You guys know that I agree with your sentiment 100%. That said, I'd rather see the systems melted down for scrap (assuming it's a reasonably efficient and environmentally safe process) than to see them go into a landfill. I can't imagine how many beautiful systems are rusting away under 3 million tons of garbage someplace. I don't want to see them scrapped either, mind you, but given the choice.... Anthony Clifton - Wirehead

Eyes glazes over thinking what it looks like 1k years later in landfills. Badly yellowed board and plastic, crumbling at a touch, all traces gone, thin parts eaten away, thick layer rust covering seized up drives, riddled with rustout holes in cases, blackened glass. Hard and darkened as soapstone that once was solder joints. Mass of green strings with bits of faded colored platic material hanging on in rags was former wires. Some crushed byond understanding, holding up a part, "what this?" And there's the thing,...ow! bitten by still charged tube! :) lots of rotted, more-less bodies of chips with legs all eaten away rattling around... Ah! I have seen the plastic rot (dulling on the plastic chips), anyone have seen this? Jason D.

Yes, that was completely tactless on their part. Maybe if they collect something like Hummels, perhaps you should have offered to grind them up to make spackle. I agree here, and for the most part, the majority of computers end up being recycled, either in the U.S. or abroad. I have nothing against the scrappers, other than those that flat out refuse to deal with the collectors. It is VERY efficient (something like 98% by mass get recycled now - CRTs and some photocopier parts are the only stumbling blocks), and frankly, one can make a good living at it. What one can not make a good living at is refurbishing them - they just get devalued too fast. Lets face it, we can not save it all. True, we should try to get the goodies into the collector's hands so they survive. Often in makes more sense to try to resell a system than to scrap it (like the TT030). For the most part, however, computers (and other electronics) probably should be scrapped. For example, one place I deal with in Kansas City (and now Chicago) has a roomful of IBM Series/1 minicomputers all humming away. Eventually, they will get decommissioned. If I were a scrapper and won the bid for them (sometimes the bid just means picking them up!), I would keep one for myself, one sripped down for spares, and offer any others to members on the list (or the collecting community in general). If those latter ones do not move, they would get scrapped. This applies to just about anything, PeeCees, VT100s, ES/9000s, C64s, etc. - with the exception of the special machines (_old_ machines, prototypes, high demand collectables, etc.). Obviously, the day I scrap a S/360 will never come. William Donzelli william(a)ans.net