Computers

Around 1984, there was an article that made a bold prediction: "Someday you will throw away computers. Your house will be littered with them. You'll get computers in cereal boxes." Forty years ago, that future seemed a long way off.

So how many computers do I have in my house? I own two iMacs—one of which I'm trying to sell—a powerful mini computer, and a laptop I rarely use. Speaking of which, I don't use my Fire tablet much either, and my iPad 4 is so outdated that almost nothing runs on it anymore. I also have an old Raspberry Pi. So I should probably sell the devices I no longer use.

I like having two computers for the same reason I like having two microwaves: it lets me do more at once. One computer is busy running chess analysis, so I use the other to browse the internet.

But there are also a ton of devices in our homes that are technically computers, even if we don't think of them that way. I have a Fire TV Stick, a NES Classic video game console, a handheld gaming system, and four Arcade1Up arcade machines. It's hard to say how many household items now contain computers—our TVs, thermostats, and more. My garage door opener, CPAP machine, and robot vacuum cleaner can all be controlled remotely through the internet, which means they have chips inside as well.

I've also kept some of my old phones, which are computers too.

By my count, that adds up to about 22 computers.