Reply 40 of 97, by Cuttoon
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Shreddoc wrote on 2022-03-25, 23:51:Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-25, 21:37:Concerning the continued existence of human civilisation as we know it: Big difference. We could stop buying new high tech clutter right now and we'd have enough to play games until well after the last coal plant has been closed down. I'd probably even feel obliged to recycle most of my heap for all the rare minerals in there - had I any evidence that it won't just end up in some African landfill.
What if a new device comes out that replaces 10x your old gear, at 1/10 of the power draw for the remainder of your life? (not a hypothetical question - this is happening e.g. MiSTer)
Yep, power consumption during usage is a huge issue. But
a) special materials in IT incorporate copious amounts of grey energy. There are numbers. Vaclav Smil mentioned something of "two cellphones equal the steel for a car."
b) on a long enough timeframe, somewhere the graphs will cross. But does that mean your old gear uses too much power or you're having way more screentime than is healthy anyway?
c) while real world IT comes from China, power is local and you have a choice. I'm not using any fossil energy.
(Before some wiseass rushes to correct me: I know it's the same grid. But as far as any choice goes, it's a fact.)
Shreddoc wrote on 2022-03-25, 23:51:Or: has anybody really calculated the net environmental comparison of "running an original real 486 for a year's worth of retro gaming" vs "running DOSbox on a Raspberry Pi for that year"?
If you're also using that PI as your daily driver desktop and had it anyway, of course, much to be preferred. It all depends on the actual case. No simple answers.
I like jumpers.