Things used to be valuable, now can't give em away. I had a CRT computer monitor from the church. Fairly recent, works fine. They went with flat panel, and gave me the old one. I've got too many monitors, so I put it on the curb.
Couple days later, it's still there. I look, and someone cut off the wire, but left the rest.
Five years ago, the church probably paid $300 for that monitor. Now, I can't give it away free.
And it will be there for a long time, since it's considered hazardous waste. Trash collectors won't pick it up either. I drive by one such TV for about three or four months now - can't remember how long ago they've put it out on the curb
- there's already grass growing around and inside it. They probably missed the deadline by a week or two - trash collectors no longer pick electronics up at the curb here in PA since earlier this year.
Why are you surprised? It's junk. Worse, most places will charge you to take it away. I have one you can have if you cart it away. I'll even give you all the cables and a graphics card, or three, if you need them. All working but junk nonetheless.
Best Buy will take them off your hands. CRT monitors or TV's are white elephants today and you cannot give them away and some charities will not even take them.
Yeah, here in NJ you used to be able to put TVs out on bulk pickup days once a month when they pick up big, non garbage stuff, like sofas, furniture, etc. Now you have to take it to special electronics recycling locations. Not sure if they charge, but there might be a fee. They in turn load it into cargo ships that go the hell holes like China where people making $1 a day, sit in toxic scrap yards and take them apart.
Pick it up from the curb and take it to a donation center, such as Good Will, Volunteers Of America, etc. Make a few phone calls and I'm sure you will find a place that accepts electronics for recycling.
My understanding is that in some states, if you sell electronics, you must accept electronics for recycling.
passerby wrote in news:6d38b$521d2bb1$cf3aab60$ snipped-for-privacy@news.flashnewsgroups.com:
And that's why I see so many of them dumped in the ditch in the country.
Make garbage a moral issue, and people will get immoral with it. The environuts are causing the very problems that they think they want to prevent. Idiots.
Next time, tape a sign to it saying "Works Good", and that will increase the chance that someone will take it.
The problem is that computer technology is changing faster than computer products are breaking down or wearing out. So, there's an abundance of old computer hardware that still works, but no one wants because there is newer technology coming out all of the time.
Hewlitt Packard; one of the largest companies in Silicon Valley, is facing bankruptcy over the next 5 years because it hasn't kept up with the changing technology. Now, when everyone is wanting tablet computers and smart phones, Hewlitt Packard is still making desktops and laptops. The new CEO is trying to pull the company out of the fire with her "5 year plan", but if the last 5 years are any indication of what the next
5 will be like, HP stock will be going south in a hurry over the next 5 years. Ditto for Dell.
Let's face it, MOST people don't need much computing power. We're social animals, and a smart phone that allows us to talk to, text and video conference with other people meets our real needs better than a
200 terabyte hard drive. Computers are gradually going to evolve into communications devices; like powerful smart phones that can surf the net, allow you to videoconference with other people, pay your bills in your spare time (like while you're on the bus going to work or back), and all that. People need better communications devices more than they need better computers.
Make that MOST charities. We have e-waste recycling depots up here in Ontario now. Used to have to pay to get rid of them - now you pay the disposal fee upfront when you buy it.
The idiots are the people who throw the garbage in the ditch. There are so many places that are either required to accept electronics for recycling or do it as a free service that you'd have to be an idiot not to know where to recycle old CRT's and computers.
Put on a sign " $50.00" and it will dissapear overnight!!!
If HP goes bankript it will be because it hasn't made a quality product in over 10 years. Ever since they joined up with Compaq, they have produced more crap than quality - particularly in the "consumer" field.
Same goes for Dell. Every one I get involved with turns into "the dell from hell"
If they are using it as a toy, I agree with you - but for serious business use you still need a real computer. Try doing architectural or survey CAD on a tablet or smart phone sometime - or run an insurance data-base on a cell-phone. A 24" monitor is not enough real-estate for many applications.
Around here if someone sets a CRT TV or computer monitor on the curb, within an hour, it will be smashed right there and the copper deflection coil will be taken. The scavengers always leave the debris on the curb where they tore the old CRT unit apart. They make a hell of a mess when they get their hands on an old big screen TV. O_o
Freecycle members frequently offer CRT monitors and tv's
The TVs seem to be taken when offered, except maybe the projection tvs. . Maybe the monitors get taken too, but not as quickly, by people who don't know where else to get a used monitor.
(I would get my at the end of a hamfest, when sellers left behind ones they could not sell. And since they last 5 or 10 years or longer, I only need a new one when i refurbish a computer.) They have thin screen monitors at hamfests now for 20 dollars, but the wide screen thinscreen are still 90. Only one webpage that I rarely visit really makes me move from right to left and back. If it gets worse I'll spend the 90, or 70 by then..
It's free here in Oregon, at least where I live. We have a law that prohibits dumping them in the pit, but they will take them at the same facility and put them on a pallet to be shipped off somewhere.
Until about ten years ago I had trouble getting rid of old appliances like water heaters, etc. Now since the price of steel went up the junk man comes to my door asking me if I have any. Just wait until they realize how valuable those rare earth metals are in electronics. They will be coming to your door asking you for them.
The landfills of today are the metal and mineral mines of the future, methane is already being collected from some landfills. It would be interesting to be alive in 100 years just to see how waste is handled. After their term is up, politicians could be ground into a fine powder and use to federalize crops since many of them are pieces of crap anyway. The real fiery ones could be ground up and used for fuel but the CO2 that would come out of them could be a real problem. ^_^
CY: I thought the sign should read "first $25 takes it"?
CY: Yes, like the analog televisions? And, the Beta tape players before VHS. And the reel to reel tape for television. I used to use those reel tapes when I was in school.
CY: What a shame. They are likely to go the way of the multi national conglomerate that employed so many thousands of people. You remember Amalgamated Buggy Whip? They shared a manufacturing complex with Global Carriage Wheel.
CY: I can't comment on desk tops, but I see a LOT of people in my daily life, carrying smartphones. I'm near to senior citizen. I do carry a cell phone, but doesn't do aps, or anything video.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.