OT: Update re Computer Disposal by the City

[Christopher Browne]

On 12/9/05, D. Hugh Redelmeier <hugh-pmF8o41NoarQT0dZR+AlfA at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> A year and a half ago, I did manage to snag a pretty reasonable PIII
> whitebox from the jaws of the ADL bin.  It had a bum hard disk -- not
> much of a challenge for me.  With a bunch of us, and 110V power (not
> always available), we TLUGgers could set up a pretty useful triage
> station for old PCs.

> One question: what would one do with the old PCs that were rescued?
> I'm not sure that Toronto is short of PCs.  Decent new PCs (better
> than 90% of old PCs) are not very expensive at all.

I think you're very right there, and that this is why systems are
simply heading to the trash.

The level of expertise it takes to become useful "triage" may be worth
quite a lot more than the would-be recycled PCs are actually worth.

The only reason I would take interest in even *somewhat* older
hardware is if the case is so well-constructed that THAT makes it
somehow worth holding onto it.

For $100, I can get a disk drive that stores way more than I ever used
to have to store, that is no larger (and possibly smaller) than the
old ones, and which consumes less power, and which is probably faster
than, an entire array of the older drives.  Hence, old disk drives
aren't of interest.

Likewise, having extra PCs lying around doesn't mean I have any more
computing power of any meaningful sort; one AMD64 box is some
ludicrous factor more powerful than anything that is coming out of any
leasing situation.  And it being not THAT expensive, I'd rather have
the fresh, new box that occupies ONE tower space rather than some sort
of "Beowulf cluster" of P200's that have *less* memory, *less* disk,
*less* CPU power, and which generate more heat.

Based on this model, it makes *no* sense to look at anything recycled.

And I don't think this is that "deviant" a perspective.

There are people that are legitimately choosing to get Mac Minis that
are just tiny and iMacs that integrate the computer into the LCD
screen because it doesn't make sense to take up a lot of real estate
with their computers.

Part of why Toronto has a pretty vibrant economy of system
administrators is actually an extension of this.  We have enough
networking infrastructure at King & Front that it makes sense for
people to pay top real-estate dollar there to put in racks of machines
that are as powerful as possible (so as to warrant the real-estate
dollars) in order to take advantage of the nearby super-high-speed
bandwidth.

We normally consider deep downtown to be real estate that's "way
expensive;" if you can stack computers with enough "computational
density," it's cheaper to stuff them at Q9 than it is to have to send
dedicated network wiring out to cheaper real estate.

> My intuitive valuations of computers were formed too long ago.  When I
> started using computers, small computers cost the same as mansions
> (1966).  Then they cost the same as cars (~1972).  I got my first new
> computer as a substitute for a heifer (1982).  Now they cost the same
> as a really fancy dinner for four (Splendido's three course prix fixe
> menu is $82; don't forget the tip; drinks extra) (I picked Splendido
> because it is on Harbord, close to TLUG meetings).

Boy, have the rules changed.

We're seeing, in all of this, some "disruptive technology changes." 
One of the side-effects is that if you stand in particular places,
free computer hardware rains down on you.

Your older intuition is certainly no longer valid :-).

Looking at this "rain of free computer hardware," intuition may be,
"Hey!  It's free stuff!  I want it!"  I'm getting increasingly
convinced that that intuition is getting increasingly wrong.
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