Maybe. Maybe not.
There’s no single answer to this other than my old standard: “It depends.” 
There are two things to consider: the alternatives you might already have and the impact of not having a computer.
Keeping a spare?
If losing your computer would be a big problem, having a backup, or at least a backup plan, makes sense. You might use an old machine, a phone, or just borrow a computer temporarily. Even a cheap spare could be enough. What matters most is being ready so you’re not stuck if something goes wrong.
Why it matters
As you pointed out, we’re tied to our computers and all the online conveniences that we now take for granted.
A few things that at least become more difficult should your computer fail include:
- Communication with friends and family via email, video calls, or other technologies.
- Telehealth opportunities. A wide variety of remote medical and mental health services are common.
- Delivery services for groceries or meals. Particularly for the house-bound, these can be important lifelines.
- Entertainment, research, news, and more.
The underlying concept is increased isolation and the stress of being cut off.
Understanding your alternatives can be important to your peace of mind. This means you should consider either a backup computer or having a backup plan for what you might do without one.
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Existing alternatives
Before deciding on a second computer, it’s worth exploring the alternatives you might already have available. They vary in capability and inconvenience, but they could come in handy in a pinch.
Friends or family. Especially younger family members may already have spare or lesser-used computers they could part with for you to use. This could be a quick solution that could gain you some time to make more permanent plans.
Libraries and senior centers often have computers available for public use. They aren’t as convenient, as you have to travel to them, and you may be limited in how long you can use them since they’re shared with others.
Computer repair facilities. While not common, it’s not unheard of for computer repair shops — particularly local, independent operators — to have loaners available. If your primary computer fails, you may be able to borrow something while it’s being fixed.
Computer stores. Here in the U.S., and likely elsewhere, big-box stores can provide a replacement computer the same day. That could be a viable safety net without needing to purchase anything beforehand.
Your mobile device(s). If you have a smartphone or a tablet, that could be enough to tide you over, at least for many common tasks like email or basic web surfing.
All these options rely on some amount of flexibility in your situation.
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Inconvenience or disaster?
If losing access to your computer would be only an inconvenience, the alternatives I’ve mentioned so far might be enough.
But what if it’s more than an inconvenience? If you need immediate access after a computer failure, then having a spare might make sense.
For example, I have backup computers, plural. This is my business, after all. One is my laptop, which I sometimes refer to as Ask Leo! World Headquarters when I travel. Since it’s capable in its own right, it would work as an instant (albeit temporary) replacement for my desktop should that suddenly fail.
Your backup computer
One easy way to get a backup computer is to keep your old one when it comes time to replace it. I do this and refer to it as the trickle-down approach to hardware obsolescence.
Assuming it’s functional, your older computer can serve as a temporary replacement should something happen to its replacement. If it’s not functional, it might make sense to have it repaired (if that’s cost-effective).
Of course, if you’re not at the point of replacing your computer because it’s working fine, then realizing you need a backup computer could serve as your excuse to get a new one anyway.
Cold versus warm backup
There are two types of backup computers to consider. I’ll call them “cold” and “warm” backups.
A cold backup computer is one you never touch until you need it. When the time comes, you bring it out, hook it up, and spend some time bringing it up to date and up to speed.
A warm backup is one that’s connected and more or less ready to go. You might fire it up on occasion to make sure it’s working and up to date. If you have tools that synchronize — your browser sync accounts, OneDrive/Dropbox tools, password vault, etc. — this is a good time to make sure the data they manage is up to date as well.
You certainly don’t need to keep it running all the time, or even often. Just fire it up once in a while.
Don’t forget the cloud
Everything you have stored in the cloud will be available to you regardless of what happens to your computer or which machine you use.
Email is a great example. If you’re using online services like Gmail, outlook.com, Yahoo Mail, or others, it’s all there online as soon as you sign in.
Similarly, services like OneDrive, Dropbox, and Google Drive make sure you can access your documents from any computer.
And, of course, password managers like Bitwarden or 1Password maintain your credentials and let you log into important services from a borrowed or replacement machine.
A word about cost
One common objection to having a spare computer is the cost.
