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Dell plays undertaker to Canberra's dead computers
Posted by Seamus Byrne at 9:54 AM on May 30, 2007
Kudos to Dell, who over the weekend gathered up 35 tonnes of old computers in a free recycling day - their most successful to date.
Looking at some of the shots, you wonder how much of this stuff actually has some life left. Could some have been donated to charities for distribution to the other side of the digital divide? In the past, I have tried to donate machines to charity, but it doesn't seem like there is anyone happy to take them -- a lot of hoops to jump through, which makes recycling the easy (easier... it still isn't easy) option...
Hit the jump for more pictures, and my conspiracy theory on 'recycled' computers out of Canberra.
Another thing: Canberra being Canberra, how many federal secrets were left on the hard drives of these 'dead' computers? Hmmm? It'd be ace if Dell now used these systems as a bargaining chip to score some awesome government contracts. Unless they already have such contracts. In which case, "well played, Dell... well played!"
Hit the Dell recycling site to stay on top of the when/where of future recycling events, and Dell owners can organise recycling for free through here too.
Dell Recycling [Dell Australia]
Comments
steven
Posted May 30, 2007 10:23 AM
Dell, you so freindly to our little peice of rock in space. I wonder if HP do something similar?.................. doubt it.
Matthew
Posted May 30, 2007 11:12 AM
What a great initiative. Maybe some of our Councils could offer this service at waste transfer stations.
giveaphuk
Posted May 30, 2007 1:59 PM
every year i cruise through 'hard rubbush' collection in melbourne & always manage to build one (or two) decent PCs, free, for my starving student mates.
Really amazing what some people throw away these days, exp. when it comes to 'broken' computers, usually needing nothing more than a software re-install.
Penguinister
Posted May 30, 2007 3:16 PM
Computer Bank happily accept unwanted (not too old) computers. The systems are refurbished then used in remote community centres here in Australia or some times shipped to places like East Timor.
Im not kidding there are places in Australia were young people have no access to computers for learning due to the local economic conditions.
McbLt
Posted May 30, 2007 9:01 PM
Definitely, it'd be great to see these running in youth drop in centres or even used as an education resource.
Looking at the site it seems like they're just going to junk the computers. A real shame.
Jared
Posted May 30, 2007 9:23 PM
I would like to see this happen with all the nice shiny G5 Powermacs & Mac Pros that have had viruses and rendered them useless. Ah crap, thats right, they still have value after 4 years. Owell.