40withegg

Computer Stuff Grab-Bag!
Cable-rama

Why do I have all of this stuff? Those pictures are just a portion of it! Years worth of computer cables, user's manuals, routers, defunct RAM, web cams, blue cold-cathode-ray-tubes to light up the inside of an old Plexiglas-sided machine (seriously?) Well, it's spring cleaning time, and Craigslist, here I come! I'm selling all kinds of old crap, but I'm giving away the old computer, which I've done a couple of times before, most recently about a year ago.

I was taking a load of garbage out when my geek-sonar pinged a computer next to the dumpster. I cracked it open and found that it was missing a hard drive, so I raided my computer-stuff box for an old one, loaded a (completely unused!) version of Windows 2K and found it to be a perfectly fine mid-range PC. Now, what to do with it?

Well, if I was a few years younger and a little bit bolder I would have stacked it next to my two OTHER computers and called myself a co-lo. But, knowing that I really had no use (read: no time) for yet another computer, I decided that I'd give it way on Craigslist. I posted a classified add reading something like this:

Free Computer for a Good Cause

I found a computer next to the dumpster, fixed it up, and am giving it away. So, if you are need of a perfectly fine computer and have a good cause, please let me know.

And to my surprise I got not just a few responses, but over 50. As expected, a handful were "gimme a free computer, dude!" responses, but the overwhelming majority were heart-wrenching pleas for help. Tutors in poor neighborhoods trying to teach underprivileged kids about computers. School teachers trolling craigslist for cheap computers for their classrooms, because their school can't afford them (note: California is the 5th largest economy in the world.) Parents desperately trying to afford a computer so their kids didn't have to stay late at school or the library in order to do their homework. Adults going back go college. Artists looking for projects. And many, many other stories.

Sure, we've all heard stories like this before: one man's junk is someone else's treasure, but I was shocked at the response and desperate need for something as seemingly ubiquitous (to the privileged like myself) as a computer. It was sobering. It is always eye-opening to witness these situations of need.

I ended up giving the computer to a woman who tutored kids after school in Vallejo; it was a tough decision. My hope was that by giving the computer to a teacher or tutor that the maximum number of people would benefit, not that it made me feel any better about saying 'no' to the laid-off father of 3 who wanted it for his kids.