My Computer Speakers: Old, Reliable

By  |  Friday, July 23, 2010 at 6:17 pm

How old are my desktop PC speakers? When I got them, I was using Windows 3.1. On a 486. If these speakers–a pair of Bose MediaMates–were human, they could get a learner’s permit. I don’t use them as much as I once did, since I’m far less likely to sit at a desktop PC these days. But they’re the oldest piece of tech I still use (unless you count wristwatches) and it wouldn’t stun me if I used them someday with a PC with a dozen cores.

I had fun writing about them in a guest post for HP’s Reimagine ROI site. Take a look–and then tell us about the most venerable gadget(s) that you still find useful.

 
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8 Comments For This Post

  1. @BigD845 Says:
    July 24th, 2010 at 11:38 am

    I've got an older set of Creative speakers with a subwoofer. It's funny I get hours of enjoyment out them but never think about upgrading. They sound decent though.

  2. Relyt Says:
    July 24th, 2010 at 1:39 pm

    Consumer computer speaker have gotten considerably worse over the last 15-20 years, in my opinion

  3. Benj Edwards Says:
    July 24th, 2010 at 6:15 pm

    I use a keyboard that was manufactured in 1986 every day for my main computing tasks: the IBM Model M. In fact, you can watch me take it apart here:

    http://www.pcworld.com/article/147939/inside_the_worlds_greatest_keyboard.html

  4. David Hamilton Says:
    July 25th, 2010 at 6:21 pm

    Clearly that's a recommendation for Bose.

    My experience with speakers (of other makes, it must be said) has been one of shockingly short life, especially when compared to HiFi speakers. They mostly die within 5 years, and often develop problems much earlier, even when buying mid-range items and avoiding abusing them.

    Our garage began to resemble a speaker mortuary at one point…

  5. L1A Says:
    July 25th, 2010 at 8:15 pm

    I'm using 6-7 year old JBL Creatures =)

  6. Chris Donahue Says:
    July 26th, 2010 at 1:39 am

    Speakers fall into the category of "if ain't broke, don't fix it". I have a Creative Labs 5.1 set from 2003.

  7. Eric Says:
    July 27th, 2010 at 5:55 am

    I have a set of Altec Lansing that I've had for 13 years

  8. Cath Says:
    March 30th, 2011 at 3:37 am

    I use a pair of cambridge speakers i got out of a dumpster. I seem to remember they came out about the same time as Apple put out their pc style square box machines, long long ago. I'm under the impression they came with a mac, for some reason. They sound great and can crank to full with almost no distortion. Love them, i think new pc speakers suck really. Who needs 5 crap speakers and a sub anyway. If i had to buy speakers i'd get a pair of shelf stereo speakers instead of pc speakers and work out how to run them off the pc.