I Am Obsolete!

Obsolete and abandoned, but still beautiful. 1937 Hudson Terraplane.

 A few months ago I logged onto the web site of one of my credit card companies, only to be informed that I could not access the site because my computer's operating system was out of date.

A little background: In 1993 or '94, around the time we built our house, we got our first computers -- a desktop, and a neat little Toshiba laptop that I really liked and used to write the text of the the Rock City Barns book. It was eventually stolen.

 Over the years we went through machines from several different manufacturers and used successive versions of Microsoft software. In 2009, Windows 7 came along and I really liked it -- so much so that as Windows 8, 9, etc. came along, I looked at them and said "No way. Too complicated to fool with.

I got my first digital camera in 2003 -- a Canon EOS 10D -- and began to teach myself Photoshop. It seems as if I have done nothing since then but learn software, and I am heartily sick of it. When Photoshop went to a subscription model, I stayed with CS2. It costs me nothing and does everything I need to do. For sorting files I use a version of ACDSEE that is at least 15 years old. I'm writing this on a 2003 version of Microsoft Outlook.

My computer is a Lenovo laptop at least 12 years old, running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit upgraded with a 1000 gigabyte hard drive. I need to upgrade again to three terabytes. 

As I've frequently preached on this blog, photography does not have to be complicated nor expensive. With my antiquated computer equipment, plus my eight-year-old Fuji X-T3 and nine-year-old X-T20, I can do 99% of everything I'll ever want to do.

And have fun doing it. I may be obsolete, but don't bury me quite yet.

About the photo: I found this lovely old car in a patch of woods alongside State Highway 158 near Silverville in Lawrence County, Indiana. Although we are the same age, the Hudson appears to have had a more difficult life. At least, I still have my wheels, although they don't work as well as they used to. The picture was made with an Olympus E-M5 digital camera.

If you like my pictures, visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available for $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photographs and text copyright 2026 David B. Jenkins. I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography     digital  photography   travel photography     Olympus E-M5 digital camera     Silverville, Indiana    old/abandoned cars     Hudson Terraplane     Windows 7     Lenovo computers    Photoshop CS2     ACDSEE