This one recently bought a new laptop to replace the framework laptop it had no end of issues with, and decided, on the recommendation of a few friends, to buy a Dell Latitude. It thinks the specific model is 5450, but it doesn’t really care. It’s a boring laptop. The kind of laptop a company will give out to all their employees, so common in the corporate world that has already confused multiple friends thinking that it is their work laptop. It is fast enough and runs everything fine, and the only complaint it can make about the thing is that the bluetooth range is low. It’s a laptop that is maximally boring. You might wonder, as a nerd, why it would buy such a boring laptop. This is because it th…
This one recently bought a new laptop to replace the framework laptop it had no end of issues with, and decided, on the recommendation of a few friends, to buy a Dell Latitude. It thinks the specific model is 5450, but it doesn’t really care. It’s a boring laptop. The kind of laptop a company will give out to all their employees, so common in the corporate world that has already confused multiple friends thinking that it is their work laptop. It is fast enough and runs everything fine, and the only complaint it can make about the thing is that the bluetooth range is low. It’s a laptop that is maximally boring. You might wonder, as a nerd, why it would buy such a boring laptop. This is because it thinks it is always a good idea to prefer a boring technology over an exciting one, especially when money is on the line.
Maybe it should define “boring technology”, beyond its association with the emotion of boredom. A boring technology is one that has had enough time to have been well tested. Boring technologies are produced by established companies, teams, and developers, not startups. Boring technology is used in production in places where reliability matters. You’ll never hear hyperbolic marketing about how a boring technology is going to redefine anything, disrupt anything, or usher in a new era of anything. Some good examples of boring technologies in the computing space might be business laptops, or the linux kernel, or something. It’s a bit of a vibes-based definition, but these are the things it looks for when evaluating a tech purchase for sufficient boringness:
is this used by the type of people who need their technology to consistently work? (like, in industry)
Is there hype around it? (if so, act with caution or avoid)
Does it have a reputation for reliability? Is it built with reliability in mind? (prefer reliable)
Is this being made by a startup? (if so, avoid)
Is this version 1 of something? Is this revision 1 of something? (if so, avoid)
Is there an existing community of knowledgeable folks who can help if anything goes wrong? Is there spare parts available? (these are both positives)
Is there any standout features that make you go “wow”? (if so, avoid! These tend to be the earliest things to break)
The benefit of using boring technology is that it has a much lower chance of blowing up on you. It’s usually available affordably second hand, or even for free. The only thing you are sacrificing by choosing a boring option over an exciting one is a few weeks of tinkering before the exciting tech, to you, becomes boring - and then you’re just left with something less reliable and less well tested than having gone with a boring option in the first place.
There’s a place for interesting, exciting and novel technology. But that place is not at the core of anything you do. Buy interesting peripherals, interesting noncritical software, interesting toys. But for any serious tech purchase? Get something boring.