New computers suck

After some weeks of using a 12 year old laptop computer I can safely say
that in many respects modern laptops have regressed.

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+title = "New computers suck"
+date = 2021-04-10T22:07:52Z
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+
+Recently my T480 started having some motherboard problems that prevented the
+keyboard from working correctly. I needed to repair it, but I couldn't afford to
+wait while it is being repaired since I need it for my work and studies, and
+being a motherboard problem, it wasn't even a fact that it could be repaired,
+without having to replace the entire motherboard. So, I decided to buy a cheap
+used computer and use that for the time being.
+
+<!-- more -->
+
+In our day and age there is this general believe that progress, whatever that
+means, is the one thing that we should strive for, and by consequence every new
+thing is better than the older thing it is meant to replace. While there is
+certainly improvements in some areas, new things are, very often, not an overall
+improvement over the old things that they were meant to replace. Especially if
+we are talking about durability and repairability, but those are far from the
+only aspects where new hardware has regressed.
+
+This article is basically my review of two computers, both ThinkPad, the old but
+venerable X200 and its more modern cousin the T480, followed by a comparison of
+the two and my conclusions on whether new hardware is really worth it.
+
+If you're not really interested in reading a detailed review of each computer,
+you can skip ahead to the [comparison](#modern-vs-old). You can also skip
+directly to the [review of the T480](#t480) or the [review of the X200](#x200).
+
+## Backstory
+
+I got my T480 at my previous job in 2019. It is quite the machine with an 8th
+gen Core i7 with 8 threads and a 512 NVMe SSD. However, it seems that Lenovo, as
+many other computer (and not only) manufacturers seem to be going down in
+quality.
+
+First, it died on me about a year ago. It just wouldn't turn on. Fortunately, it
+still had its warranty, so I turned it in for a warranty repair. After about two
+weeks in the Lenovo repair shop I got my machine back with a replacement
+motherboard, and also a new frame and shell for the display, since the original
+one had started to fall off a little on the bottom sides. I'll talk about those
+minor quality problems a little later.
+
+Then, almost four weeks ago, I started to have problems with my keyboard. At
+first they were intermittent, but as time went on they got more persistent, to
+the point that it was no longer possible to have any work done without becoming
+frustrated. The problem was that some keys on the keyboard refused to work. I
+bought a replacement keyboard and replaced it immediately. To my unpleasant
+surprise, I had the exact same problems with the new keyboard as with the old
+one, meaning that it was actually a problem with the motherboard. Another
+indication that the problem is with the motherboard, is that if I slightly push
+or bend the body of the laptop, the keys start working.
+
+At this point I was pretty disappointed with the quality of this laptop. Not
+only did it have some minor quality problems, but it had also had two major
+problems that fully or partially impeded the correct functioning of the machine.
+That, and as I mentioned in the introduction, I didn't have the time for a
+repair, so I ended up buying a cheap old laptop.
+
+The machine I ended up buying was a venerable ThinkPad X200. I had heard a lot
+of good things about old ThinkPads, and after almost three weeks of use, I can
+certify that they are indeed pretty damn good laptops. I'll first talk a little
+about the T480, then I'll review the X200, and finally I'll summarize their pros
+and cons.
+
+## T480
+
+This is a pretty modern machine, having been released in 2018. I have actually
+enjoyed using it, since overall it is actually quite a good machine, much better
+and comfortable to use than most laptops of its era.
+
+It was acquired new in 2019 and cost around $1600 USD without the dock included.
+
+### Computing performance
+
+* Core i7-8650U 4 cores @ 1.90 with 2 threads per core
+* 16GB DDR4 RAM
+* 512GB NVMe PCI SSD
+* 14" 2560x1440 IPS matte display
+* Intel UHD Graphics 620
+* Nvidia MX150 2GB
+* 24Wh internal battery + 24Wh external battery
+* Weight 1620g
+
+Obviously the specs are one of the best qualities of this laptop. I don't "game"
+on my laptop, and Novidya has pretty crapy drivers on Linux that aren't
+compatible with Sway (my WM of preference), so I ended up just not installing
+any drivers for the Nvidia card. The only downside to that, at least for me, is
+that I cannot get audio out through the HDMI port.
+
+So in terms of raw computing power it is a pretty capable machine. I am able to
+playback up to 4K@30fps videos without any hiccups. Any higher FPS and it might
+begin to drop frames, especially if the bitrate is high.
