Recycled Computing

Recycle Old Computers by Repurposing Them, Not Retiring Them

- 2008.02.15

In many, many ways I am preaching to the choir here. If you are an avid reader of Low End Mac (and who isn't?), I can't help but think that you are predisposed to hang on to your old computer until the last possible moment and even then pass it on to a family member or friend in need.

Now I don't know why Mac users are more sentimental than PC owners, but I will note that there doesn't seem to be a site called Low End PC on the web. [Editor's note: We tried, but nobody cared. dk] Perhaps it is just the huge number of hardware manufacturers on the PC side.

Mac ClassicI don't really know why this is so, but I know most of this site's readership will get a little misty eyed when I mention that my student aide just dusted off one of our Mac Classics (in our little Mac museum on campus) and started it up. Yep, it worked. And no, you can't buy it from me - it's not mine.

Technology no longer marches on - at this point it's a sprint. Today's cutting edge computer becomes tomorrow's landfill.

If you're like me, you can't help but think that the old and not so old should be useful in some fashion. Most of our developed countries in this world have up to date hardware and software, but the third world lags behind us in this field as well as many others.

Does a third world classroom need the latest Dell, Apple, or Toshiba? Or do they just need a ethernet equipped box with a monitor, keyboard, and mouse? Do they need the latest processor and gigabytes of RAM, or do they just need a processor and some memory? Do they need tabbed browsing or just a browser? Do they need the latest edition of Microsoft Office, or do they just need a word processor? Do they need the One Laptop per Child, or do they just need laptops?

My wife's school district has a contract with Apple that allows her IT department to give her a new laptop every three years. So what happens to all the laptops that are turned back in? There is a booming market for used Apple iBooks, so I don't have many worries that the laptops are still being used by someone, somewhere and in some capacity.

Power Mac 8600We used to have a bunch of old Power Mac 8600s and 7500s (remember SCSI?), and after wiping and removing the hard drives, we sent them away. At the end of this year, all our G3 desktops are going. Now G3s of this vintage can run Mac OS X 10.2.8, and wouldn't they fit nicely in a Third World country's school computer lab? The old G3s could provide a window to the world that these children might not otherwise have.

I don't know if I feel that a government program....

Oh, my God! Hillary Clinton just materialized next to me! How did she get in here without a hall pass? Oh, I see . . . I said the words "government program" and . . . Oh, my God! Bill Clinton just materialized next to her! I better stop before Chelsea shows up.

And now back to reality. Public or private, shouldn't we have a "Computer Corps" full of retired computer maniacs traveling to the Third World with the computers that are not as advanced as the latest and greatest? That's a lot better than languishing in a landfill or being ripped apart by Chinese recyclers.

Remember to keep reusing that 'puter! LEM

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