Why do computers get so enragingly slow after just a few years?

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I watched the recent WWDC keynote where Apple launched a bunch of new products. One of them was the high end mac aimed at the professional sector. This was a computer designed to process hours of high definition video footage for movies/TV. As per usual, they boasted about how many processes you could run at the same time, and how they’d all be done instantaneously, compared to the previous model or the leading competitor.

Meanwhile my 10 year old iMac takes 30 seconds to show the File menu when I click File. Or it takes 5 minutes to run a simple bash command in Terminal. It’s not taking 5 minutes to compile something or do anything particularly difficult. It takes 5 minutes to remember what bash is in the first place.

I know why it couldn’t process video footage without catching fire, but what I truly don’t understand is why it takes so long to do the easiest most mundane things.

I’m not working with 50 apps open, or a browser laden down with 200 tabs. I don’t have intensive image editing software running. There’s no malware either. I’m just trying to use it to do every day tasks. This has happened with every computer I’ve ever owned.

Why?

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22 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Several reasons.

1) People don’t take care of their computers. Just because you ‘think’ theres no malware, there might be. Also there’s probably a lot of junk, and stuff cached, and just general buildup of stuff.

2) Stuff changes over time. Updates. Upgrades of software. Changes how software works for security reasons. The file manager program it came with is not the same one it has now, even if it looks the same.

Most of our computers in our house are ~7 years old, and they all run great because I maintain them. Almost none have been upgraded. They weren’t some crazy top of the line back then either, they were mid-range. You just have to take care of them, like a car.

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