+
+I never really use up all of the memory, unless I am doing some highly intensive
+taks like compiling, since I use good and non-bloated software on my computer.
+There's some exceptions of course, like my browser, since there are no
+non-bloated browsers due to the bloated nature of the web in general.
+
+The processor is also quite capable, being able to compile the Linux kernel in
+around 5-10 minutes. Even on battery it is quite fast.
+
+The biggest bottleneck usually is the storage device, but with the SSD on this
+machine I was able to boot to the GUI in under 9 seconds with an encrypted root.
+That is not counting the BIOS/UEFI loading time.
+
+### Display
+
+The display on my configuration is quite good. It is certainly not the best out
+there, especially if compared to Macbook displays, but it does provide quite
+vivid and colorful images at a great resolution. It is quite bright, around
+300-350 nits, and covers around 98% sRGB. 
+
+With the fractional scaling capabilities of Sway, everything Wayland native
+rendered with pretty good detail and clarity, especially fonts.
+
+With all of that said, it is not a display that I would put in a productivity
+laptop. The reason, it has the atrocious 16:9 aspect ratio. Why oh why is this
+aspect ratio still the dominant one on computers. The only place for this aspect
+ratio is TVs, it has no place on computers, especially ones that are meant for
+productivity. Even Apple gets it, why can Macbooks have 16:10 displays, but
+ThinkPads, "business" laptops, don't? Seriously, Lenovo.
+
+### Power consumption and thermals
+
+More than raw computing power, for me, the more important improvement when it
+comes to computing is power efficiency. I can say that this laptop is quite
+power efficient. Using powertop[^1], at about 50% display brightness (quite
+bright indoors), and with mild usage such as web browsing, music listening, and
+editing text, it uses around 4-8 Watts which yields about 6-8 hours of usage,
+quite enough for my needs. 
+
+One really good thing about this laptop, is that, if I ever needed more battery
+power, I could buy another external battery with more capacity, and replace it
+on the go without shutting down the laptop, because of the internal battery.
+
+Thermals are also pretty decent. With the same average mild usage, the cooler
+fan stays off, and the temperature hovers around 40-50ºC depending on the room
+temperature. The palm rest doesn't get hot, and only the bottom gets warm
+enough to notice, but without any discomfort. Even when the fan starts to work,
+it is really quite, and only gets noticeably audible on high workloads, but
+still quieter than other laptops such as Dells and Macbooks.
+
+### Input devices
+
+The keyboard in this laptop is pretty good, even though it is a chiclet style
+keyboard. It has decent travel distance, tactile feedback and it is not very
+noisy. All in all it is the best laptop keyboard out of any other laptops of its
+time.
+
+The trackpoint is as good as they get. The fact that it is here is already a
+good thing, since not many laptops have a trackpoint, even though it is such a
+good pointing device, especially when you're working with the keyboard most of
+the time, as I do.
+
+The trackpad is decent, but it could be improved (or maybe even removed). It is
+big enough, not so big that it starts to get in the way, such as in Macs, but
+big enough to be comfortable to use. The texture is also nice. I don't use the
+trackpad that much though, I mostly used it to scroll when reading in bed.
+
+### I/O and comms
+
+Compared to most modern laptops it has a good array of ports, with the following
+ports:
+
+* 2 USB 3.1 ports 
+* 1 USB 3.1 Type-C port
+* 1 USB 3.1/Thunderbolt 3 Type-C port
+* HDMI port
+* Gigabit Ethernet port
+* Smartcard reader
+* SD card reader
+* Headphone/mic jack
+
+It might not be as a diverse and big array of port as on older computers, but it
+is enough for my use case. 
+
+There's also the ThinkPad dock stations, which offer a very comfortable way of
+plugging in all devices and getting access to more ports at home or in the
+office. I got the ThinkPad Pro Docking Station, which makes use of the two
+Type-C ports on the left side to provide power and a plethora of ports:
+
+* 3 USB 3.1
+* 2 USB 2.0
+* 1 USB 3.1 Type-C
+* 2 DisplayPort
+* Gigabit Ethernet
+* Audio out/mic jack
+
+It is quite convenient as it is hot-pluggable and doesn't require any special
+configuration or drivers.
+
+Regarding the comms, it comes with a WLAN card that supports WiFi 802.11ac at
+both 2.4 and 5 GHz, and Bluetooth 4.1. My model also came with an LTE WWAN card,
+although I have never had use of it.
