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This picture makes me so sad...

PowerMac G4 MDD

PowerMac G4 MDD

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 13, 2014
1,900
277
I found this online... this is why e-waste drives make me so annoyed. While so much useless garbage gets rightfully recycled, nobody there knows anything about vintage computers and preserving them. Look at all those iBooks and PowerBooks! Look on the top, there is an early 1990s PowerBook! What were they thinking?! I once rescued a pristine Macintosh Classic II+boxed mic+MacLuggage bag+keyboard/mouse+mousepad from an e-waste drive. I had to catch my breath to think that I had just saved it from being scrapped somewhere. Sadly enough, I have a feeling there was a Macintosh II in there that I couldn't save. I wish there was some law of preservation with these machines. So many collector's items get trashed by people who think all old electronics are bad. For example, my school threw out a bunch of PowerMac G4 Cubes. Luckily I got one complete and working set, but several others met their dooms.
 

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It's sad, but it's life, and it's how most companies deal with unsold and obsolete goods. If this makes you sad, you really don't want to know that they set things on fire as another way to dealing with the excess of this stuff.

You cannot save everything, nor can you be a charity and give it all away.
 
Looks like 10 or 11 computers per stack to my not-yet-caffeinated eyes. There are 11 stacks, so about 110-120 computers total.

Assuming they sold them on eBay for an average of $25 each (I'm sure some will be more and some will be less), that's at least $2,750. I doubt they realize that people actually buy these things.
 
Jessica Lares said:
It's sad, but it's life, and it's how most companies deal with unsold and obsolete goods. If this makes you sad, you really don't want to know that they set things on fire as another way to dealing with the excess of this stuff.

You cannot save everything, nor can you be a charity and give it all away.
Click to expand...

While that is true, I just hate to see someone toss a Mac just because it's old. Especially that early 1990s PowerBook. It's a vintage computer that got sent to be scrapped.

----------
556fmjoe said:
Looks like 10 or 11 computers per stack to my not-yet-caffeinated eyes. There are 11 stacks, so about 110-120 computers total.

Assuming they sold them on eBay for an average of $25 each (I'm sure some will be more and some will be less), that's at least $2,750. I doubt they realize that people actually buy these things.
Click to expand...

Some recyclers do sell laptops, so I am wondering if they did end up selling some, but who knows? There are so many things that go to waste that could be sold. It doesn't help the environment to recycle a seriously old computer, as many would buy a new computer to use anyway, and have the old one as a secondary device. I hate, though, when they claim liability for these items because someone might have their secret info on a computer. I was at an e-waste drive and saw a person drop off two iBooks, a PowerBook G4 aluminum, and a (pismo?) PowerBook G3, right into the bin. (along with a couple extra batteries). They wouldn't let me take the computers. Not only liability, but recyclers are greedy and need every 25 cents of metals they can get from a computer.
 
556fmjoe said:
Assuming they sold them on eBay for an average of $25 each
Click to expand...

Someone has to
- identify the model
- check for function
- write a description
- make sure no sensitive data is left on the HD
- hope for a sale
- package the stuff
....
.....
- deal with costumers that sue you for that laptop somehow failing expectations

Might all be practical for dumpster-diving hobbyist, but as a company not a viable buisness.
 
What Bug Creator said. It is not economical for companies to spare the life of every laptop. They are just tools to them and they are not emotionally wedded to them.

Nothing in that pile looks like a rarity to me. A lot of that stuff does not even manage to sell on eBay. I just received a Pismo I won in an auction. The battery is shot but that is all. No cracks, nothing broken, nothing missing. It cost me £8 and only one other low bidder was interested. People want new shiny not old glamour.
 
PowerMac G4 MDD said:
I found this online... this is why e-waste drives make me so annoyed. While so much useless garbage gets rightfully recycled, nobody there knows anything about vintage computers and preserving them. Look at all those iBooks and PowerBooks! Look on the top, there is an early 1990s PowerBook! What were they thinking?! I once rescued a pristine Macintosh Classic II+boxed mic+MacLuggage bag+keyboard/mouse+mousepad from an e-waste drive. I had to catch my breath to think that I had just saved it from being scrapped somewhere. Sadly enough, I have a feeling there was a Macintosh II in there that I couldn't save. I wish there was some law of preservation with these machines. So many collector's items get trashed by people who think all old electronics are bad. For example, my school threw out a bunch of PowerMac G4 Cubes. Luckily I got one complete and working set, but several others met their dooms.
Click to expand...

