We take a lot of pictures at iFixit. The place is crawling with camera junkies-including me. I've loved taking pictures since I was little, and I'm so grateful it's part of what I get to do for my job. My skills have definitely improved over the years. But up until recently, one thing had not: my camera.
我在 iFixit 上面发布了很多照片。这个网站上面有很多志同道合喜欢玩摄影的人。至于我呢，我从小就喜欢拍照，能把拍照作为我工作的一部分，我很感激。这些年，我的技巧不断提升，可是，有一样东西却没有什么变化，那就是我的照相机。
I FIRST DISCOVERED THE FAMILY POINT-AND-SHOOT AS A KID, AND REGULARLY HOGGED THE DEVICE. I WASN'T GREAT, BUT I HAD LOTS of fun. I must have photographed every flower in the garden, and every pet in the neighborhood. Then just as I was starting high school, my parents (very generously) bought me a new Canon Rebel XSi. It's been my constant camera companion ever since.
我还是小孩的时候，接触了家庭式点按摄像机。从此我对她爱不释手，我的技巧也许不怎么样，但有了他我有了很多欢乐。花园里的每一朵花，邻居们的每一条狗，肯定都被我拍了个遍。上了高中，我的父母才特别慷慨地给我买了一台全新的佳能相机，这个相机从此一直陪伴我到现在。
As I prepare to graduate college, my Canon Rebel XSi is now alomost a decade old. By modern standards, it's spartan. It has no touch screen or fancy swiveling monitor features. It won't do Wi-Fi, has no video capabilities, and the primitive Live View features are of little use. But, in many ways, none of that has mattered. For years, my Canon held its own against models that are designed to leave it in the dust.
当我准备上大学的时候，这台佳能相机已经用了快十年了。以现在的眼光来看，这相机相当寒酸，没有触摸屏，没有旋转监视器，也不能用Wi-Fi，甚至没有录像功能，很早之前的即时预览技术也并没有派上用场。但是，这都不算什么。因为这么多年以来，我的佳能相机，已经比那些造出来就注定落灰的机器们好太多了。
Me and my Canon-joined at the hip.
上图是我和我挂着我的佳能相机。
Canon built me a great camera all those years ago and it's still a great piece of technology today. It's taken tens of thousands of pictures (several thousand of which were of my cat). Times have changed, of course: when it was new, my 1GB memory card was impressive; today I keep several 128GB cards on hand. Editing programs can do things with a couple clicks that were once only a dream. The technology surrounding the camera changed-I just never needed my camera to. Recently, though, I've started to reach a point where my skills and projects demand a more powerful machine.
佳能在若干年前，给了我一台即便现在来看，也是如此完美的相机。我用他拍了无数的照片，当然这其中大多数要数我的猫咪了。时光荏苒，当我刚拿到他的时候，1GB 的存储卡还非常耐用，现在，我却随身带着好几个 128GB 的存储卡。图像编辑软件现在只需要点几下鼠标就能实现的功能，当年连做梦也不敢想。相机方面的科技变化如此之快，以至于它有些过时了，而且现在，为了新的任务，我必须要换一台更加强大的相机了。
I feel like I need to make these justifications-because, right now, there's a fancy cardboard box sitting on my kitchen table: it's a new camera. It came from Amazon yesterday. It's one of the nicest things I've ever purchased, but I can't quite bring myself to open the box yet. Because opening that box means bidding farewell to my old camera-a camera I feel connected to.
我认为我必须要转变自己的心态；现在就有一个纸盒安安静静放在我厨房的桌子上，里面装着的是一台全新的相机，昨天亚马逊刚送到。这是我买过的最好的一件东西，但是我却不敢打开这盒子。因为我怕我一打开它，我就和我的老相机，一台和我有感情的老相机，永别了。
When I was shopping for my new camera, I couldn't bring myself to sell my Rebel. Where would it go? Who would end up owning it? Would they take care of it? I have this horrible image in my mind of my Canon tossed-cracked and battered-into a dumpster somewhere. My camera probably wouldn't mind. It's just a collection of metals, plastics and glass. It has no feelings. Still, it's an important figure in my life. I don't have a name for the feeling-but I believe it is the same drive that often leads people to iFixit. I see the same attachment in people who reach out on our forums, desperately seeking to save their ancient iPod from the perils of old age.
I have a hard time imagining who I might be today if I had never picked up my camera. I don't know if I would be doing some of the things that I do for iFixit today without it. Life is full of these unknowable mysteries, but my Canon has been a consistent and reliable machine through all of it. I think then, that whatever the future may bring-this old device hasn't outlived its usefulness yet. I'd like to say that I'll keep using my old Rebel as long as the shutter clicks, but I don't know that I will. But I'm sure there is someone in my life who would benefit from it. It may not be right for me anymore, but that doesn't mean it can't be someone else's first DSLR all over again. That my old camera can't put someone else's life into a different focus-just as it did for me.
That's the paradox of what we do at iFixit. Prolonging the life of the technology we buy is crucial for many reasons, but eventually we do decide leave some technology behind.
Sometimes this is easy. Other times not so much.