I feel a tinge of what you describe every time I look at my collection of old computers, but that tinge falls into the ether when I realize that there is no such thing as an old computer, just old users. Technology doesn't just stop working because its unfashionable - really, technology will continue to work in the physical world, for as long as it is functionally operational.

It is the user who decides how useful something is, and really: its only a decision.

Off to write an email client for my Oric-1 .. ;)