I used to enjoy new tech. I had to get the latest, bestest tech product, preferably on launch day (or not getting it at all—so that I can claim owning the newest product for the longest period of time). But lately my attitude seems to have changed. No longer do I feel the urge to get the latest iPhone, the latest Mac, the latest everything. My iPhone is entering its third year of service; my main computer is a 5-year-old MBP, and I am quite satisfied with my M1 MBA (which wasn’t even mine) as my travel computer. What happened?

First and foremost, kudos to Apple for finally making tech that last. Even though the MBP does have a fan, it rarely spins up. Using Lightroom no longer comes with sound effect that’s equivalent to a rocket launch. I sometimes use a third-party app to manually adjust the fan speed so that I can enjoy my machine’s “feature”. Having hot and noisy computers was a thing of the past, which is quite incomprehensible to Gen Z.

But perhaps it is also Apple’s fault that I no longer crave for the latest tech product. You see, back in the days when every new iPhone was a quantum leap, I didn’t have to convince myself to get a new phone—they sold themselves. Tech no longer excites me; that’s an issue.

There could be deeper reasons too: being broke, depression, or simply getting old. When I was young, I couldn’t understand why grownups were so attached to the old days, always saying how things were better in the past. And now I understand; they really are.

Still, some past tech are best left behind. CCD point-and-shoot cameras are a good example. Unlike film cameras, those point-and-shoot cameras from the early 2000s are in every way worse than their modern counterparts. They lack image stabilization; they have poor dynamic range; their sensors are tiny yet still raced for higher megapixels, so that the images are noisy as hell. I upgraded from that trash, and I am not going back. That’s why I don’t understand why Gen Z and Gen Alpha keep buying those electronic junk at a premium. And perhaps that’s why I am old…

There’s a new piece of tech that I am excited, though: my new electric car. Stay tuned.