For gaming I buy price to performance as my #1 prio and hand me down old parts to family and friends rigs.
I've also become a sort of tech retirement home for my family members since I can always find uses for things like monitors and repurpose slightly older hardware for various personal projects, servers, transcoders, etc. I'm about to upgrade my Plex server from my wife's old fx6350 to my old Ryzen 5 3600 since I got a really good deal on a Ryzen 5600X. Probably repurpose the fx6350 as a transcoder//file server or maybe as a super powered router. And I've also got another set of hardware to build an arcade cabinet whenever I get like a week off to devote to it.
I also don't mind older tech as long as it meets a certain standard or I can easily get conversion cables/boxes. I got my parents old 1990s sony surround sound system with Dolby pro logic 1. Is it the latest and greatest? Hell to the no, but it still sounds good enough and with a $30 converter box+a pair of red/white cables I've now got a surround sound system for my bedroom with the more modern Yamaha system in the family room. It also pairs well with the retro consoles I hook up on rotation in my room.
Not to the same degree, show me the animal with internet storage or books.