PDP-8 questions

On Mar 27, 2012, at 3:56 PM, Tony Duell wrote: I'm late to all this, because my Internet has been out all weekend, but yes. If you buy it new, you are contributing a lot more than you think, because you are one more data point confirming the existence of a market out there for the foresters. It's not entirely dissimilar to elephant ivory and poaching; no, buying one or two little trinkets made of ivory doesn't mean you've personally shot an elephant for a fraction of its tusks, but it does produce a perceived demand. It's not like someone registers an interest in some wood and a logger goes out and chops down a tree for them; there are frightening differential equations that can describe these markets and how the suppliers attempt to keep up with and anticipate demand. Also, depending on where you get your recycled rosewood, you could be doing the same thing if you're not getting it from people who are very specifically trying to quell the overconsumption of rare woods, because you're still indicating a demand in rosewood. Honestly, the argument that "I'm only taking a little, and there are few enough straight-8s in the world to ever make a difference" is foolish on its face. I'd expect better from the members of this list, because you're all quite smart enough to understand the complexities involved in an interconnected, byzantine system like this. Short answer: get it recycled if you must, or from a sustainable farm. After all, we all seem to get our computers "recycled", no? - Dave