Better than trash.
Maybe they didn't have much use for the Elipson, but they could have had uses for someone else.
One mans trash is another mans treasure.
I'm surprised someone hasn't said already.
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Sister Just Threw Away 4 Mint iMacs & 2 Powerbooks
- Thread starter Epsilon88
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Maybe they didn't have much use for the Elipson, but they could have had uses for someone else.
One mans trash is another mans treasure.
I'm surprised someone hasn't said already.
What are the specs on that? I just bought a 1.5 ghz Powerbook w/ 1.25 gb RAM and hoping that it'll be enough for basic things.
It's a 17" Powerbook G4 with the 1.67 proc, AIT 9700 video card and 1.5GB of RAM. It'll do basic stuff like web surfing and document creating/editing, but it still chokes on some websites, especially video sites. And it isn't my connection, since I keep getting the beach ball of doom.
Look, eventually we just have to accept that tech products have reached end of life. I would love to get a Commodore 64 (first computer I ever had) for nostalgia, but the truth is it would just end up cluttering up my house and would very rarely get used. I think most people who collect this stuff end not using it anyway.
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Lame
Lame
There is only one thing you can do to bring at least some cash back now - sell your sister. Depending on mileage/condition you may be able to recover some of the money. Of course her true market value may be fairly small but at least it's a fair recourse and gives her a chance to pay her dues.
Oh, and you should talk to your father so he doesn't make this mistake again.
Oh, and you should talk to your father so he doesn't make this mistake again.
The hard drives were thoroughly scrubbed of patient data, yes?
Personally, I prefer to remove the hard drives and physically destroy the platters.
The easy answer is to check to see how much the machines are selling for on eBay. If it's more than $50 or so, then it's probably worth your while to try and sell them, or if that's too much trouble, donate to your local Salvation Army, Computers for Schools, etc. Put up an ad on your local Craigslist forum with "FREE iMacs and PowerBooks" and see how quickly someone will snap them up. Heck, put them out at the end of the driveway with "FREE" written on a sign and watch them get snapped up.
If she had lived in my neighborhood, for example, and I knew that these Macs were being disposed of, right off the top of my head I can think of a bunch of uses for computers like those:
- I'd happily take a low-power Mac as a media server in my basement, and/or for a basic MIDI interface computer for the studio room.
- I have a friend who is a single mom with two teenage girls, they are all sharing the use of one iMac (probably just as old as those ones) and would be eternally grateful for another one so they're not always fighting over it.
- My church runs a kids' program and they collect computers of various kinds both for kids to play with and to take apart/upgrade (the latter is more on the PC side than for Macs)
- A summer camp I volunteer for could use more Macs to run basic iMovie projects for the "movie making" activity we teach, as well as for basic office administration work, database access, and a basic desktop publishing client for the daily camp newspaper. Their existing machine is a G4 eMac which everyone has to fight over.
- Before I bought a netbook, my PowerBook served that purpose after it became too slow to be my main machine.
I mean, think about it. Eight years old was 2002. We were surfing the web, buying things online, watching Flash videos, editing videos, running Word, and listening to iTunes in 2002. So these machines can still do all those things today. Maybe they won't run Snow Leopard or iLife '11, but those older apps still work.
Oh well...
If she had lived in my neighborhood, for example, and I knew that these Macs were being disposed of, right off the top of my head I can think of a bunch of uses for computers like those:
- I'd happily take a low-power Mac as a media server in my basement, and/or for a basic MIDI interface computer for the studio room.
- I have a friend who is a single mom with two teenage girls, they are all sharing the use of one iMac (probably just as old as those ones) and would be eternally grateful for another one so they're not always fighting over it.
- My church runs a kids' program and they collect computers of various kinds both for kids to play with and to take apart/upgrade (the latter is more on the PC side than for Macs)
- A summer camp I volunteer for could use more Macs to run basic iMovie projects for the "movie making" activity we teach, as well as for basic office administration work, database access, and a basic desktop publishing client for the daily camp newspaper. Their existing machine is a G4 eMac which everyone has to fight over.
- Before I bought a netbook, my PowerBook served that purpose after it became too slow to be my main machine.
I mean, think about it. Eight years old was 2002. We were surfing the web, buying things online, watching Flash videos, editing videos, running Word, and listening to iTunes in 2002. So these machines can still do all those things today. Maybe they won't run Snow Leopard or iLife '11, but those older apps still work.
Oh well...
All that is great in theory but what happens when the new owners inevitably want to put a new piece of software (like a child's game) on that ancient computer? Sorry, out of luck. And if they just throw it away, you've lost the opportunity to dispose of it in a responsible manner.
I just looked up Minnesota's Computers for Schools. Here's what they'll refurbish:
"What kinds of equipment does MCFS need?
Currently, MCFS only refurbishes Pentium IV desktop and tower computers and newer.
All other computers are recycled in an environmentally sound manner.
The demand for notebook computers is at an all time high. MCFS refurbishes Pentium III notebooks and newer.
While equipment does not need to be donated as a complete unit, it is helpful to us to receive power cords, batteries, etc."
Believe me, I live as green as possible and milk the life out of my stuff. I've had my current car for 11 years and the previous car for 10. But computers become obsolete so fast and the switch to Intel-based computing pretty much killed the useful longevity for any pre-Intel macs.
She could have donated them to a senior center. While old and slow by today's standards... they are still good enough to browse the internet and teach someone who may never have used a computer how to do so.
Maybe, after they will be recycled, the materials will be used in manufacturing the new Macs.
So, there's a chance that they will get a new life!
So, there's a chance that they will get a new life!
Oh, I agree - you'd have to check the guidelines or speak to the potential receivers to make sure it'll meet their needs. But even when it eventually outgrows them, I would hope that the new owners would continue the trend and either give it away to someone who can still use it, or bring it to a recycler if it's truly end-of-life.
So, you shot her. Right?
At the very least, she could have donated them. Is there something mentally wrong with her? What went through her mind when she considered throwing away 6 working computers?
She could have sold them, donated them, given them to me, etc...
/
At the very least, she could have donated them. Is there something mentally wrong with her? What went through her mind when she considered throwing away 6 working computers?
She could have sold them, donated them, given them to me, etc...
/ 