I recently wrote an article about my memories of acquiring Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life back in June 2004. That article was inspired by a piece by Luke Plunkett in Aftermath called I’ve Had The Same PC Speakers For 20 Years, Almost My Entire Adult Life. Mr. Plunkett’s small reference to pre-ordering A Wonderful Life inspired my article, but as the title of his post indicates, GameCube’s finest Harvest Moon entry (I tip my hat to the very good runner-up, Harvest Moon: Magical Melody) was not the main point of his article. His article was about how he continues to use the Logitech X-530 computer speakers he purchased in 2004, notwithstanding tthat they were released to middling reviews. It is a good post and it fits in with my praise for tech with long shelf lives. While the first thing that caught my attention about the post was Harvest Moon, it occurred to me that I have my own ancient tech story. I previously wrote about the Logitech K310 keyboard that I have been using for more than a decade, but that is not my oldest continuously-owned piece of tech.
I present my Newpoint Switcher 2000 Plus.
This power switch is old. It is quite a bit older than Mr. Plunkett’s X-530 speakers. We got this with a Windows 95 back in 1996 or 1997, so the switcher is going on about three decades. It was last used in service of powering an actual desktop computer somewhere in the early 2010s. Since then I have put it to smaller, less critical use-cases. For example, I had been using it to power my modem, router, and access point until a couple of weeks ago, but I had to switch it out because my new ARRIS modem has a plug that goes sideways (my old modem had a smaller connector) and I added an ethernet switch which also had a long plug. I moved the faithful switcher to the front room where it now powers two laptop computers that have been converted to “desktop” service (one of which because I spilled water on it a couple of weeks ago) and a few other knickknacks.
I can report that the Switcher 2000 Plus works as well today as it did in 1996 (caveat: its surge protection prowess has not been put to the test). All of its outlets work, as do its switches. It actually has one outlet on the back that is not connected to the switches and is always up when the switcher is on. I cannot recall ever having had a problem with it, so while I no longer use it for heavy-duty work, I credit Newpoint for building a very high quality power device.
A cursory web search shows that there are plenty of Switcher 2000 Plus devices floating around on Ebay. I would personally recommend picking up a newer surge protector if you do not happen to have a nearly 30-year old Newpoint standing by, but the option to acquire one is there. One site indicates that Newpoint trademarked the Switcher 2000 Plus name on July 29, 1996 (trademark no longer active), which establishes that it was a new product when mine was purchased.
The Switcher Plus is the oldest electronic device that has been with me continuously (I no longer have my original Sega Genesis, which I received in 1994, or my original Game Boy, which I received in 1995). If we count video game consoles – which I do not think we should since it goes against the spirit of the Logitech speaker post – I have a Sega Master System that I received second-hand around 1999 that is much older than the Switcher Plus. I know this for a fact because I played it at the home of the person who gave it to me as early as 1993. (The Master System is probably also a little bit older than me, although I do not know my console’s exact manufacturing date.)