Towards Digital Autonomy – What about Hardware?

During the last few weeks I have been sharing multiple blog posts in which I’ve been reflecting about my own goal for this year to complete the transition away from US Big Tech into whatever other decent alternatives I may find. I am already making good progress with different software applications and services, but I am fully aware there is still one big elephant in the room here: Hardware. What about the hardware? Am I willing to make the move as well from those computing devices I have learned to appreciate and care for in the last few years? Well, not quite! Allow me to explain though …

I have been using Apple hardware for the vast majority of my 30 years working in IT. Whether it’s my MacBook, my iPad, my iPhone, my AirPods, my HomePod minis, etc. I’ve always had an Apple gadget in the household, if not multiple of them at the same time. I just can’t picture myself using any other operating system than Mac OS. Back in the day, I once had to use Windows for work and it was incredibly painful and draining in equal measure. I even learned a few new swear words. Oooh, and don’t get me started on Linux. I’m definitely not there just yet and I guess it will take me a while to become fond of it. So where does all of that leave me then in my attempt to move away from US Big Tech (Both software AND hardware)? A couple of words: Programmed obsolescence.

Indeed, with hardware, I’m taking a different approach. I’m learning to live without computing devices around me. It’s tough, I know, but I need to, more than anything else because throughout the last six years I’ve realised I don’t need as many gadgets as I thought I would around me. So why have them in the first place? That’s the question that’s been haunting me for a good while now, while I let some of those devices go through that programme obsolescence I mentioned above without replacing them with new ones. 

All of the current Apple hardware I’ve got at home is, at least, close to 5 years old, if not older! One of my HomePod minis, for instance, has already died earlier on this year. I eventually managed to resist the urge of buying a new one and didn’t. So far, I’m not missing it. That’s a good sign, I suppose. My iPad Pro has stopped upgrading to the latest iPad OS updates, so it’s already started its own programmed obsolescence process. I think I can live without it, if the main use case I’ve got nowadays is just listening to music, while I work throughout the day. There’s an interesting, bigger, story here with both my iPad and my iPhone though. 

After I stopped business travelling in March 2020, I realised I no longer needed to use them for work. Nowadays, the vast majority of my working hours are spent in front of my MacBook Pro, so when I’m not using it work is done for the day, which means I’m only using both of those mobile gadgets for limited personal use. For instance, I mostly use my iPhone to take pictures of where I live, learn languages, listen to music or hang out in the Fediverse. I have either wiped out, or deleted, everything else for that matter, including work-related apps as well. The idea of ditching both of them for good the moment they crash, or die, on me is growing fondly in my head day in day out. So much for #MobileFirst, right? Do you still remember that?

Anyway, here’s the thing, the real challenge for yours truly going forward with ditching US Big Tech hardware. Instead of finding replacements for the different gadgets I own when they irreparably break down, I’m learning to live without having any and go pretty much to basics. My trusted and beloved 5-year-old MacBook Pro (Hoping it lasts for another decade!) to be able to carry on with my day to day work chores and perhaps a personal mobile phone that allows me to do pretty much of the basics I mentioned above and that would be it. I don’t think it’d even need to qualify as a smartphone anymore. Any suggestions you may know about with regard to which brands and models I should be looking into? Leave a comment below, please, I’m all ears hoping to be on time before my current iPhone breaks apart.

Finally, after having written all of the above, only thing I’ve got left to add is, once my laptop dies on me, whether I’d be ready to make the move to Linux, or not, as I’m pretty sure some of you may be wondering about. Well, the short answer would be “No, thanks!”. The longer answer? Here.