Manuel Mejia Jr
- 2001.04.23
In thinking about Earth Day, I noted that the newest items of trash
to start moving into the nation's landfills are PCs. In 10,000
years, archeologists are literally going to be issuing precise
dates on layers 20th century garbage by finding and identifying
what type of PC was thrown in with the trash!
If this sounds insane, it is not. Archeologists date trash piles
from early human civilizations based on fragments of clay jars and
thimble sized clay spools that have early writing and drawings
(signs of the "first" tools of the information age).
One of the strengths of the Macintosh is longevity - they just
keep on working. Another factor is software - no matter how old it
gets, it never wears out. Given these factors, investing in an
"old" Macintosh is both good for the environment and good for those
who do not have big wads of Ben Franklins ($100 bills) to toss
about.
When looking into buying a used Mac, I have noted that buyers
are not necessarily looking to upgrade for RAM or CPU purposes.
Their existing systems often doing what they want them to do. Many
computer users replace their computers because they want something
smaller on the desk. Others get small, inexpensive computers so
that they can be placed in areas that are normally a bit dangerous
for an up-to-date PC (a kitchen or workshop office). Buying an
older Mac is also helpful on the wallet because you can often
transfer your old software to the replacement machine without
worrying about compatibility.
If you are Mac user in search of a smaller machine but not able
to buy a petite iMac, consider buying a used PowerBook. The
PowerBook 100x series are relatively
inexpensive - around 1.5 Ben Franklins ($150). If you can spare 3-4
Ben Franklins, you can get the "Blackbird" (68040) series of
PowerBooks with accessories. PowerBooks are great for the small
apartment, the workshop, the kitchen, and for those who just move
around a lot and want to take their work with them. Visit your
favorite LEM Used Mac Dealer for a low cost, "recycled" Mac.
All computers eventually die. However, be sure that the one that
you send to the landfill is a dead one. There are many "Wintel"
machines that are being discarded while still in working condition.
If the software still exist, future archeologists may even try to
get these machines running again so that they can impress their
students on how wasteful 20th Century humans were.
Happy Earth Day.
Manuel Mejia Jr is familiar with Mac IIs, LCs, and older PowerBooks. He
uses his Mac LC, PowerBook 145B, and PB 100 with System 7.1 on a
regular basis and recently added a Mac Plus running System 6 to his
collection. He's quite familiar with both System 6 and System 7. He
also owns the Pina books on repairing compact Macs from 128k through
the SE. You can read more about Manuel's computers in Manuel Mejia Jr's Four Old Macs.
