick a Linux distro and install it. The Steam Deck runs SteamOS, based on Arch Linux. Linux is viable for gaming, and has been viable for general (normie) use cases for years.
On Upgrades:
When it comes to expensive components, like your CPU/GPU, you don't need to go new (in the case of CPUs, that could be impossible depending on the PC you end up getting). In fact, you shouldn't. Consider what you'll be doing with your PC, and find something a few years old that is capable of handling the task at hand. No, you don't actually need an RTX 5090 to play Fortnite, Minecraft, Sims, and emulate old Gamecube games. Also, most of the time a minor drop in performance can save you a disproportional amount of money. For CPUs specifically, you can get competent server CPUs for cheap on Ebay. The CPU I use in my server (which is just my old PC) is a $30 Intel Xeon. I wouldn't recommend using server GPU hardware for general use. For cheaper components (storage, memory, networking), go new. These things tend to be cheap, and the risk of defects with used hardware outweighs any savings you may find here.
Building a computer for cheap using old, used components probably won't last you forever. You might need to build/buy a new PC at some point if something major breaks, or your use case scales to require more powerful hardware. Maybe you won't though. Maybe you stop gaming after a while, like I did. In that case, your old gaming rig will probably be more than capable of whatever basic computing you do for the next 20 years.
You should have a computer, a real one. This is probably the most cost-effective way to do it.
Sun, 07 Sep 2025 09:51:24 -0400