+
+### Serviceability
+
+It is quite easy to service and replace parts on this computer, which already
+puts it at an advantage over most modern laptops.
+
+By just unscrewing two screws you can then lift up, disconnect and remove the
+keyboard. By removing four more screws you can remove the bottom plate, and get
+accesses to basically all of the components of the computer. You can replace the
+storage drive, WLAN card, WWAN card, there's two DDR4 RAM slots. The internal
+battery can also be replaced.
+
+The CPU and GPU are soldered to the board though, as in basically every laptop
+nowadays.
+
+### Chassis and build quality
+
+The computer body is made of plastic materials that are nice to the touch. The
+body doesn't bend and creak on pressure from my palms and when lifting the
+laptop from one side, as in other laptops I've owned. For the size of the laptop
+it has a nice balanced weight, not very light, but not heavy either.
+
+The hinges of the screen are also quite good, as they don't wobble at all,
+compared to other laptops. You can't open the lid easily with one hand, not that
+it is very important for me.
+
+The internal chassis is made of metal, some magnesium allow I think, which is
+supposed to make it more sturdy and protect it from outside forces. It is indeed
+a more sturdy design than most laptops out there.
+
+While the build quality overall is better than most laptops nowadays, it is
+still lacking. 
+
+It is all mostly on the details, such as the keyboard, trackpad and trackpoint
+leaving marks on the display that can't be removed, just in the name of making
+the computer thinner; I wouldn't have minded a couple more millimeters of
+**thicc**ness just to avoid having my display being scathed for life.
+
+Another thing is that the frame of the display is just a flimsy piece of plastic
+that is glued to the lid, which starts to come off pretty easily. Also a piece
+of the palm rest chipped off, even though I have never dropped the laptop.
+
+### Audio
+
+The speakers are not good, quite frankly, but the DAC on this computer seems to
+be fine and I don't get any noises from the audio jack. That said the audio jack
+is a combo jack for out and microphone. I can't stand these types of ports, they
+are fine on mobile phones, but certainly not in a computer. Not to mention that
+it already has worn out, resulting in the laptop detecting a microphone when
+there is none.
+
+A smaller complaint that I have, is that the port is placed on the right side of
+the laptop. Being that 99% of headphones have the cable on the left earcup, I
+can't understand why most laptop designers can't put in a little more thought
+and put the damn jack on the left side.
+
+### Firmware and drivers
+
+Overall all devices, except for the fingerprint reader which I don't use anyway,
+work out of the box in Linux. The devices' firmware, including the UEFI, also
+get updates through fwupd.
+
+The Novidya card, of course, has crappy drivers. That said, there were build
+without the Nvidia card, and had it been my choice I would have forgone the
+card, since I don't use it anyway.
+
+The UEFI is kind of a mixed bag. On the one hand it generally works well, has
+many configuration options, a diagnostics tool and you can even change the
+splash image (as in most ThinkPads) although it is not very straight-forward.
+However, the thing takes ages to load. My Linux installation with encrypted root
+boots the same if not faster, and that's not acceptable. It takes about 8-9
+seconds to load, where it should take no more than 2 seconds. Not to mention,
+as expected, that all of it is proprietary and there's no Coreboot for this
+machine, at least yet.
+
+## X200
+
+For computer standards, this would be considered a pretty old machine, being
+first released in 2008. That said, if you don't need to do any intensive
+computing this is still a pretty decent machine and even better in many regards
+than any modern laptop.
+
+One of the first models manufactured by Lenovo after the brand was bought from
+IBM. It still preserves the classic feel of the IBM ThinkPads with specs that
+are more than enough for most home, programming or office tasks.
+
+I acquired it a couple of weeks ago for around $120 USD dock station included.
+
+### Computing performance
+
+* Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 2 cores @ 2.401GHz
+* 4GB DDR3 RAM expanded to 6GB, expandable to 8GB
+* 480GB SATA SSHD (SSD + HDD hybrid)
+* 12" 1280x800 LCD CCFL-backlit matte display
+* Intel GMA 4500MHD
+* 56Wh external battery
+* Weight 1520g
+
+Quite low specs for 2021, most "tech enthusiasts" would cry, but it is quite
+capable nonetheless, unless you are planning on compiling something big like a
+browser or the Linux kernel, or doing photo editing or video editing.
