14 Feb
2002
14 Feb
'02
3:36 p.m.
The car that can't pass emissions is like the computer that won't run. It's
of no real use, except maybe for parts. (have you tried to salvage parts from
a computer lately?)
I wasn't trying to start a flame war, but there are lots of perfectly useable
PC's (you know, the ones with 640KB of RAM and no HDD) out there. They still
do everything a PC ever did, and a lot more than the mainframes of 1960 did.
What should we do with them? Once people don't want them any longer, whether
they're still functional is entirely moot. If someone's interested in 'em,
well, that's why there's this list. There are lots of totally obsolete
computers in the world, ones that we all OOh'd and AAh'd at back in the
'70's
and '80's and while they were really expensive and "cool" back then
they're
not terribly interesting to most folks now. I'd say there are probably more
old PRIME's out there than people who want 'em. I remember taking apart a
front panel from one, which I fished out of a surplus vendor's dumpster, just
to get the LED's.
Dick
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris" <mythtech(a)Mac.com>
To: "Classic Computers" <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2002 9:04 PM
Subject: Re: Destructive charities (was: STAPLES STORES...)
>If these computers were still useful and
interesting, they wouldn't be
>candidates for the crusher. Likewise, if there were any real value in
those
>cars to which you refer, someone would figure out
a way to profit from
them.
If they look
good, it's probably the typcial "appearance over substance."
That is SO not true. (was this flame bait? did I just fall for it?!?)
For instance, there is a perfectly good, running 1992 Toyota Celica
sitting in my fire department lot waiting for us to tear it apart. It
runs, fine... the only thing wrong with it is the catalytic converter is
bad so it fails emissions testing during inspection. The owner used that
as an excuse to buy a new car, and donated this one to us. Book value,
$4,000.
We will be tearing it to shreds Wednesday and then our scrapper will haul
it off to his yard on a flat bed.
So no... just because it has real value, doesn't mean it will be used for
that value.
Frankly, I am a little amazed you can participate on a list like this and
NOT have an intimate understanding of how many perfectly usable computers
are sent to the junk yard all the time. (I have a garage full of working
LC5xx macs that are being cleaned up and given to people that can't
afford a computer... they were all pulled from a school dumpster... if
they hadn't been pulled out by a wise computer enthusiast, they would be
in a land fill by now)
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>