The lifespan of a computer

At the beginning of 2016, Apple presented the new iPad Pro. During that presentation, Marketing Director Phil Schiller said that more than 600 million people were using Windows computers that were older than five years. “That’s really sad,” he concluded. The audience in attendance laughed and applauded. But beyond that, Schiller’s joke, because that was it, could count on strong criticism.

His comment illustrates the tension between the computer industry and the consumer. Where the manufacturer wants to market its devices, the consumer is focused on using his device for as long as possible.

Ask the industry and they’ll tell you that you’ll get three years from a simple, inexpensive computer, five years from the more expensive models, and maybe seven years from the most expensive top-of-the-line models. An eternity for the manufacturer. While the consumer wonders why a computer needs to be replaced after five years, while refrigerators, washing machines, gas stoves or central heating boilers can easily last fifteen years. Unfortunately, different laws apply to computers than to washing machines, refrigerators or gas stoves. Nevertheless, the simplest answer to the question of how long a computer lasts is until it breaks. We provide a more detailed answer below.

Technical life refers to the time that a PC continues to function properly. That depends on the components in the computer case: the hardware. And of what is installed on the hard drive: the operating system (Windows or MacOS) and the other software.

The hardware wears out. As a result, the PC will not work as well. It becomes slower and gives error messages. But many hardware parts can be replaced. A new hard disk, more and/or better memory, a different video card: it can really improve the PC. Whether your machine is worth the investment in new parts is a question for the computer expert.

In the years after you buy a computer, manufacturers continue to develop and improve its components. So new computers are appearing that are better, faster and that can handle heavier tasks.

That better hardware makes it possible for software developers to create programs that are ‘heavier’. That is, they rely more on the capabilities of a PC. Microsoft also does this with Word or Excel, for example, but also with the Windows operating system. So as your computer ages and the hardware wears out, the software on it gets heavier and heavier. This makes it more difficult for that computer to run the programs. The result is a PC that can no longer be burned in the long run.

In the previous story there seems to be only one conclusion: every few years the computer has to be renewed. However, that is not entirely true. The most important thing is what you use the computer for. If you are a gamer, ie an avid game player, there is no escaping this: you will have to replace the PC every three to five years. This also applies to people who use professional packages such as Photoshop, Lightroom and the like. But if you mainly use the computer or laptop for surfing the internet and e-mailing, you can go for years. In fact, as long as you feel that you enjoy working with the computer.