Parting with Old Computers (It’s Dead, Jim)

Last weekend, I threw away a computer.

I threw away a computer that I’ve been hanging on to for at least a decade. And the funny thing is, I couldn’t even tell you why I kept it all this time.

From the outside, a Dell Dimension looks like a “modern” computer — and by modern I mean that if you passed by one sitting on a shelf, your first response probably wouldn’t be that it belonged in a museum. Instead, I’d expect you to say that you used to have a computer that looked just like it at work (or maybe still do). Even though the machine looked relatively modern sitting out in my garage, a closer inspection revealed its true age: hard to reach (and only two) USB ports, VGA video output, a CD-ROM drive (not DVD), and, perhaps most telling, a little silver sticker on the front declaring the computer “Windows XP Compatible.”

Ouch.

Back when I was building MAME arcade cabinets and dabbling in computer/networking projects, I picked up a few Dell Dimension and Optiplex computers through Craigslist. I like Dells because we’ve been using them at work for decades so I’m familiar with them, and my experience has been that they’re pretty solid for the price. At the time I bought them, these workstations seemed so modern and useful that I just couldn’t pass them up. Surely there was something I could do with them. I could stream movies with one, or build a retro gaming machine, or use one to play music on out in the garage, or… you know, something.

Whatever that ethereal “something” was never revealed itself. I might have used them once or twice over the years for testing purposes, but for the most part they’ve simply been collecting dust out in the garage for years and years. Whatever functionality those computers could have provided were replaced by Raspberry Pi computers — those mini $35 devices I talk about from time to time. A $35 Raspberry Pi can not only do all of those things I mentioned like streaming media and playing retro games, but frankly, they’ll outperform an old Dell while doing them. Windows machines and Raspberry Pis are so inherently different that it’s difficult to come up with a simple apples-to-apples speed comparison, but trust me, in any of those scenarios, a Raspberry Pi will run circles around a fifteen-year-old Dell computer — not to mention that the Pi is quieter, uses less power, has more storage, and has built in HDMI video and wireless networking.

I don’t like throwing things away, and I really hate throwing things away that work. A few years ago I listed one of the machines on Craigslist for $100. A guy offered me $50, and never showed up. About a month ago, I listed the same machine on Craigslist for $50. A guy offered me $20, and never showed up. My local Goodwill no longer accepts donated computers or monitors, so that was out. I asked my kids if either one wanted a computer older than they were and they both laughed at me. Eventually I set the machine next to the garage door and planned to recycle it at Best Buy. After two weeks of sitting on my garage floor, I said to hell with good intentions, and set the machine out by the curb on big trash day. Sorry, environment.

(The first person to say “I could have used that!” should keep in mind that I have another one. Be prepared to pick it up or pay shipping. Otherwise, to quote the Fonz, “sit on it.”)

There’a a fine line between throwing things away too quickly and hanging on to them far too long. Clearly, I err toward the latter. Someday I’ll master that sweet spot of getting rid of things after I’m done with them, but before all their value and usefulness has drained. In the meantime, if anyone’s interested in purchasing thousands of CDs and DVDs, holla.