Like most people with an enthusiasm for the technical, I seem to amass, attract, or otherwise acquire cables, connectors, converters, other paraphernalia of a mobile life, forming the skeletal remains of previous generations of technology and other items which end up in boxes and on shelves. To my family this is known as ‘the cable junk pile’. Tonight then, in an effort to procrastinate over doing some real household chores, I took it upon myself to go through the back storeroom, which is home to most of the computing equipment, and through some boxes and decide what things I need, and what I don’t. The Great Cable Cull.
Actually, I’m quite practical and ruthless when I have these clear-outs. There’s almost no emotional attachment involved, except when it comes to my old Palm IIIe which I will keep in a box near me forever, you hear me? Forever!
After about an hour I had no visible cables on the shelf and places, and was down to my one small cardboard box and toolbox again. All the things I might need are in the former, and the day to day items like chargers and such are in the latter.
The big losers this time were: S-video cables, a joystick which has been broken for at least 4 years, some RCA cables, about 3 USB -> mini USB cables, of which I have many, some coax cable I didn’t know I had, a fan I will never use in my PC and various other things which I just don’t have the devices to use (old Canon Ixy charger) or have duplicates of (the aforementioned cables).
Anyway, it’s done and I’ve pruned my burgeoning cable nest sufficiently that the rest of my family are satiated with the sacrifice for now.