Journal Corporate Troll's Journal: Time = Money .... Yes, but no.... 8
I was recently posting in the thread "Good Enough" Computers Are the Future , which was a funny (really tongue in the cheeck) article about how computers are good enough these days. As you undoubtly know, I am adherent of that premise. For normal office work, a well installed older computer (think P-IV class with 512Meg RAM) is more than sufficient. (Given that the OS is correctly installed)
So, evidently people like me voice their opion. Fellow people that refurbish old machines for the fun of it. Go and read this comment. A guy takes out an older machine from his basement, fixes it, and bang free computer. Fun, instructive and useful.... Yet there is always someone going to point out that for 300$ you get a new computer. Well, yes, of course you do, but that was not the point and 300$ isn't peanuts in the first place. I told him so and then I get the reply that time=money and that he could have worked and earned money instead (resulting in a, presumably, net profit)
I don't get these people. They either live in a world where everyone is paid by the hour or everyone is self-employed. That's utterly deluded. A salaried person can work 14h/day or 8h/day and will get paid the same. Also, for the hourly wage-worker: if your boss says "it's over for today", it's over for today... no more work. The self-employed person hasn't gotten it any better. He has clients and the client most likely doesn't want you at the office between 20h00 and 6h00.
Plus, those kind of people completely disregard the fact that some people find this fun. Fun is worth more than any payment you get. I'd rather fiddle with old computers and have fun, than programming a boring business application (and believe me, I've done just that the last 10 years) for hours in a row.
I admit, it is true that if I count in the hours that the refurbished dumpster-diven computers have cost me, those are extremely expensive machines. But I don't.... Just like the guy that goes cycling for fun, doesn't count his hours on the bike.
A final remark: these days, you're more likely to find halfway quality components in a computer from the dumpster than a 300$ special from the retailer... but that's a whole other story...
Developed World (Score:1)
These kinds of answers are also very developed world. In developing nations, if I can get a pallet of 30 off-lease computers from Japan or the US for USD800 and run my new business off of them, using the local USD15 a day labor to set them up (being extremely generous here to attract talented people -- CS grads make 2-300 a month to start), how is that EVER going to cost more than a new machine? If you factor in client-server architecture, the machines become even longer-lived. They're not pretty, but they
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Absolutely true! All of your points...
Hey, that sounds like a great idea to get out of the rat race. That would be a great fullfillig job, I think. Now just need to convince the wife ;-)
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I'm not planning on it paying the bills, FWIW.
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Heck even in the US you can find people who will take a bunch of working off-lease PCs. Think Indian reservations or schools in rural America.
Lots of potential there though given what I see thrown out every day by your average large business.
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MonTemplar sent me this link [chron.com]. For a socalled techblog, it's a bit sad they call the main units "CPU", but apart from that, I'd love to help out in such a place.
Old computers (Score:2)
Other than server boxes or UNIX workstations I must admit I have less interest in fixing old computers for fun than I used to. Still I understand the appeal to those who enjoy it.
There are a couple of people I know I should build a machine for. Given their needs they would be happy with an older machine with open office on it.
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Well, usually I do this stuff in the idea to give them to someone who actually can use a machine and hasn't got the cash (or is better off spending it on something more important)
Half the fun is actually giving the machine ;-)
As for older Unix Workstations and Server-class machines, I'd love to... but, well... I lack the space. Technically, I can have around 4 spare machines around, after that I have to throw away myself. That great collectible Unix workstation is not something I can give to someone who j