[Trippynet]

I have started looking into SGI machines late 2019 and own two Indigo2 now. What you need to consider is that every contemporary computer is much more capable than even the latest SGI machines. Also, IRIX software is severely limited compared to modern software.

Well, this is quite obvious really. Indigo2s date originally from late 1992 (with upgrades in the form of the R10k and IMPACT in 1996). Even the most recent MIPS-based SGIs date from the early 2000s and use an OS that was released in 1998, so it's hardly surprising that they're well and truly out-performed by modern machines and have limited software available for them these days.

Thing is, that's not what SGIs are about. If you want to run modern software and do modern productivity things, a newer PC or Mac will be better. However, there are plenty of very decent 2D/3D graphical tools for IRIX, plus SGIs were used for all sorts of professional development in the 90s and 2000s, so software even from that era can still be surprisingly capable.

Ultimately it is about your expectations. I use my SGIs mainly for hobbyist stuff, music, programming etc. but I've seen plenty of decent 3D modelling and other such stuff that people such as Irinkus continues to do with his systems, plus necron2600 is correct that there are plenty of other good uses for them still. There's plenty of limits of course, but then there are with all older computers. It's about aligning your expectations with what old SGI systems are capable of doing.