Obsolete Hardware Piling Up

loosenut writes: "The SF Chronicle has a lengthy article about the disposal or recycling of old computers, many with toxic components. If you are like me, you probably have a couple of 486s and Pentiums sitting in a closet somewhere. What is to become of these ancient beasts?" Read to the end of the article and it notes that Europe is planning to force manufacturers to recycle their products at the end of the product's lifespan.

Comments

Is it really worth keeping old hardware in use?

[Tord]

I see all these comments on how it's a waste to throw away or recycle old hardware and how even the oldest machines can be configured to handle certain tasks, but I just keep thinking if it's really worth it.

If you send away an old computer to a school they might initially do a small saving compared to buy new equipment, but in the long run I believe the school will suffer enormously from having a diverse range of out of date hardware. The service costs must get enormous since all computers are very different and old parts keeps breaking down and have to be replaced so things will have to be reinstalled. All computers will also have to be configured individually since some are too old and slow to run the same OS and programs as the latest ones. I can understand the benefit of a big company donating a large batch of almost identical computers to a school though, but I also believe that donations to schools just are second grade sollutions, government should push in enough money to keep the schools with a healthy machine park since the kids are our future and investing in their knowledge is a good investment. Graciously providing schools with old equipment that is "just enough" might in worst case actually counteract its purpose since it then might get harder for the school to demand money for new equipment.

The second idea of keeping them around as routers and firewalls is also something I see as doubtful in the long run. Compare for example the power consumption of an old 486-66 with a modern dedicated router without any moving parts. Add to that other factors as the likely breakdown frequency, space requirements, noise generation, air flow needs and risks like causing fires due to old dusty hardware that will run very hot if a fan breaks down and I doubt that it's a saving in the long run.

Giving them to schools and institutions in third world countries or just playing with them yourself or giving them to a relative who might need a second word processing computer to use when the kids play on the family's main machine might still be a good idea though, but I doubt many of the suggestions given here.

Stop talking about re-use...

[GreyPoopon]

I see all of these responses talking about not recycling and instead re-using aged equipment for file servers, etc. But the article clearly states that that only delays the inevitable. Eventually, the hardware breaks. If you've got an old IBM XT with 10MB hard drive and a cracked motherboard, there's not much you can re-use it for. Eventually, it's just not worth keeping old equipment running. So, it all has to be thrown out or recycled at SOME point.

So, any bright ideas as to how these things can be efficiently recycled or used?

GreyPoopon
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