[X4U] Recycling Mac's

[Daly Jessup]

Jim wrote:

I've found new homes for more than 500 older Macs in the last 4.5 
years of my retirement. I've placed hundreds of 520-5400 all-in-ones 
everywhere from K-3 classrooms to needy kid's homes, and the like. 
Developmentally challenged kids up into their early teens seem to be 
especially comfortable using these older Macs. I find the Macs, 
clean/fix them, then load a fresh copy of the appropriate OS and a 
special software pack of about 80 freeware/shareware/abandonware 
learning games and programs from the early '90s I've developed. The 
feedback I get from the new owners of these repurposed Macs is more 
rewarding than any paychecks I ever got. Plus it's nice to know that 
when these Macs do go to their final resting place, they will have 
been thoroughly and completely used up, not just determined to be 
obsolete for today's mainstream tasks

Last night I went to our monthly Mac User Group meeting here in San 
Diego. I had a perfectly working Epson 777 color inkjet printer which 
contained almost new color and black ink cartridges plus two brand 
new color and black Epson original cartridges. It included the driver 
installer CD and power and USB cables. I was unable to give it to any 
member. One lady who is head of technology at the local elementary 
schools said she could not accept  it. The schools were accepting 
nothing less than color laser printers.

Incredible. I could only imagine the teachers who are paying for 
supplies out of their own pockets while the district won't permit 
them to accept donations like this.  I mean this printer would at 
least  have permitted some teacher to print out an entire learning 
module and reports before she had to dispose of it.

It made me sick. Our Mac User Group has almost entirely discontinued 
its once vibrant "School Program" because the impoverished district 
won't allow them to accept any but the most modern of Macs, the kind 
that no one not out of their mind would  consider giving away. 
Meanwhile, teachers are having to buy pencils and protractors out of 
their own pockets.

Hmpf.

Daly
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