Prolonging the Life of Your Tech During a Global Chip Crisis! | Abbotsford Computer Support

Technology Lifespan + The Chip Shortage

Technology Lifespan is becoming increasingly important. Take a look around you. How many things in your work and life contain a microchip? For a start, you are reading this on something with one! Then there are appliances, vehicles… the list goes on…

Well, if you have been following the Tech News over the past year (or have tried to buy a car), you will have heard something about the major global chip shortage. These headlines are less frequent now, but the shortage is still very much plaguing multiple industries.

So, how did this happen?

Of course, it all started with our old friend COVID. Chip factories shut down with most of the world. Ports shut down. (Including Yantian Port – the one in which 90% of the world’s electronics travel through!)

However, the demand for electronics grew… again, thanks to COVID. We needed the technology to work from home. Businesses took their businesses online to survive. And, when we had nowhere to go, Technology kept us occupied. So, orders piled up. Then, back-orders piled up. Now, its more important than ever to prolong your technology lifespan.

Back to normal?

I know what you are going to say. But isn’t the world starting to get back to normal again? Why is there still an issue?

Well, when the world started opening up again, the transportation industry was not ready to cope with the huge bottleneck of items waiting to be shipped. To add insult to injury, several factories were hampered by unlucky weather events. Then there was the auto industry’s contribution to this. Because demand in cars fell in 2020, many manufacturers cancelled their chip orders. So, some factories switched to making something else instead. Demand did return to the auto industry, but they had lost their suppliers!

Slowly, the chip industry is finding its feet again. But, experts are predicting that the supply chain will not fully recover until late 2022 or early 2023.

So, with that in mind, now is a really good time to try to prolong your technology’s lifespan, because it may be a while before you can replace them with what you want! (Plus, it’s better for the environment too!)

Try these to Prolong your Technology Lifespan

The Basic TLC

Like most things, your computer/device will last longer if you simply look after it properly! That means…

• Keeping it clean
• Handling it with care (and in the case of mobile devices, use a protective case)
• Keeping it in the right environment (somewhere cool and not humid)
• Keeping software/apps up-to-date

SSD drives

One of our favourite laptop upgrades is to replace your hard disk with a solid state drive (or SSD). This will speed up its performance significantly! (One of our guys recently did this with an old laptop and decreased the boot-up time alone from almost 3 minutes to about 25 seconds!)

They also increase the hardiness of your machine as there are no moving parts to break. Traditional hard drives have moving parts that damage or scratch easy.

Storage

The more storage you use up, the slower your tech can get, and the shorter the technology lifespan. So, schedule regular appointments to sort and purge data. (Maybe once every 6 months).

Also, look at moving to online storage solutions. Not only will this take pressure off your machine, but it will also give you a back-up solution if the device dies completely.

Accessories

Another help for laptops is to use external accessories instead of the ones built in. So, things like an external mouse, keyboard or monitor. (The latter is great for extending the life of a laptop after a screen is damaged!) You can also get a dock for your external devices… especially if you move locations a lot. It will reduce the wear and tear on the ports from the regular pulling cables out and putting them back in.

Batteries

If your battery life is decreasing significantly, consider replacing the battery rather than buying a new device! Also, condition the battery properly by not leaving technology plugged in 24/7 and unplugging it as soon as it has finished charging. This will seriously increase the lifespan of this battery.

Trickle Down

If you absolutely HAVE to replace your computer or laptop, consider repurposing the old one for another function in your office. E.G. a department that requires a lower spec machine… or use it in a showroom as a customer kiosk.

Hopefully, these tips will help your Technology Lifespan so you can avoid being in one of the current backorder queues!

If you are a Fraser Valley business and need more help with hardware upgrades, contact us!