How many obsolete computers after October

antspants · Jul 7, 2025

This is serious stuff, all these calculations are important and will determine if I buy these 240,000,000 laptops to get to the Moon, one of these days, Alice.

Is he talking the height of the Moon from base to tip? = 3,475 kilometres high

I must admit, I am not sure about this guy, who takes leads from Neowin.

Marcus Vinicus · Jul 7, 2025

I chickened out and asked chatgpt.

It reckons =
15,111,398,400 one-inch-high objects would be needed to reach 384,000 km.

https://chatgpt.com/s/t_686c4eed676c8191bf049c1375f2aa46

antspants · Jul 7, 2025

Quite honestly, my brain hurts.

jvickers · Jul 7, 2025

Marcus Vinicus said:
I chickened out and asked chatgpt.
It reckons =
15,111,398,400 one-inch-high objects would be needed to reach 384,000 km.

https://chatgpt.com/s/t_686c4eed676c8191bf049c1375f2aa46

I did something similar on my ChatGPT desktop app. Here are the results for 6000km:

To calculate how many one-inch thick objects it would take to reach 6,000 kilometers, we need to convert both measurements to the same unit.

Step 1: Convert kilometers to inches

1 kilometer = 1,000 meters
1 meter = 39.3701 inches
So,

6,000 km=6,000,000 meters=6,000,000×39.3701 inches6,000 \text{ km} = 6,000,000 \text{ meters} = 6,000,000 \times 39.3701 \text{ inches}6,000,000×39.3701=236,220,600 inches6,000,000 \times 39.3701 = 236,220,600 \text{ inches}

Step 2: Divide by the thickness of each object

Each object is 1 inch thick, so:

236,220,600 inches1 inch/object=236,220,600 objects\frac{236,220,600 \text{ inches}}{1 \text{ inch/object}} = 236,220,600 \text{ objects}

Final Answer:

236,220,600 one-inch thick objects would be needed to reach 6,000 kilometers.

jvickers · Jul 7, 2025

antspants said:
Quite honestly, my brain hurts.

You need more coffee.

jvickers · Jul 7, 2025

Using Poe and selecting Gemini 2.5 Pro chatbot, I got almost the same answer: Gemini-2.5-Pro: *Thinking...* > **Calculating Object Quantity** > > I've converted the kilometers to inches – a hefty number! Now, I'm setting up the division to find how many one-inch objects fit i

Marcus Vinicus · Jul 7, 2025

jvickers said:
You need more coffee.

And some of these

MrBeaujhangles · Jul 7, 2025

I never had a system "go obsolete" because I never found an instance where an upgrade actually improved performance. W4WGs ==> was the worst. When PC Mag did their annual computer roundup in 1995, many manufacturers submitted identical systems,one with each OS. They separated the results, tabulating performance with W4WGs 75 or so pages behind the Win 95 .... as if no one would bother to compare. Later releases were no where near as bad, but all that work for no gain .... That being said, we always did our own benchmarking just cause, well have a SOHO (Engineering office in home) network here and all nerds !

siliconbeaver · Jul 7, 2025

Moon's radius is about 1,080 miles (1,740 kilometers).
plus 600km,
that's about 2340 km.

antspants math:
240,000,000” to km = 6,096 km (approx)

So, it's enough to meet the setting. 6,096 km >> 2,340km.

antspants · Jul 7, 2025

Why isn’t there an animated elephant dancing on a calculator, emoji?

antspants · Jul 7, 2025

If it were true and 240 million laptops did become bricks/paperweights, I’d start a campaign to have people courier them to Microsoft. Let them deal with it. Microsoft would become a pariah (It’s already half way there)

Hazel123 · Jul 7, 2025

Couldn't find a calculator, so the elephant is dancing on an abacus. Which is all you need really

siliconbeaver · Jul 7, 2025

A rat or elephant?

my eyesight is NOT good.

antspants · Jul 7, 2025

Hazel123 said:
Couldn't find a calculator, so the elephant is dancing on an abacus. Which is all you need really

Haha hilarious…

siliconbeaver · Jul 7, 2025

I agree, what Microsoft is doing is against environment green policy.