Here’s the thing: as a temporary replacement, it doesn’t have to be high-end. Your old computer, for example, might feel somewhat underpowered if you press it into service, but it’ll work and it won’t cost extra.
If you’re specifically shopping for a backup computer, consider second-hand machines or machines with lower specifications than you’d get if you were purchasing a new, primary machine. For example, a less expensive Chromebook might tide you over if your needs are mostly online or primarily in the Google ecosystem.
Do this
As a rule of thumb, keep your old computer when you replace it, just in case.
Beyond that, understanding what your needs are and what alternatives you already have is the best preparation of all.
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An excellent clear and common-sensical analysis as always Leo. My view is that most people should have a backup computing device but its capabilities will depend on what that person’s needs and anxieties are. Nearly all of us now need daily access to internet to just to live our ordinary lives. The backup device could be a simple as a mobile phone, which will give access to email, internet banking, home supermarket shopping and so on. Like all backup strategies you need to decide what you still need to be able to do after you computer fails and how long you can cope with that limited set of things you can do. For an older person perhaps the best backup strategy is another person they can trust who can help them. I am the backup for my friend’s printer; and she is the backup for mine. We just print the document that they email for to us. As a gnarled old software guy my backup is an old windows PC repurposed as a Ubuntu Linux box which runs VMs of Windows 10 and 11 should I need access to Windows only services in an emergency
A refurbished Chromebook can be a great backup machine. I got my brother one for $129, and it does everything he did on his Windows computer. For most people, it would be sufficient as a backup. If you have an older computer that no longer runs supported versions of Windows, it should be fine to use it as a backup in a pinch. And unless you need it for specialized industries, Enterprise networking, or gaming, Linux will do everything you need.
I’ve been following you for forever (thank you for all your help!). I see I beat you to the computer world however, as I took my first computer programming course in 1969, the year we put a man on the moon and when computers took up half a large room. It was Fortran, the near cause of the Y2K debacle. (To brag a little, most of the students in the class were struggling badly, there were only 3 females in the class and we took the highest grades).
Something recently happened to me that you may not have heard of before. Before this, 4 yrs ago, I lost about 6 devices due to a lightning strike, included computers, tv, monitor, internet equipment, etc. none of which were plugged into power during this storm. It came in through the internet. After that I started disconnecting internet cables as well. THEN a few weeks ago to my utter surprise, lightning took out all of that equipment. My son who works with computers searched and said it apparently was an LEMP lightning electromagnetic pulse. They can carry millions of amps and damage electronic equipment that is not connected physically to power, internet. etc. (I don’t understand it enough to explain exactly how). Evidentally folks are devloping the use of of EMPs as weapons of destruction in a new type of warfare. All we need is something else to worry about.
Anyway being a faithful LEO fan, I had system back ups for both computers, but because I bought different (Win 11) computers w/ different hardware they don’t work now and I have lost almost everything going back to 1998 when I first got online and started my work that is done through internet.
Getting back to as much normality as I will ever achieve is like pulling teeth over and over again every day. Thank God for mobile phones, as this is how I had to research new equipment and tons of info I needed till I could get back online (I have a damaged painful thumb to boot). A computer expert on Youtube said it took him 6 mos. to get his system back to where it was before when he lost everything, I think it’s going to take me much longer not even counting the files that are apparently totally lost.
I have wanted to make you aware of one of many problems I have had with Microsoft. I have quite a bit of manual backup of some work on a different external hard drive. When I opened that drive, full of wordpad files, I was happy to see they were all there as I planned to put WordPad back on this new computer. However when I tried to open the files Microsoft took them hostage with a nonremovable add for Microsoft Office. And then my drive –which is an IDrive that was never used for the cloud (I don’t ever intend to use the cloud) –gave a nasty looking error and stopped working and my computer failed to boot until I removed it. I can’t help but think that M. didn’t want it competing with OneDrive, which I have now removed along with creating a local account with NO M. programs that they keep trying to push on me anyway.
One possible more happy note–I saw one of your articles about removing the hard drive from a dead computer and encasing it to use as a usb drive. I have no idea if the drive itself is damaged, but I plan to find out, and if it still works it will be amazing.