Doorstop

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What Does Doorstop Mean?

“Doorstop” is an IT term for an obsolete program or piece of equipment, or anything that might take up space in an office. The idea is that these obsolete items are nothing but expensive doorstops, and their only utility would be to hold the door open.

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Techopedia Explains Doorstop

One interesting detail in the use of the term “doorstop” is that some definitions refer to obsolete or useless software programs, while others apply to specific devices and peripheral accessories. For example, someone might say “they did end of support for Microsoft 2000 years ago, and now it’s just an expensive doorstop.” Here, the listener assumes a metaphor – that the doorstop would be composed of the box and CD that the software came in. However, the term “doorstop” can also be applied to the types of computer devices and accessories that end up in places like Goodwill and Salvation Army. It is easier to see how these items would function as physical doorstops, and how they would have little other value.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.