I spoke to several people:

1. My father

My father's a pilot for United, so he's not particularly tied into eco issues, although he did forfeit the idea that maybe we should use less plastic. However, he seemed to get a lot of interest out of the idea of using older tech equipment for longer. He particularly suggested a way to make it easy to "upgrade" this equipment with new software, something I will definitely be taking into account for a prototype.

1. My coworker

I work IT for the Boulder County Campus, so was able to speak with one of my coworkers for a few minutes while a shift had nothing going on. Like my father, they didn't get much interest out of our plastic issue but glasses were something they were interested in as they are of impaired eyesight. We brainstormed some problem statements but didn't really get far, most of these have been solved. After this, I brung up our third problem statement, and their eyes lit up with ideas. I reckon this will be the one I'll go for.

1. A previous manager

I used to work IT Projects for Banner Health, and happened to stumble upon a previous manager over the weekend. It was good to catch up with them, turns out they're nearing completion on the project that I left near the beginning of. Nonetheless, I asked them if they had some time for a little interview, and was able to come away with a decent problem statement:

*Computers after their initial 5 year life cycle are often thrown away when they are still perfectly usable for most people.* The issue comes down to the software that's still present on these devices. If they were using a lightweight Operating System, I envision an easy extra 5 years to the life cycle.

• Cost of conversion: <$50
• Cost of equipment: <$100
• Easy to use:
  • OS works well with internal parts:
    • CPU runs cool
    • Drives are written to responsably, no overuse by the OS.
    • RAM requirements are low.
  • OS works well with external parts
    • PRINTERS SHOULD BE PLUG-AND-PLAY
    • Keyboard, mouse, etc. All function properly.
    • Can plug into external displays and the OS automatically adjusts.
  • OS integrates well with users' online subscriptions and services
• OS should be nice to look at, good graphic design.
• Computers should be clean when deployed, automatic cleaning?
• Customers can bring in their old equipment to be "upgraded"