2009/9/22 Samuel Douglas <sam.douglas32(a)gmail.com>:
"The internet" is getting pretty demanding these days.
Don't confuse "speed" (whatever that may mean!) and content. An old computer, lacking RAM compared to modern computers, will be severely restrained in what it can be used for. Email will be fine. "Simple" web sites will be fine, but a modern browser and add-ons may be needed for the more complex ones - and of course you need more RAM for that. Ubuntu works fine on many old machines, 500~800MHz processor, 384MB RAM or more. The user has up to date software - though the computer itself could fail at any time! I don't think "connection" is an issue. I haven't come across a computer with an Ethernet card that can't connect to the Internet. Dial-up access is another story. Many "casual" users are not online for sufficiently long periods to allow software updating to be done. For those people, web developers who are working with 1Gb/s networks are a pain in the nether regions. Michael