+
+As far as daily computing tasks go, the processor in this thing handles it
+mighty fine. Web browsing, text editing all work fine. Video playback is also
+fine, being able to play videos without drops up to 1080p@30fps, not the best
+for 2021 when we already have plenty of content in 4K and even 8K, but I don't
+use this computer to consoom, and 1080p is plenty most of the times. 60fps
+without drops would have been nice, though.
+
+The GPU is weak, so in many cases, such as the web browser, it is better to go
+with software rendering.
+
+The SSHD that came with laptop when I bought it from the previous owner works
+quite well. It's not the original disk, but whatever. It boots faster than my
+desktop with a standard HDD. It is nonetheless and unsurprisingly slower than my
+T480's PCI SSD. I am planning on replacing with a SATA SSD in the future, but in
+the meantime, it does its job.
+
+Even the relatively low amount of RAM that it currently has installed (6GB, came
+with 4GB), it is still plenty enough for most tasks.
+
+### Display
+
+The image quality on this display is atrocious. It is bleak, the contrast is so
+low the blacks are gray, the color coverage is horrendous, and the viewing
+angles terrible. The resolution is also not very high, but that's not as big of
+a deal especially in such a small display.
+
+That said, it is 16:10 and **not** the pathetic 16:9 aspect ratio. That's
+already a big win in my book. I do plan on changing it to a better display, I've
+seen that it is possible to change it for an AFFS display, and maybe even a LED
+900p display.
+
+### Power consumption and thermals
+
+Being such an old laptop, the power consumption and thermals are not as good as
+most modern laptops. It still managed to surprise me a little, since I was
+expecting worse power consumption and especially higher temperatures.
+
+Using powertop[^1], at about 80% display brightness (any lower in a well-lit
+room becomes uncomfortable with its current display), and with mild usage (see
+T480), it uses 11-16 Watts which yields about 3-4 hours of usage with its
+current battery. Not ideal, but enough most days. I hope that a screen and SSD
+upgrade help to lower the power consumption.
+
+For its age thermals are pretty good. As with the T480 with average mild usage
+it heats to around 40-50ºC, sometimes a little bit higher. Unlike the T480,
+though, its cooler fan is on basically all the time. It is still very quiet, so
+it doesn't cause any distractions or annoyances. The body of this laptop can get
+a little bit hot if doing more intensive tasks than web browsing or text
+editing, such as watching Full HD videos.
+
+### Input devices
+
+This is the best laptop keyboard I've ever typed on, 'nuff said. It doesn't beat
+a mechanical keyboard, but it definitely beats any modern laptop keyboard. There
+are probably other classic ThinkPad models with slightly better keyboards, but I
+haven't tested those out, so I can only compare this with other laptops I've
+used, like my T480 and plenty of Dells, HPs, Acers, Asus and some Toshibas. It
+has great key travel, sounds good without being loud, great tactile feedback,
+and also a nice 7-row layout, with dedicated volume keys.
+
+There is no trackpad on this laptop, but the trackpoint is still better than a
+trackpad, so no big loss there. If you actually need accuracy, for example when
+manipulating graphical elements in GIMP or Inkscape, a traditional mouse is
+still a better option anyway.
+
+### I/O and comms
+
+It has plenty of ports, although it might lack more modern ports, such as HDMI:
+
+* 3 USB 2.0 ports
+* Ethernet port
+* VGA D-bus port
+* **Dedicated** Headphone jack
+* **Dedicated** Microphone jack
+* SD card reader
+* Expresscard expansion slot
+
+Quite good for such a small laptop. The person I bought it from also sold it to
+me with a UltraBase dock station that includes the following ports:
+
+* 4 USB 2.0 ports
+* Ethernet port
+* VGA D-bus port
+* DisplayPort
+* Headphone jack
+* Microphone jack
+* Serial port with included DVD drive
+
+It is also hot-pluggable and besides those ports it also includes a charging
+station for batteries and audio speakers that don't seem to work under Linux.
+The DVD drive also doesn't seem to work under Linux.
+
+As for the comms, it includes a WLAN card supporting 802.11n, and as a surprise
+to me for a laptop so old, it also supports both 2.4 and 5 GHz networks. It also
+has Bluetooth 2.1 and the ability to add a WWAN cellular card, but once more,
+I'm not really in need of that.
+
+### Serviceability
+
+This laptop has quite a lot of screws, however, I like that it is very modular
+in its approach to servicing. Not only is the keyboard removable without having
+to open apart the laptop itself, but also the hard drive; and the memory has its
+own compartment with its own lid. To get to the motherboard you just need to
+unscrew 9 screws and remove the keyboard and palm rest.
