Landfill of the Future, Today

Fresh from the computer farm, my workplace recieved about 56 Compaq Pentium IIs and PowerMac 8500s.

Still wrapped in glistening shipping plastic, these brand new state-of-the-art computers are sitting in a hallway in our building. I wish that I could take one home to replace my ailing Pentium II, which didn't boot again last night, causing me to relive the horror of Monday.

Again, I ripped the case open and fiddled with wires for about 45 minutes. I basically have no idea what I'm doing. I unplug wires, then plug them back in. I smack the computer around, and push the button. I jam forks into ports and whisper things like, "I'm going to lick your USB port!"

When I finally got it booted again, I decided to leave it on. I HATE wasting electricity, but I do not want to lose this information, or my ability to blog.

In actuality, these computers, their respective monitors, printers, external thingymadoeys and assorted computer stuffs are being thrown in the garbage. Sort of. Really, they're being recycled. Any reuseable parts are being reused, and the rest.... garbage. The funny thing is, some of these computers being tossed are faster and newer than the one I have to work on. Remember 1991.... Anybody?

It's funny how thousands of dollars worth of technology can become landfill in only 2 or 3 years. Who would have thought the future could come and go so quickly?

I have never thrown a computer or computer part away. I have been able to sell whatever I had at garage sales to very young children. Even if I get $10 for my entire system, I don't mind, as long as it's not going to the dump.

Cellphones pose the same problem, but luckily, they're a lot smaller. After I cancelled my cell service (Read about that here), I kept my phone. I refuse to throw it out. I could possibly use it as a prop someday, or throw it at somebody, or something. Who knows.

We seriously have to find a way to recycle these millions of large, outdated computers efficiently. If not, I know a place we could dump them...