Well, I really hate to be
that guy with controversial or counter-intuitive opinions, but here are few points that are on completely oppose end of the spectrum.
1) Most of the threads where people get bashed for having low-end hardware usually start with OPs unrealistic expectations of said hardware.
E.g. "why can't I play Crysis 3 on my 9600GT?" or "why is Youtube being stupid on GMA x4500?", "How can I make my 2005 CompaQ run faster?".
2) There are many situations where getting new hardware is unavoidable. Usually the conflict arises when OP still firmly believes that a complete upgrade is unnecessary, or makes an excuse of "having no access" to cheap hardware in his country, when in fact he or she does (there were many threads on TPU, in which a person was too lazy to look for it, or too stubborn to admit his mistake that he/she just sticks with the narrative). Some of my customers also like sob stories, thinking that somehow it would change the essence of the problem and the resulting outcome. Though, most stories fall apart as soon as they pull out their shiny iPhone XR to write down my contact info.
3) Using older hardware for as long as it lasts is a good thing, as long as it serves its purpose. Though, in most such cases people buy hardware (I mean buying today, not 10 years ago) with only one thought in mind - lowest possible price. Basically, instead of making considerations before purchase, they get the cheapest stuff and then offload solving all nuances on random strangers from the internet.
All three points are too familiar to me, because I run a tiny workshop in a not-so-financially-or-politically-stable country. I have to deal with this on a daily basis, and some people just need a blunt reality check. This includes even my technically educated but still ridiculously stupid partner, who needs to get slapped every time he thinks an SSD and moar RAM will solve any issue.
Every once in awhile I get customers who'd bring a dust-ridded Core2Duo desktop which at the time of its creation was built out of cheapest possible parts, and people don't understand that recapping an old LGA775 board costs about the same as getting a SandyBridge combo, or that their old 17" 4:3 monitor costs less than a single replacement capacitor in its PSU. Yes, there are enthusiasts that just like to tinker with old hardware, but there are also lots of less-than-intelligent scrooges that firmly believe that they can buy a random $50 PC and then just ask around for "magic sauce" that will make it run like modern PC. I lost count of how many times, especially since pandemic started, some random douche would pop into my workshop with beat-up Core2Duo or worse - single-core Sempron PC that's been stewing in a basement for the past 10 years with nasty wererats and evil cucarachas, and then asks "Well, can't you just pop-in some more RAM and do your computer ju-ju, so my kids could watch youtube and play minecraft?". My response to that is never pretty and in some stubborn cases contains lots of explicit words, but in 99% of cases it works and within an hour or two a person leaves with a PC that will last another 5-6 years and it's not a fire hazard. The remaining 1% leave, still firmly believing that their trash buckets still have "untapped potential" and I'm yet another greedy bastard that tries to con him/her out of hard earned cash. Yes... evil me...
As far as I know, we don't have "hardware elitists" amongst regular TPU members. If anything, this community teaches newcomers to like and be enthusiastic about old hardware.
Hey the Honda Civic is a good car. My parents had one at one time.
