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I maintain a 17 year old ThinkPad

If a book has been in print for forty years, I can expect it to be in print for another forty years. But, and that is the main difference, if it survives …

Nassim Nicholas Taleb contrasts fragile systems—those that suffer serious harm under volatility—with robust systems that can endure stress with minimal damage. By Taleb’s Lindy Effect, the fact that my T400 can still work well after so many years suggests it’s likely to remain functional as people have already figured out the ways to significantly extend its lifespan. Additionally (this is true of all new laptops), when something does go wrong with a new MacBook it hard to fix as it’s not old enough for people to have figured out if their are ways to extend its lifespan as none have broke yet.

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