Disposable computers
Sunday 1 September 2002
The computer in front of me is my ninth. Its predecessors averaged less than two years on my desk. The superseded computers have trickled down to other people, then been sold or given away. When last seen, all of them worked well but couldn’t manage the latest software — practical proof of Parkinson’s law of data. Here’s the list of PCs and where I last saw them:
Brand | CPU | New | Last seen |
IBM | 8088 | 1985 | 1990 (sold to a friend) |
Epson | 8086 | 1986 | 1992 (given away) |
LT | 80286 | 1988 | 1995 (sold to a dealer) |
TP | 80386 | 1990 | 1997 (still in use then) |
Compaq | 80386 | 1990 | 2000 (given away) |
Teco | 80486 | 1991 | 1997 (still in use then) |
Formosa | Pentium 1 | 1994 | 1997 (still in use then) |
Formosa | Pentium 1 | 1998 | Still in use |
Dell | Pentium 3 | 2001 | Still in use |
Where will my old PCs end up? In landfill? Or worse? The BBC Disposable planet website has a story about illegal workshops in China:
Photo journalist Jeroen Bouman gets a rare glimpse inside the illegal Chinese workshops where young teenagers work long hours amid noxious fumes, recycling computers from the US and Europe. The industry has turned four villages in Guiyu, Guangdong province, into toxic waste tips. Drinking water is now brought by lorries from 30 kilometres away…