Re: Found an Apple II Plus in the trash...

[Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca>]

On Wed, 28 Jul 2010, Mitchell Spector wrote:

>    Thought I'd share this. I was walking home tonight when I spotted
> something in a trash pile that looked familiar, to the point I thought I
> was imagining things. Low and behold, sitting in a cardboard box filled
> with newspapers and empty food containers was, of all things, an
> original Apple II Plus with a Disk ][ drive!
I can't remember when I found the Duodisk, but the only other time I found
Apple II equipment in the garbage was late August of 1992, the day of
the Concordia shooting.  I was walking up Park Avenue with a friend, and
we noticed piles of junk in an alley, it looked like some place doing
repairs was tossing out their Apple II junk.  Her place wasn't far, so I
grabbed some of it.  None of what I took worked, which explains why it
was tossed.  That's actually odd, it seems more common to find things
tossed because someone doesn't want them.

I can't remember when I last saw an Apple II at a garage or rummage sale, 
but I suspect at least a decade.  So yes, it is odd to find one in the
garbage at this point.

I'm finding a much more recent level of "electronic junk" these days.

I found a 17" LCD monitor, that works, at the end of April when the McGill 
students moved out.  Around July 1st Moving Day, I found a 60gig iPod 
(it's not charging, so I'm hoping the only problem is the battery),
a spare 56K modem, a somewhat older digital camera, a Playstation,
various portable CD players, and I can't remember what else.

I did find a Mac Plus complete inside one of those padded carrying
cases, but I had no use for it.

Last year around moving day, I found a DVD recorder in a recycling bin,
the drawer is flakey but I've gotten my money's worth.

I get the feeling less electronic stuff is being tossed out, people
now feeling they should take it to an electronic recycling centre.
WHen they do the toxic pickup around where I live, they also take
in "electronic waste" and that seems to be quite popular.  What I fear
is that there is "good stuff" being tossed out and the recyclers
won't know, since they are looking for things useful now, rather than
collectible things.

   Michael