But tech giants have been giving up their goals made many years ago. Indeed most AI projects (Fossil power plants) will make earth warmer.

Hazel123 · Jul 7, 2025

I asked chat gpt as well, who said it sounded ambiguous as to whether it meant distance from earth to moon plus 600km or moon's diameter plus 600km - until I told it that we were talking about 240 million laptops.

CGPT

"To stack 240 million laptops into a pile that reaches 600 km beyond the Moon, each laptop would need to be about 1.6 meters (160 cm) thick.

That’s obviously not a real laptop — it's more like the height of a refrigerator!"

So it's the diameter of the moon plus 600km - which makes the laptops. So I asked how thick the laptops were.

1. Moon's diameter 3,474 km

2. Target stack height 3,474 km+600 km=4,074 km

3. Convert to centimetres 4,074 km=407,400,000 cm

4. Divide by number of laptops (240 million) 407,400,000 divided by 240,000,000 = 2.6975cm

Final Answer:

Each laptop would need to be about 1.70 cm thick to make a stack 600 km taller than the Moon’s diameter.

Marcus Vinicus · Jul 7, 2025

Wouldn't surprise me in the least if the big tech manufacturers/OEMs etc. are whispering in MS ears to make old computers more obselete.

antspants · Jul 7, 2025

siliconbeaver said:
I agree, what Microsoft is doing is against environment green policy.

But tech giants have been giving up their goals made many years ago. Indeed most AI projects (Fossil power plants) will make earth warmer.

And with that in mind, I am quite honestly surprised that Govt’s haven’t stepped in and said “NO” to Microsoft. I mean it’s not like Microsofts arse hasn’t been kicked before and have been forced to change their directive/process’s/agenda’s

antspants · Jul 7, 2025

Marcus Vinicus said:
Wouldn't surprise me in the least if the big tech manufacturers/OEMs etc. are whispering in MS ears to make old computers more obselete.

It’s pretty obviously industry wide. They keep no secret that they all sit at the round table. I 100% agree with you.

Hazel123 · Jul 7, 2025

antspants said:
And with that in mind, I am quite honestly surprised that Govt’s haven’t stepped in and said “NO” to Microsoft. I mean it’s not like Microsofts arse hasn’t been kicked before and have been forced to change their directive/process’s/agenda’s

I'm kind of surprised they haven't had some order slapped on them for environmental solutions or preventing waste or whatever. But on the other hand, I think most people in Government aren't that in touch with reality! They certainly don't think about the cost of laptops and most environmental politics is just about getting votes IMO rather than real environmental concern. Being cynical I know!

How many obsolete computers after October

Like a rolling drone.

My Computers

Semper paratus

My Computers

Like a rolling drone.

My Computers

The lunatics have taken over the asylum

Step 1: Convert kilometers to inches​

Step 2: Divide by the thickness of each object​

Final Answer:​

My Computers

The lunatics have taken over the asylum

My Computers

The lunatics have taken over the asylum

My Computers

Semper paratus

My Computers

Member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computer

Like a rolling drone.

My Computers

Like a rolling drone.

My Computers

Well-known member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computer

Like a rolling drone.

My Computers

Well-known member

My Computer

Well-known member

1. Moon's diameter 3,474 km​

2. Target stack height 3,474 km+600 km=4,074 km​

3. Convert to centimetres 4,074 km=407,400,000 cm​

4. Divide by number of laptops (240 million) 407,400,000 divided by 240,000,000 = 2.6975cm​

Final Answer:​

My Computer

Semper paratus

My Computers

Like a rolling drone.

My Computers

Like a rolling drone.

My Computers

Well-known member

My Computer

Step 1: Convert kilometers to inches

Step 2: Divide by the thickness of each object

Final Answer:

1. Moon's diameter 3,474 km

2. Target stack height 3,474 km+600 km=4,074 km

3. Convert to centimetres 4,074 km=407,400,000 cm

4. Divide by number of laptops (240 million) 407,400,000 divided by 240,000,000 = 2.6975cm

Final Answer: