13 Jul
2004
13 Jul
'04
10:09 a.m.
In message <20040713121649.H44619(a)newshell.lmi.net>
Fred Cisin <cisin(a)xenosoft.com> wrote:
To be fair, that was my guess of their parameters for
"recycling",
NOT their wording.
But what do YOU think they would do with a Northstar?
Them: "Yecch. More crap
for the dumpster"
Me: "Hmm. Another addition to my collection. Now to fit it in the car..."
The "one product per day" is to avoid the
possibility of
recycling any significant amount, but to get people to
come to the store with the machine that they bought a few
years ago. ... and while there, shop for a replacement.
And end up with something
that cost far more than its componet parts and is
hopelessly outdated.
For some people, the fact that the hardware is "obsolete" isn't much of a
hindrance - someone gave me a half-dead PC, so I cleaned it out, reseated
various connectors and got it to boot - stuck a copy of Openoffice on it (it
already had a valid Windows 98SE license sticker and the OS was pretty bare
anyway) and sold it on. A Packard-Bell is no good to me (too much proprietary
hardware), so why not fix it and sell it on to someone who's just starting
out with computers?
Next job: Turn the 500MHz K6 b0x that's currently wasting space into a
fileserver...
The HP "recycling" of toner and ink
cartridges is a very
systematic scrapping of the materials.
Despite the fact that the parts are actually
(to some extent) reusable - the
imager drums fitted to most HP cartridges tend to last longer than the toner
does. I've got a Panasonic KXP4400 with 8,000 pages on a drum that was only
supposed to run for 6,000. I just emptied the waste-toner casing, whacked the
side of the casing on the desk to reset the plastic "replace drum" flag,
sealed it with Scotch tape and put it back in the machine. There's a trick to
it - wear a dust mask and goggles and don't be afraid to use a bit of brute
force :)
Later.
--
Phil. | Acorn Risc PC600 Mk3, SA202, 64MB, 6GB,
philpem(a)dsl.pipex.com | ViewFinder, 10BaseT Ethernet, 2-slice,
http://www.philpem.dsl.pipex.com/ | 48xCD, ARCINv6c IDE, SCSI
... Which sparks some mnemonic circuitry.