Obsolete technology really bothers me.
Today I'm considering the fate of the following:
1 - 15" Dell CRT Monitor, still works great
1 - 17" Dell CRT Monitor, still works great
1 - Gateway computer tower, runs Windows 2000, has a CD drive, a DVD drive, a floppy drive and a Zip Drive
1 - Blue and White G3 Mac
I think the next hazardous disposal in our town isn't until October, but these are slated to go. What bothers me the most is that, at one time, each of these were top-of-the line machines that cost a fortune and made huge profits for the companies that put them out. Now they're just wasted space. I've replaced them with a larger flat panel Dell monitor, so Dell continues to make money, even though everything they've made before 2009 is obsolete.
That's not right. Why are we, the consumers, responsible for disposing of these highly toxic machines, when we didn't make them, and we did not profit from their purchase? Dell (to name one, but all computer manufacturers) should be charged with buying back obsolete equipment, and disposing/recycling them at their own expense. It may cut into their profits in the short run, but it would be a better solution that what we have now.
I tried for a month now to obtain a converter so that I could at least attach a DVD player to the larger monitor. The converters themselves are hard to find (no brick-and-mortar company has one, they're only online), and cost almost as much as the DVD player does. I have newer monitors, so it's not really a necessity, I just hate wasting something that cost that much money.
And I stub my toes on them a lot when I walk around my apartment :( --JB
Friday, May 27, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Big Purge 1: 2011
Today I seemed to be in the final grips of Spring Cleaning Fever. I tackled my two closets, with the aim of throwing out everything that wasn't useful or worth anything.
I also had a goal of better utilizing the shelf sets I have. Two 6-tier shelf sets have been sitting for a few months now with lots of empty space on them. Time to consolidate.
After 7 hours of work, I now have all my books in one place (at long last, none in boxes). And, I have a new empty set of shelves, on which I can now consolidate various electronic components. My hallway closet is now a repository for empty containers.
The casualties for this purge were many, but a couple warrant special notice:
-- my Pentax ME-F camera, purchased at the PX in Augsburg Germany in 1985, along with the 50mm lens it came with, and a 23mm lens and a 70-210mm zoom lens (costing a total of $2200 back in the day). After I got my first 2MP digital camera, I never picked up my Pentax again. It's very sad. But, most film cameras aren't worth a thing anymore, and film just doesn't compare with a digital image.
-- my model USS Enterprise-D, which I spent 2 years applying various details to. I just really have no where to put it right now.
With a few exceptions, I've whittled things down to a place nearing the minimum amount of stuff I can use and keep. I'll have to do another sweep in a couple of weeks. --JB
I also had a goal of better utilizing the shelf sets I have. Two 6-tier shelf sets have been sitting for a few months now with lots of empty space on them. Time to consolidate.
After 7 hours of work, I now have all my books in one place (at long last, none in boxes). And, I have a new empty set of shelves, on which I can now consolidate various electronic components. My hallway closet is now a repository for empty containers.
The casualties for this purge were many, but a couple warrant special notice:
-- my Pentax ME-F camera, purchased at the PX in Augsburg Germany in 1985, along with the 50mm lens it came with, and a 23mm lens and a 70-210mm zoom lens (costing a total of $2200 back in the day). After I got my first 2MP digital camera, I never picked up my Pentax again. It's very sad. But, most film cameras aren't worth a thing anymore, and film just doesn't compare with a digital image.
-- my model USS Enterprise-D, which I spent 2 years applying various details to. I just really have no where to put it right now.
With a few exceptions, I've whittled things down to a place nearing the minimum amount of stuff I can use and keep. I'll have to do another sweep in a couple of weeks. --JB
Friday, April 22, 2011
More Records
The other half of my Dick Clark collection, the Music Machine (1974-76), is what I started selling this week. I put a show up for auction at eBay, and... no takers. It's never easy, is it?
