I mean, I guess I daily run an old computer. Lenovo T400 from 2009, 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo with 4GB of RAM. So far I haven't really had any issues. That said today I picked up a Carbon X1 4th gen for $100, that might be become my new Old computer. Also in the process of refurbishing an IBM Aptiva from 1996. Pentium 166Mhz with 64MB RAM, that one is a little beauty.
I do like this years challenge, 'hand-make something' as that is always a good thing to do.
T400 is definitely cool, I have a T420 I love. But that Aptiva... man, when those were new, they were full of more bloatware than any other machine I'd ever seen. I made bank in high school just reinstalling windows for people on those... it was like 5x faster when I was done with it, easily. I think it's made it impossible for me to see that as a beauty, though.
A T400 is old enough to feel refreshingly simple but still new enough to be useful. A 1996 Aptiva is more like a historical instrument. I like that distinction between old and actually vintage.
I do like this years challenge, 'hand-make something' as that is always a good thing to do.