I also struggle with the power requirements of running old hardware “just because I can.” Sure, I could spin up an old Mac as some sort of a server, but it has to feel like it’s worth consuming the electricity.
I’m not sure what to do with my 1989 Macintosh IIx — my first Mac — which I have set up in my basement office. Yes, it still runs (I had to replace a pair of batteries on the logic board to revive it last year). The rational side of me points out that I can’t actually use it for anything, but the nostalgic side of me can’t quite part with it.
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Our SE 30, our very first Mac, holds a place of honor in a closet. We also have a 9600, 8600 and a MacBook Pro. We keep them around in case of emergencies, or we need to look at something on floppy or a Zip drive, which happens occasionally. Everything else was passed along or donated.
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Placing all this equipment in the back of the garbage truck was such an important event that I took a photo! Headed to the landfill included a PowerMac, my old Motorola StarMax clone, a couple ImageWriters and Extended Keyboards. I recall I even “donated” one or two, old “Toasters”. (This was 16-years ago. Please send all condescending laments to biteme-at-blackhole-dot-com.)
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Quite the museum! When I retired my last floppy-equipped Mac, I bought an external floppy drive with a USB interface. It shares closet space with my Zip drive (also USB). Perhaps you can still get those devices?
I get asked about this constantly, so I’ve keep track of a bunch of options in my database. Here it is, forgive me if I haven’t edited it:
Find nice homes for the gear:
Low End Mac Swap
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/lemswap
Also you might try the LEMSwap group
which is the for sale forum for the Low End Mac (LEM) group. You could offer it up for free with the cost of shipping (if no local takers) for the cost of
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/lemswap
Apple Rescue of Denver specializes in rescuing and finding new homes for the wonderful Apple II and Macintosh computers.
There are complete systems available along with hard to find parts, peripherals, software and manuals to help keep these amazing computers working.
http://www.applerescueofdenver.com
Gone app:
http://thegoneapp.com/
In the Bay Area, New York, Seattle, & Austin
If it still works and is viable they will sell it, if not it is recycled responsibly. PORTLAND
http://www.freegeek.org/
https://www.ifixit.com/Info/Device_Donations
see:
http://www.ugnn.com/2012/10/recycle-old-computers/
Sell/Recycle Your Electronics
http://www.YouRenew.com
There are several excellent organizations that you could donate your old computers to:
Verizon is committed to helping the nearly one in four women, one
in seven men and more than 3 million children in the United States
affected by domestic violence. HopeLine is helping to end this
epidemic by collecting no-longer-used wireless phones and accessories
and turning them into support for domestic violence organizations
nationwide. Through HopeLine hundreds of thousands of phones have come
in, and millions of dollars in cash grants have been awarded to
partner agencies.
http://www.verizonwireless.com/aboutus/hopeline/index.html
Freecycle is an online free recycling/gifting movement designed to keep tangible items out of landfills…a lot of computers get tossed out and there are many people who can use an old computer or a part from that computer.
http://www.freecycle.org
Computers for Kids will pick up your old computer, do any refurb needed, and set it up as a student computer at some elementary school. They’ll give you a tax deduction as well.
415-459-5247.
http://www.c4konline.org/
http://www.cfkidaho.org/
Gazelle will take you old Macs even if they have no value. They will recycle and triple wipe your data.
In some big cities the Goodwill has centralized stores that carry nothing but old computer equipment. As a last resort it might be worth seeing if your city has such a Goodwill store.
e.g.:
http://www.austincomputerworks.org/
http://www.goodwillswpa.org/computer-store
http://www.houstoncomputerworks.org/
http://www.goodwill-oregon.org/GoodwillComputerStore/
http://www.goodwillbigbend.com/stores/computerelectronic-store/
Apple has a Reuse and Recycling Program.
The updated service allows anyone to send their old computers and monitors to Apple to be recycled for free – regardless of brand.
You may even get an Apple Gift Card for your old equipment.
try here: http://groups.google.com/group/lemswap?pli=1
it’s only mac trades
Staples does have a nice program for free electronics recycling. A few of our customers have used it to clean out their closets full of old, dead tech.
http://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/marketing/easy-on-the-planet/recycling-and-eco-services.html
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This was an interesting reading:
«Vintage electronics for trusted radiation measurements and verified dismantlement of nuclear weapons (Journal Article) | OSTI.GOV »
You’d be surprised what sells on ebay. I recently unloaded a vintage Zip drive with SCSI interface, a Nintendo GameBoy, an audio cassette guided tour of MacWrite and MacPaint, and the Mac version of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The best way to check for the market is to search for what you have on ebay and see what people are trying to sell it for. To see what they actually sold for, do an “advanced” search (an option at the far right end of the screen) and check the option to search for “sold listings”. You’ll find that some things never sell, but others may be worthwhile.
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Priceless, surely.
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Please try FIREFOX. I hope to hear of a pleasant outcome!
I have a 20" 2007 iMac with a pitiful Core2 Duo processor now has El Capitan on it. I found that FIREFOX has an up-to-date browser that runs on it that also supports 1PasswordX and works just great for what it is.
