Many of us find it difficult to part with old technology gadgets, even if their main task nowadays is to accompany people when they move, take up space in storage and collect dust.
Collecting dust is honestly a pretty useless task for old gadgets, so I’ve put together this guide for all the junkies out there who have perfectly working mobiles and tablets in closets, scrubbers and storage.
Surely it should be possible to find new jobs even for old technology?
Sell or trade in
For real junkyard gnomes, it is of course accepted, but at the same time there is money to be made by letting go of old technology gadgets. It is no great art to get mobile phones and tablets in good condition sold to private individuals.
If you can’t stand the hassle of bidding and haggling, or have difficulty knowing how to value your possessions, there are also websites that buy in your old technology. At several technology retailers, you can trade in your old gadgets and thus get a discount when you buy new ones.
Order and order in scrubs and drawers, extra pennies in the bank and new technology at a lower price are still pretty strong arguments for choosing this option.
Use the device as a webcam, baby monitor or mp3 player
Now we get into the really fun part, because surely it should still be possible to benefit from an ultra-compact computer with a touch screen even if it has become a bit dull over the years? When they reach retirement age, our old mobiles and tablets may not be quite capable of doing everything, but given only one specific use area to focus on, they are often still very sharp.
In this forum thread there are plenty of creative solutions to the problem of old mobiles just gathering dust. A box of webcam or baby monitor can be advantageously exchanged for the mobile phone which has both better sound and camera. An end-of-life tablet can, together with a cheap mounting solution, become a dedicated GPS unit in the car, and the ancient mobile phone that stopped receiving security updates a long time ago can still make a contribution as an mp3 player.
Here I have collected a bunch of uses with suitable apps that give the tired old faithful a whole new meaning to life.
Baby monitor and security camera
Good baby monitors and security systems aren’t that cheap, and the very cheapest often do only a slightly better job than a potato. Why not connect the old mobile phone and let it stream high-resolution video and sound from the baby’s room or home instead?
Alfred Home Security Camera (IOS och Android): This is one of the most popular options for turning the extra mobile into a security camera. One phone acts as a camera and the other as a monitor. Available in a free version with advertising or a paid version without advertising and a lot more features.
Read more about Alfred Home Security Camera
Bibino (IOS and Android): Bibino can be used on mobiles, tablets and on computers with MacOS, Windows or Linux. It is developed to be an alternative to a traditional baby monitor, with all that it entails, such as audio and video monitoring, the ability to talk to the baby through the microphone or play lullabies or soothing sounds. The free version is limited with advertising. The more complete plan can be paid weekly or monthly and there is also a three-day trial version.
Beddybytes (Platform Independent): On Beddybyte’s website it says: “You want a baby monitor, not a live video service”. Here the focus is on delivering a secure service, where the data is kept private by the fact that the video and audio transmission takes place locally within the home’s network and is not sent to a cloud service or similar. Beddybytes costs money but has a 30 day trial period. If you are satisfied, you pay for access for a year or a lifetime.
The world’s most advanced remote control
Streaming devices such as Apple TV, Google Chrome and Amazon Fire Stick have mobile apps that turn a synced mobile into a remote control. Good as a backup solution when the original remote has disappeared somewhere between the sofa cushions.
Hang up on the bench
Every team needs reserves on the bench, ready to jump in when the stars need a patch or run out of energy. The same principle applies to modern technology, because how many times has it not turned out to be a good idea to have an old laptop, mobile or tablet lying around when the new, fresh model breaks?
This tip will probably hit home with most junkyard gnomes, as it’s actually a decent argument for not doing anything about the growing pile of dust-collecting tech stuff. Having said that, it might still be worth thinking about whether it is necessary to have eight reserves, or if a stable substitute is enough.
Old devices and security
If the old mobile phone or tablet is to be connected, care must be taken. The manufacturers are variously good at giving their mobiles and tablets support for updates over many years, although it has improved in recent years. However, the risk is that one of the older mobile phones in the drawer never received more than a couple of years of guaranteed security updates. This is important to keep track of before you connect the handset and use it as a security camera or similar.
What do you think of the tips and ideas? Are you missing any apps and uses?
Source: www.sweclockers.com
