I take every last drop out of them. Still have a Sony 17" E200 multiscan monitor that will soon (or better: finally) be stored to start collecting dust as an emergency monitor. It's the most beautifull CRT I ever had and still works perfectly. I regret not buying a 21" or 24" when Sony was still making Trinitron monitors. You'd know if you ever used one. The monitor I had before that one was dumped after turning green and blurred to a point I could no longer tolerate but also because friends ridiculed me for sticking to such a crappy monitor.
This goes pretty much for everything. I'm the collector, the keeper, the efficiency-waste maniac. What saves me is the rest of the house, my counterpart. I couldn't let loose my no-waste impulse if I didn't had someone to pull me back to my senses. The sane mind that convinces me rightfully when things are too old and crappy and when it's time to replace them.
That was the case with my Sidewinder Forcefeedback 1. It was old and crappy and MS had released the FF 2. But it was so expensive! Not worth it! Yes, yes it's worth it - I was told. Buy it. Your old joystick is in a very poor state. The throttle lost sensitivity, the button 2 requires all your strength to activate, the thing is done for good. Buy it. So I bought it, noticed the huge difference it made and what do I know, a few months later Microsoft pulled the plug on the FF2 and it sold out. Had I waited a little longer I'd never have this joystick...yes, indeed, I'm still using the MS FF2 and no it didn't lost any sensitivity yet, I swear!
Speaking of computers: my cordless logitech keyboard is so old the markings on the A, S, C and other keys are fading away! But it works like a charm and I'm very used to it. Whenever I use the other PC's still new MS keyboard my typo rating goes to the roof.
Kitchen appliances and TVs are not my responsibility but I didn't allowed my TV to get replaced untill it got blurred. Old Sony with a built-in VHS. The newer one is a Sony Wega 21"-or something because it's slightly widescreen. I guess the Wega brand is outdated by now but this TV is still perfect. Should last at least another 2, 3, heck, even 5 years perhaps! Optimism...or untill they make a 24" HD TV that can be used as a PC monitor. I'll buy that the instant it comes out even if I have to spend the entire year paying for it.
While not my responsibility, the newer refrigerators do make a gigantic difference when compared to the old junk. If this woman were my mother I'd force her to accept a frost-free freezer wether she likes it or not. Less noise, less hassle and besides all: talk about energy inefficiency. The novelty effect is not worth the electricity bill. Of course, now that it has been running for 50 years, might aswell push it to the limit and see for how much longer it will go...
But I'll concur that some things are treasure. Like the HUGE Victor Victrola all-in-one cabinet standing in my living room. Fully functional relic, older than this freezer by 3 decades, though I won't be able to afford to keep it operational in the future if Valves don't become less rare or otherwise cheaper. Nope, it won't play CD-ROMs or DVDs or tune satellite radio but it's beautiful and it looks like some cool old-style science-fiction control panel.