+
+Alas, even this laptop has the CPU and GPU soldered to the motherboard.
+
+### Chassis and build quality
+
+The materials of the exterior body are not as different, at least to the touch,
+as those on the T480. The materials feel great and sturdy. The exterior is
+covered is a soft touch rubberized finish, and the palm rest and inner frame of
+the display is a more standard plastic. This laptop also has an internal
+magnesium allow chassis. 
+
+I must emphasize that the display frame feels very sturdy and doesn't flex at
+all, and the hinges are also sturdy with no wobble. It is a little easier to
+open this laptop's lid with one hand, although the latch might hinder that a
+little bit. I am not sure if I like or not having a latch, maybe it is better
+without, but I gotta admit I have some bias towards it mainly for nostalgic
+reasons; also makes it feel a little bit sturdier somehow.
+
+There's no creak or bend of the body either, no matter how you hold the laptop.
+The keyboard is of superb quality, doesn't bend at all and doesn't rattle.
+
+I really only have good things to say about the build quality, although it might
+have to do with having it used for just three weeks. That said, the fact that
+this laptop is about 12 years old (almost half my age!) and theres no dents or
+cracks and only slight scratches on the rubberized surface and other slight
+marks of use, speaks volumes of its build quality. If I do end up finding
+something to complain about, I might update this article in the future.
+
+### Audio
+
+The audio in this laptop is bad in basically all fronts. It doesn't even
+withcome two speakers. Yes, it only has one speaker (mono). That wouldn't be
+that bad if it weren't for a small buzz and other noises present when listening
+some music or sounds through the headphone jack. That problem is also present
+with the dock station's jack, which leads me to think it's a problem with the
+DAC, which must be a piece of crap, or it might be badly isolated generating
+noises from the other components of the computer.
+
+Good thing I have a music player with a really good DAC that can double as an
+external DAC for audio out. Also might end up making use of the fact that this
+computer comes with an Expresscard expansion slot and buy an Expresscard
+sound card.
+
+I understand this is a business laptop mainly, but one would expected at least
+clean sound from the audio out port.
+
+### Firmware and drivers
+
+Everything works out of the box with no extra configuration on Linux, which can
+be expected of a laptop of this age.
+
+This laptop doesn't have UEFI, which I have already gotten used to with it's set
+of nice features such as the ability to boot Linux (EFISTUB) without bloated
+GRUB or any other bootloader. It's all good ol' BIOS with it's ups and downs.
+
+But, this laptop has a big advantage, and that is Coreboot and even Libreboot
+support. I haven't flashed the ROM chip of this laptop with Coreboot yet, but I
+definitely plan on doing so as soon as I get my hands on a SOIC-8 clip. Also, I
+should probably fix my T480 so that I can at least use it as a backup in case
+everything goes wrong and my poor X200 ends up exploding. I might even write
+about my experience in the future.
+
+## Modern vs old
+
+![T480 and X200 side by side](t480-v-x200.jpg)
+
+Now that I have reviewed each computer separately I will be comparing them in
+each category I've reviewed them to see which is the better one overall.
+
+### Computing performance
+
+Well, there's obviously no contest in this one, there isn't even a reason to
+compare a top of the line two year old model, with a 12 year old model. That
+said, it really is enough for my productivity needs.
+
+As you might have guessed, I am using Linux. On a cold boot to my WM I am only
+using around 200MB of RAM and most of the programs I use for productivity and
+even consoomption are really lightweight so I very rarely have any noticeable
+lags that would distract me, if ever. Of course, if you are using something like
+Windows 10, which uses around 2GB-3GB on a cold boot and is full of bloat, you
+might not have such a good experience. Even Windows 7 is bloated compared to
+Linux using around 1.5-2GB on a cold boot. 
+
+Of course, anybody would be better using even a newbie Linux distro such as Mint
+and even on a modern machine, rather than Winbloat, and for other obvious
+reasons besides performance. I am just not expecting that "normies" will switch
+operating systems, they will use whatever comes with their PC.
+
+**Winner**: T480
+
+### Display
+
+This one is a hard for me to decide, since the screen on the T480 has really
+good image quality with a high resolution which is miles ahead of the poor
+quality panel on the X200, while the T480's 16:9 aspect ratio sucks compared to
+the better (yet improvable) 16:10 aspect ratio of the X200.
