Message-ID: <v02130501adb7abe29816@[206.246.79.1]> Date: Thu, 9 May 1996 10:45:08 -0400 From: Chip Temm <mailto:chip42@GWIS2.CIRC.GWU.EDU> Subject: Re: Computers to Africa To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
Friends,There are a couple of mistaken assumptions floating around in this thread. 1) As Darren Bolden said, a used computer is not necessarily a bad thing. "Used" these days can refer to a machine barely a year old. Each year I sell my used computer and upgrade to last year's fastest- managing to lose a fraction of my investment each time compared to the 50% cut I'd take if I had sold and bought new. Small businesses are upgrading so frequently that there is a large supply of year-old computers out there. This is not trash!
2) However, those of you who are disgruntled about "unsatisfactory" equipment being sent to your home countries can take solace in the fact that getting anything donated in the US is next to impossible. I have talked to a couple of computer vendors about developing corporate giving programs for their customers' used equipment. After bouncing the idea around with some customers, they came back with "Sorry, they'd rather put them in storage." It drives me nuts! All that technology gathering dust because secretaries would rather type in color!
3)Where do you (ie, Ndiaye, Afoy, et al) think this stuff is going? Is there someone driving around Africa tossing out TRS80's and 286's in every city and village like some cybernautic Johnny Appleseed? No. Organizations like Mr. Bolden's line up people interested in getting the equipment before they send it- and the lines are long.
I applaud those programs that are doing this successfully. They're not dumping junk on Africa. It's more like the difference between a hammer and a pneumatic nail gun. The hammer may be a bit slower, but it does the same job and does it just as well. To our disgruntled friends I say put together a fundraiser, raise enough money to buy a Pentium120 or a PowerMac8500 (and money for software, training and security) and then make the decision whether to send one "brand new" computer or 10 five-year old computers...
Chip Temm George Washington Univ