Floppy emulators for old hardware are a thing too ... I think the larger risk is just that the hardware is ancient and it's better to plan to replace it as just part of a plan rather than wait for it to become an emergency replacement instead that'll cost a ton more to do in a hurry.
Ah, my apologies for the assumption, it's been almost a year but I'm still too used to Reddit apparently!
Yes, the default launcher had ads, the SHIELD itself didn't, but I also didn't like any of the 3rd party launchers I used but I don't remember specifically why. Then, the SHIELD stopped booting so I didn't want to buy another one and went with the ATV instead.
As I mentioned, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to someone who knows they'd regret not having the cast functionality, but, if you just want a device that works very well and doesn't ever have so much as a hiccup during navigation, it's been great!
I would still recommend the SHIELD for someone that wants cast or who wouldn't have a problem with (mostly) relevant ads being shown on the device (stock).
Yeah I used to have a PC and a Harmony remote that would send macros to a custom script and Kodi would do different things or it could switch to Netflix and ... Like, we just want to watch a movie or TV show not have to perform tech support whenever Netflix changed their webpage!
My SHIELD would just randomly restart itself until eventually it stopped coming back online.
I definitely got my monies worth out of it, but didn't like that a device with no ads all of a sudden became a device with ads (and this is a Google thing not an Nvidia one, but still)
We're a non-iPhone household and went with the AppleTV when my Nvidia SHIELD died.
Ads were getting put on the SHIELD and I definitely didn't want to buy another one because of that and it has been a while since its had a refresh, so went with an AppleTV instead.
The device itself is fantastic, the UI is so smooth and so much nicer. OTOH, I miss being able to cast to the TV more than I expected. It works decently with the Macbooks though (we're a weird household ... like Macs, hate iPhones).
So ... if ya'll have iPhones or don't care about casting, I'd definitely recommend an AppleTV with Plex (the Dropout, Youtube, Disney+ apps are all good too).
ETA: Apple is also making some pretty awesome TV content as well and IIRC you'll get a couple months free with the purchase ... verify that yourself though in case they've removed it, but Foundation, Severance & See are fantastic shows if you're looking for something to watch.
Dishwashers are a luxury, but they also use a LOT less water than you'll use manually washing dishes and (as long as you clean their filters and use the right detergent) generally do about as well as a bored person doing the dishes will do (ie every now and then you'll find one with gunk but not too frequently).
Personally, my household has 3 adults and I would go for the full size dishwasher and figure something else out for storage ... It's also possible the smaller ones might be perfect for baking sheets and whatnot. If you haven't, try to do a mock layout with painters/masking tape and see what you can make fit in that space to try and help with planning, if you can.
With all that said, worst case scenario if no one wants to manually wash dishes, you have to run it twice in one day, every now and then, which doesn't seem horrible.
Yup, my last 2 MBP laptops have been from a junk pile and came to me free/cheap from a buddy who was able to grab a bunch.
All in all, everything I do on a laptop is in a webui, a terminal or within a remote VM so I mostly dgaf about what it can natively run, but the hardware is great and it can load the nix (and brew) package managers, so I really haven't found much that I want it to do that it can't. Hell, even games I can just Steam Link to another machine and play if I want.
My last job was disposing of a 2021 model and I was dumb enough to ask if I could have it rather than just taking it and got told no ... Sold for scrap by the pound! I could have left a 10$ bill in it's place and theyd have gotten more profit, fucking ridiculous.
Lol, even the "if legal tender is refused" concepts are for debts and not just things you want!
Like, if they're refusing to take his money after he ate food at a restaurant, he's got a bit of a point, but if he's in the grocery store and walked out with shit, they refused a customer not a debt!
I can't imagine it was any later than 2005 at the very latest and even that seems unlikely!
These people that watch VHS ... You talking home movies that the only copy is on VHS or people actually just popping in a VHS of Jurassic Park and watching it‽
Anything by John Scalzi, but, Old Man's War is what got me hooked.
"I did two things on my seventy-fifth birthday. I visited my wife's grave. Then I joined the army."
Here's a short story by him that might let you know if you'd like his writing style or not (note: the premise of this story was originally a joke on his blog and then he felt compelled to actually write it for real and it's easily one of my favorite short stories) When the Yogurt Took Over: A Short Story