:eek: dear all of it ! they did not know the value of it.
"one man's junk is another's treasure"
 
If you want to save vintage hardware, start your own eWaste company :rolleyes:

PowerMac G4 MDD said:
Some recyclers do sell laptops, so I am wondering if they did end up selling some, but who knows? There are so many things that go to waste that could be sold. It doesn't help the environment to recycle a seriously old computer, as many would buy a new computer to use anyway, and have the old one as a secondary device. I hate, though, when they claim liability for these items because someone might have their secret info on a computer. I was at an e-waste drive and saw a person drop off two iBooks, a PowerBook G4 aluminum, and a (pismo?) PowerBook G3, right into the bin. (along with a couple extra batteries). They wouldn't let me take the computers. Not only liability, but recyclers are greedy and need every 25 cents of metals they can get from a computer.
Click to expand...

If you were around during the dotcom bubble that kind of sight is nothing, as a webmaster/editor we often "pillaged" office surplus equipment then eWasted ~2yr old systems as selling "as-is" still had a safety liability factor and sometimes the OEM disks were tossed due to site licensing so OS-less gear is a legal nightmare too. Staff usually got first grabs on surplus but generally nothing was worth keeping--ex: low-end G3/G4 PCI towers which had the crippled logicboard revision, PCs with costly Rambus RAM, roadworn notebooks(PC/Mac), etc. I had a Lombard era PowerBook, even though I tried to take care of it... it looked like crap from all the travels it had, transit security dropped it dozens of times in their effort to inspect/swab it, by early-2002 it was junked(busted hinge, cracked casing, etc) :eek:

Recyclers aren't greedy, you have to remember on notebooks the liability is big if the batteries in question were recalled and the previous owner kept them or didn't know. Back when Apple recalled batteries several stupid customers bragged about keeping their old battery to screw Apple over, since Apple didn't require a credit card due to gov't laws it created a fire safety nightmare.
 
PowerMac G4 MDD said:
For example, my school threw out a bunch of PowerMac G4 Cubes.
Click to expand...

The ibooks arent as bad to me but G4 Cubes?!?! Those things are rare! :(
I have an ibook with the common graphics problems... It's kinda in pieces... don't know what to do with it

iBooks are much more crazy and complicated in assembly than unibody MBPs
 
poiihy said:
T
I have an ibook with the common graphics problems... It's kinda in pieces... don't know what to do with it
Click to expand...

Part it out and get what you can for it, if you don't mind the work. You will possibly make more than selling it in one piece working.
 
poiihy said:
The ibooks arent as bad to me but G4 Cubes?!?! Those things are rare! :(
I have an ibook with the common graphics problems... It's kinda in pieces... don't know what to do with it

iBooks are much more crazy and complicated in assembly than unibody MBPs
Click to expand...

If you have another iBook, you can use the broken one as a spare battery charger.
 
weckart said:
Part it out and get what you can for it, if you don't mind the work. You will possibly make more than selling it in one piece working.
Click to expand...

Yeah I figured that would be best.
I couldn't get the display out, the right screw was stuck and got stripped.
 
nineteen73 said:
It's a shame most of our electronics are throw away technology. However, are these machines actually recycled or simply disposed of for good?
Click to expand...

Recycled of course! If they were to be thrown in a landfill they would not be neatly stacked
 
nineteen73 said:
It's a shame most of our electronics are throw away technology. However, are these machines actually recycled or simply disposed of for good?
Click to expand...

Recycling facilities break down the equipment and separate the parts into containers. I am sure many of them try to salvage "valuable" metals from them as well. However, recycling facilities sell their stuff too. In fact, I bought my PowerMac G5 from a warehouse owner who buys hoards of computers from e-waste, repairs them, and sells them. Recycling companies are in it for the money, and rely on people to bring in their junk to where they think it will be properly recycled, yet it's salvaged and many things are sold. I guess it does a good job of endorsing re-using... I do believe in re-using, as it has kept me from buying a new computer since 2004. I have just had hand-me-downs and bought used computers. However, I have my grudges against e-waste recyclers for explained reasons.
 
You can't put computers into landfill. Too many poisonous metals that have to be stripped out.
 
weckart said:
You can't put computers into landfill. Too many poisonous metals that have to be stripped out.
Click to expand...

That entirely depends on local laws. In some areas, it is still perfectly acceptable to toss electronics of all kinds into a landfill or incinerator.
 
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