Actually, (profanity suppressed) I am more pleased with 1Password on THAT computer than I am on Mojave as the latest 1Password upgrade (7.5) killed its extension in Safari and nothing I’ve tried has come close to re-enabling it, so it is back to running the full 1Password-copy-cut-and-paste all the damn time until I can get some tech support somewhere. I am not a fan of 1Password7.
May 20, 2020 update: for anyone curious, I am using 1Password v6 on my 2007 20" El Capitan machine out of necessity as v7 requires a macOS upgrade which is not possible on a Core2 Duo based iMac. The machine is surprisingly peppy on usual day to day work. My newer I7 4Core iMacsmokes it surprisingly on Internet work, I suppose because of the cache sharing.
Re: StuartJ
I have ended up converting my iMac to a dual-boot Linux machine. It is an interesting process (still in progress) -if folks are interested I could share the “long version”. Firefox runs fine in Ubuntu (Linux) --but is useless in OS 10.6.
About 1Password; I have been using it form “day 1” but version 7 is a total disaster: bloated, buggy, unmanagabe even for long-time users and I’m no fan of the subscription model. I am using V6 which is a bit bloated but works fine so far. Once V6 is disabled I will SADLY switch to another password manager. It was nice while it lasted but I stopped recommending what was my “go to” app for many years.
I have a habit of anthropomorphizing equipment that has served me well or had a significant impact on my life or career. Then I become sentimental about it. Some things I have no intention of parting with, like the original Apple ][ Plus I bought in high school (and still works!). That little machine literally set the course for my college studies and entire career. I also have the original 9” beige Macintosh (still working!) I bought in 1984 while working at the computer store where I previously bought the Apple ][.
OK, stupid, I know. But when it comes to all the computers since then, I keep thinking that it’s a shame for them to end up in the trash or being recycled if there are folks out there that could part them out. Several times I’ve been either frustrated by a lack of parts for something or grateful somebody still had some.
I’ve also been interested in donating some of them to museums. Particularly if they still work, it seems that they could still bring joy to someone, somewhere.
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The Museum Of Printing in Haverhill, MA is actively soliciting old Macs and LaserWriters:
“The Museum has recently acquired a couple of Macintosh Plus’s, initiating coverage of the new era in composition. Donations of a matching LaserWriter+, older Macs, or software to match would be most appreciated. Donations of current or intervening or prior digital type hardware and software would also be appreciated.”
They also have a great library of books and documentation about hardware, software and history related to graphic arts, and they appreciate donations of these materials as well. Macs are a major presence due to the fact that they revolutionized and continue to be of major importance to the industry. My husband is a journalist specializing in graphic arts for decades and was involved in the launch of the museum. We’re big fans. We’re sorry we didn’t hold on to our first generation LaserWriter to donate it.
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Coincidentally, I ran a side business for years that did printing and graphics design and had a lot of the related equipment. Over the last decade or so it has morphed into software development but your post certainly brings back fond memories.
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Adam wrote “I also struggle with the power requirements of running old hardware “just because I can.””
To some extent. But leaving out the Mac Pro, which provides a significant and welcome amount of my office heating and is turned off during the summer, all my oldies put together use about the same amount of power as my lighting. Insignificant compared to heating (electric), cooking, and major appliances. I don’t need much heating in our climate (and no air conditioning) and I don’t have a dishwasher or clothes dryer, so it’s even less significant compared to the US average. Most people would save far more power by ditching the clothes dryer than by avoiding old computers.
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Here in Portland OR we have a non-profit called FreeGeek where your computer stuff can be recycled. Volunteers who rebuild the computers set up the OSs, etc. can earn a computer. Others go to non-profits, some are sold in the FreeGeek store or online. Non recyclable items are broken down into components, i.e. plastics, circuit boards, disk sleeves, etc., and bind for recycling. https://www.freegeek.org
I always break down my HDs for the magnets. Rare earth magnets are expensive and I have lots of uses for them in my shop. So strong they will hold a thin item, I hang flags, to a nail head in a wall.
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I wish I had kept an old 68xxx mac. I have ancient MS word and excel files that are no longer readable.
I did go through the process of opening more recent “xls” files and saving as “xlsx” to preserve their longevity.
The next challenge is TurboTax. My wife was asked if she could open tax files from 2009! She could, but only because (a) she kept all the executables, and (b) because she hadn’t upgraded to Mohave ( much less Catalina).
Moral - keep old macs / OSes with unique properties for future use. Even regular file format migrations isn’t always enough!
I also have a cupbard full of things I no longer use…
If the lockdown lasts much longer, out of boredom I may actually try to see if I can connect my Mac SE to my linux box over AppleTalk (via an old PowerBook 5300 that has both AppleTalk and Ethernet) and then some newer Mac for wifi.
@MMTalker What a fantastic site and a great cause. Your commitment to them is well worth applause! I have a dear friend who is a former head of library science at several universities, now retired in NH, who will absolutely love the site! I’m enjoying it myself. Thank you!
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Two tips for opening old MS Word files (I haven’t tried old Excel files) that might work for you.
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Open the old files from within a recent version of Word (not by double-clicking on the file’s icon). File menu → Open (you may have to choose “Open Any File”). Make sure that the file that you are opening has the “.doc” extension appended to its name.
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Try the free program LibreOffice.
https://www.libreoffice.org/
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