10 Nov
1998
10 Nov
'98
6:11 a.m.
John Foust wrote:
I have stacks of them in the basement. By the time I
get them, they're
often divorced from their docs and software manuals. I don't have
similar piles of WordPerfect 4.2 or whatever to load on them. Giving
someone a computer like this can be a burden if they think they should
be running Windows 95, or are tantalized by the net and today's software.
And then there's tech support and maintenance - you realize you'll be
on the hook for charitable support well beyond the device itself.
I fully understand your point and on local sales I state on the reciept that the
unit is AS-IS, with no warranty, and without any support of any sort. I even do
this on donated units or even ones I trade or give to people or groups. What the
capabilities are of the machine is explained to them well before anything changes
hands.
I have a dining room full of various machines as well as a 30' office trailer and
part of a warehouse being loaned to a small group of packrats I belong to. There
are plenty of people that have some background with the older machines and are
willing to experiment when a PS/2 model 80 tower in working condition is offered
for trade or $20, without monitor or keyboard. Example is the Compaq portable I
posted yesterday....mentioned it at work and a coworker traded me some ammunition
he had excess (about $50 worth) that I can use with deer season, even up for the
Compaq portable. He also understands that I will provide no support, free or
otherwise.
It all depends on each person's circumstances. You (in general) aren't going to
get rich on this stuff but might make a dollar or two on each. Many of the
machines I have are unusable excess from various groups that have special needs
from computers, in exchange for labor done for them
(time I had planned on
donating anyway). It works out. Some of the oddball machines
I've gotten were
from trading labor on a job for the item when I was
self employed full time.