+
+**Winner**: DRAW
+
+### Power consumption and thermals
+
+This one is also quite obvious. My T480 consumes on average around 3 times less
+energy than my X200, which of course also translates into less heat, although
+not that big a difference. This, I would say, is the biggest advantage of modern
+laptops against older ones.
+
+**Winner**: T480
+
+### Input devices
+
+The trackpoint hasn't changed in quality much if at all. The keyboard is a
+different story. The keyboard on the T480 is good, but it just doesn't compare
+to the classic ThinkPad keyboard, which is present on the X200. From the layout
+to the form of the keys to the travel distance and the tactile feedback.
+Everything is just better on the X200's keyboard. This is the one part that
+suffered in quality just because of trends, which is ridiculous.
+
+**Winner**: X200
+
+### I/O and comms
+
+They both have a good array of IO ports and good comms, but of course, being
+that the comms and ports on the T480 support newer standards, it means that it
+has got the advantage. That, and also the fact that it has two USB Type-C ports
+on of which is Thunderbolt, meaning that you don't rely on a proprietary port to
+be able to connect your computer to a dock or hub. The ThinkPad docks are still
+a better fit for them and they are better than most docks or hubs out there, but
+it is always to have options and not having to rely on proprietary technology
+that is only supported by one company, and which obviously loses support much
+faster than open standards.
+
+**Winner**: T480
+
+### Serviceability
+
+They are both pretty easy to open to clean and maintain or replace any parts
+that might need an upgrade or repair. However, I think the modular approach to
+the disassembly of the X200 is slightly better than the approach on the T480.
+
+**Winner**: X200
+
+### Chassis and build quality
+
+Well, I've already written plenty on the materials and build quality of both
+machines in their respective reviews above. The X200 is just miles ahead in this
+respect.
+
+**Winner**: X200
+
+### Audio
+
+Both have poor quality speakers, which I don't really care too much about, but
+the noise problem with the jack on the X200 is a big no-no.
+
+**Winner**: T480
+
+### Firmware and drivers
+
+The UEFI loading times suck on the T480. The X200 has an old but good enough
+BIOS. But. I can flash Coreboot and Libreboot on the X200 and get rid of the
+Intel ~~Malware~~ Management Engine.
+
+**Winner**: X200
+
+## Conclusion
+
+If we count each comparison category equally they seem to be pretty close. In
+the end it will depend on what you need the laptop for. In my case, if I didn't
+have a laptop at all right now, and I had to buy myself one, I would buy the
+X200 or another old ThinkPad of similar caliber: great build quality, superb
+classic keyboard, corebootable.
+
+I recommend the X200 or a similar old ThinkPad to most people that use a
+computer for daily productivity or internet tasks, not limited to but such as:
+email, web browsing, text editing, school/college stuff, programming. I mean,
+buying a ~$1600 new computer doesn't make sense when you can buy a computer for
+~$120 that is of same use for you, but with a better keyboard and build quality.
+
+Buy a brand-new computer only if you really need the computing power, if you
+really need to squeeze as much battery life as possible without having to buy
+multiple battery packs or if you need a display that has good color
+reproduction for things such as photo editing. I, for example, obviously don't
+do my photo editing on the X200, I have a desktop with a decent monitor for
+that.
+
+## Epilogue: modern software also sucks
+
+Many people have this idea that with time old computers slow down. Indeed
+computers do seem to slow down over time. It is not the hardware itself that
+slows down or becomes less capable, unless it actually breaks, it is a problem
+with newer software becoming more and more bloated, of which proprietary
+software is the biggest offender.
+
+It seems like the production of newer more powerful hardware just breeds more
+and more soydevs that, thanks to the advancements in computing power, can hide
+the slowness and bloatness of their horrible code among layers of abstractions
+that execute just as fast (or rather slow) as good written software on older
+machines. You don't need a Threadripper or Core i9 or even a super modern Core
+i3 to do basic daily computing tasks. If you use good software, that is, and
+most of the times it is libre software. 
+
+Proprietary software is not only worse from an ethical point of view, but it is
+also worse from the point of view of quality most of the times (with some minor
+exceptions). As time goes on, proprietary software gets worse, because they just
+care about launching the next version with the next new "features" as soon as
+possible to get even more money in the shortest amount of time possible.
+
+There are many other reasons why modern proprietary software is just plain worse
+than minimal free and open source software, but this is already beyond the scope
+of this article. Maybe I'll write about my thoughts on modern software, and
+proprietary and libre software in the future.
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