peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) (05/18/91)
In article <1991May17.045655.11152@compu.com> fr@compu.com (Fred Rump from home) writes: > How about a hundred bucks to be kind. We simply tell the customer to trash > them when they upgrade to real computers. AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!! How about donating them to someone? A school or something? Give them away to the poor kid down the street with a Commodore 64? I'm still utterly flabbergasted at the tendency for companies to trash perfectly good equipment just because they don't need it any more. And at the same time there are people willing to pay several tens of dollars for a CP/M box just so they can call local BBSes with more than a 40 line screen. -- Peter da Silva; Ferranti International Controls Corporation; +1 713 274 5180; Sugar Land, TX 77487-5012; `-_-' "Have you hugged your wolf, today?"
jeffj@synsys.UUCP (Jeff Jonas) (05/19/91)
>> How about a hundred bucks to be kind. We simply tell the customer to trash >> them when they upgrade to real computers. In article <BCDB5H9@xds13.ferranti.com> peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) writes: > >AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!! > >How about donating them to someone? A school or something? Give them away >to the poor kid down the street with a Commodore 64? I'm still utterly >flabbergasted at the tendency for companies to trash perfectly good >equipment just because they don't need it any more. And at the same time >there are people willing to pay several tens of dollars for a CP/M box >just so they can call local BBSes with more than a 40 line screen. I agree wholeheartedly! Donating equipment is a wise choice because 1) it gives the giver a tax deduction as well as goodwill 2) it gives the recipient equipment 3) it's better than recycling. Throwing things out COSTS A LOT! It's not just the hauling costs, but the cost of filling a dump site, taking useable meterials out ofcirculation, etc. I have gotten carloads of good equipment to my college and Jr. high school all for free. I also believe in appropriate technology. I loaned a friend a CP/M system with Wordstar because he needed a word processor. It did very well for a few years until he upgraded to a PC, which he can appreciate a lot more. CP/M systems make great work processors and beat the dedicated "electronic typewriters" hands down. I know that it's easy to just throw things out, but that's no longer a responsible thing to do. Here in the New Jersey, recycling is *THE LAW*. There are simply too few dump sites to support the current volume of garbage. Please use brainpower before horsepower. -- Jeffrey Jonas jeffj@synsys.uucp synsys!jeffj@uunet.uu.net
rickt@wybbs.mi.org (Rick Tucker ) (05/20/91)
>In article <1991May17.045655.11152@compu.com> fr@compu.com (Fred Rump from home) writes: >> How about a hundred bucks to be kind. We simply tell the customer to trash >> them when they upgrade to real computers. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ In 1983, this was more *real* computer than most anybody else had. One of the few machines running Xenix. The other multiuser choice was MP/M. Just because a computer gets old, does not make it unreal. There are a lot of Altos 586 computers still running, with virtually no problems. However, I agree with todays technology, get off the 8086 chip and get into some power hardware. -- ======================================================================== Rick Tucker | ^^ T W I N P E A K S ^^ rickt%indcon@wybbs.mi.org | "The owls are not what they seem." uunet!4gen!indcon!rickt | quote from the giant.
berger@clio.sts.uiuc.edu (Mike Berger) (05/21/91)
peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) writes: >How about donating them to someone? A school or something? Give them away >to the poor kid down the street with a Commodore 64? I'm still utterly >flabbergasted at the tendency for companies to trash perfectly good >equipment just because they don't need it any more. And at the same time *---- This may not be as effective as you would think. I find that donating working equipment for "free" can lead to gigantic demands on my time, or for ancillary equipment. And you won't find too many high-school kids who would rather take the time to wire a harness for an old 1200 baud modem board when they can just get a new one for $ 60. -- Mike Berger Department of Statistics, University of Illinois AT&TNET 217-244-6067 Internet berger@atropa.stat.uiuc.edu
peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) (05/21/91)
In article <1991May20.183545.18923@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> berger@clio.sts.uiuc.edu (Mike Berger) writes: > This may not be as effective as you would think. I find that donating > working equipment for "free" can lead to gigantic demands on my time, > or for ancillary equipment. And you won't find too many high-school > kids who would rather take the time to wire a harness for an old > 1200 baud modem board when they can just get a new one for $ 60. There's obviously a limit to how far you need to go, but certainly a conventional dumb terminal, CP/M box, or equivalent useful without having to absorb a heavy time investment. And an Altos 586 is definitely worth it. I'll take one if you have one in working order. -- Peter da Silva; Ferranti International Controls Corporation; +1 713 274 5180; Sugar Land, TX 77487-5012; `-_-' "Have you hugged your wolf, today?"
luce@aurs01.UUCP (J. Luce) (05/21/91)
In article <.1GBQHF@xds13.ferranti.com> peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) writes: -In article <1991May20.183545.18923@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> berger@clio.sts.uiuc.edu (Mike Berger) writes: -> This may not be as effective as you would think. I find that donating -> working equipment for "free" can lead to gigantic demands on my time, -> or for ancillary equipment. And you won't find too many high-school -> kids who would rather take the time to wire a harness for an old -> 1200 baud modem board when they can just get a new one for $ 60. - -There's obviously a limit to how far you need to go, but certainly a -conventional dumb terminal, CP/M box, or equivalent useful without having -to absorb a heavy time investment. And an Altos 586 is definitely worth -it. I'll take one if you have one in working order. --- -Peter da Silva; Ferranti International Controls Corporation; +1 713 274 5180; -Sugar Land, TX 77487-5012; `-_-' "Have you hugged your wolf, today?" I feel the same way... anyone got a 586 (or even a 580) that they'd like to a non-profit organization (me!)? ------------------------------------------------------------------- John Luce | Life is the leading cause of death Alcatel Network Systems | ----------------------------------------- Raleigh, NC | Standard Disclaimer Applies 919-850-6787 | Mail? Here? Try aurs01!aurw46!luce@mcnc.org | or ...!mcnc!aurgate!luce -------------------------------- or John.Luce@f130.n151.z1.fidonet.org