Next week I turn my attention to about 30 years' worth of magazines. Should actually be easier to deal with than the vinyl. --JB
Next week I turn my attention to about 30 years' worth of magazines. Should actually be easier to deal with than the vinyl. --JB
Monday, April 11, 2011
Daunting
I thought that a good-condition, Billy Joel test pressing of Streetlife Serenade would be a hot seller, but right now on eBay it's going for $5.50. I still have two days on the auction, so we'll see.
I really thought that the Billy Joel would be my most valuable LP. If this doesn't sell, I'm going to assume the rest of my collection to be totally worthless. They will be chucked in the dumpster next week.
It's time to get brutal with my stuff. I only have 5 more months till my lease expires, and I really don't want to have to haul much out of there.
Why is it so hard to release...stuff? None of it's worth anything, it just takes up space, as I've said here before. Bizarre... --JB
I really thought that the Billy Joel would be my most valuable LP. If this doesn't sell, I'm going to assume the rest of my collection to be totally worthless. They will be chucked in the dumpster next week.
It's time to get brutal with my stuff. I only have 5 more months till my lease expires, and I really don't want to have to haul much out of there.
Why is it so hard to release...stuff? None of it's worth anything, it just takes up space, as I've said here before. Bizarre... --JB
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Close One
eBay can be nervewracking sometimes...
The person who bought my records didn't pay me for a good 3 weeks after the auction. But, he did pay me. So, I have 54 lbs less vinyl in my place right now. What's next? --JB
The person who bought my records didn't pay me for a good 3 weeks after the auction. But, he did pay me. So, I have 54 lbs less vinyl in my place right now. What's next? --JB
Friday, February 25, 2011
Follow Up II
Hey, the Dick Clarks sold! Got $300 for the collection (well, half the collection. There were two shows that I actually have copies of). I'm glad that paid off. Considering I paid $12 for this half of the collection, not a bad return on investment, even if it wasn't the thousands I thought I'd get for them. --JB
Friday, February 18, 2011
Follow up
Interesting. I got a note from someone who was watching the Dick Clark auction, and asked if I would be relisting the collection. Since someone's interested, I relisted them; the auction ends next week.
Meanwhile, I had a tough decision to make. I have about 190 remaining commercial LP's (down from almost 400 some years ago). They really needed to be reduced, leaving the most valuable ones and tossing the rest.
My criterion was this: if you can download it on iTunes, and there's nothing else special about the LP, out it goes. I ended up tossing all but a dozen of them. Bill Cosby, Tracey Ullman, the Go-Go's, The Who -- gone.
What I kept, though, were irreplaceable -- Promo copies of albums, LPs that were never released to CD (Americathon soundtrack, anyone?) Even a couple of test pressings!
What will be harder, and I haven't done it yet, is going through my Barry Manilow vinyl collection. For a few years, I would grab any copy of a Barry album I saw in a garage sale bin or a discount rack, just because I couldn't bear the thought of his music being tossed away. But -- I now have 9 copies of Barry Manilow II, and just about every other vinyl release of his. That's a little much. I will have to sort them for the absolute rarest ones (I have two promo copies of his original 1st album on Bell Records, for instance).
This is not for the faint of heart... --JB
Meanwhile, I had a tough decision to make. I have about 190 remaining commercial LP's (down from almost 400 some years ago). They really needed to be reduced, leaving the most valuable ones and tossing the rest.
My criterion was this: if you can download it on iTunes, and there's nothing else special about the LP, out it goes. I ended up tossing all but a dozen of them. Bill Cosby, Tracey Ullman, the Go-Go's, The Who -- gone.
What I kept, though, were irreplaceable -- Promo copies of albums, LPs that were never released to CD (Americathon soundtrack, anyone?) Even a couple of test pressings!
What will be harder, and I haven't done it yet, is going through my Barry Manilow vinyl collection. For a few years, I would grab any copy of a Barry album I saw in a garage sale bin or a discount rack, just because I couldn't bear the thought of his music being tossed away. But -- I now have 9 copies of Barry Manilow II, and just about every other vinyl release of his. That's a little much. I will have to sort them for the absolute rarest ones (I have two promo copies of his original 1st album on Bell Records, for instance).
This is not for the faint of heart... --JB
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