Old computers are thrown away
every year. Disposal of electronic equipment
such as older computers, printers, copiers,
fax machines, etc., is becoming a larger problem
every day. It is increasingly common that you
may have to pay to properly dispose of many
types of older equipment.
Donations: I am missing some key artifacts,
can you help "fill the gaps"
in the collection? Systems I am still seeking
for the collection include:
High Priority
- Apple 1 (single board computer, cassette
interface)
- Apple Lisa 1 with Twiggly (5 1/4 inch)
floppies
- Apple Lisa 2 or Lisa with Mac/XL
- Apple Macintosh 128K
- Apple Macintosh 20th anniversary edition
- Apple Macintosh Colour Classic II
- Apple Macintosh G4 Cube
- NeXT Cube (working with MO drive)
Patiently Waiting
- Mice, pens, trackballs: early ones from
60s-70s.
- PONG originals (1972 and later consoles)
- Soviet/Russian/Ukranian computers
- Osborne I (early, dark brown case) and
Osborne II
- Rare documents including Home Brew Computer
Club newsletters, early Byte magazines, Computer
Notes from MITS, People's Computer Company
and more.
- Xerox workstations (don't have to be working)
or other Xerox artifacts
- Any low serial number or other prototype
system of any model and brand
Remember the accessories. If
you can, include the keyboard, mouse, printer,
modem, packaged software, or any other accessories.
If possible, keep the operating system
intact. If you are donating hardware
with a pre-installed Microsoft operating
system, keep in mind that the license is
only valid when used on the original OEM
machine on which it was first installed.
Since charitable organizations usually cannot
afford to purchase and license new operating
systems, a legal transfer (keeping the machine
and operating system together) can be very
helpful. Linux and Mac operating systems
have different requirements, but we urge
that whenever possible, please pass on the
operating system software with all donated
computers.
Provide the original media and documentation. It's
helpful to have the original disks, media,
and documentation that came with the PC when
it was purchased. Include the proof of license,
which will help facilitate the legal transfer
of the operating system.
If you clean your computer of personal
information yourself, it's best
to use some disk cleaning software to delete
your Internet browser's cache, cookies, history,
your e-mail contacts and messages, your documents,
your recycle or trash folder, and non-transferable
software. The best thing to do is to use
a disk cleaning utility that overwrites data
so that is unrecoverable.
Valuing your donation. If
you want to get an idea of the value of your
old equipment for tax purposes, you can search
eBay or other auction sites for the model of
the equipment you are donating, and be sure
to look at closed auctions, too.
Do you have
an old computer to donate? Contact
me! |
