by Nick
Sunday, March 18, 2007 12:35 PM
I blogged about this about two months ago, but it bears repeating. Developers always make sure to have the best computers, and we upgrade often. After all... it's our job to stay up to date, and as geeks we always like to have the best toys. But what do you do with your old machines once you've decided it's too out of date for you? Odds are that even though it's out of date to you, it's still a pretty good machine for someone else.
I just did this with my old laptop, and I've done it a few times before. Don't sell your old computers on eBay. Find someone who needs a computer and can't afford one, and give it away. It won't take you long to format the drive and put a fresh install of Windows on it. Now your computer can have a good hardy second life. Odds are that it will have a more useful life than with someone who buys it on eBay just to scrap it for parts.
In one case, an old computer I gave away was lucky enough to have a third life. After the person I gave it to was able to get something better, she asked me whether I wanted it back. I laughed, and told her to find someone to give it away to. And so it went on to serve yet another master to someone who needed a computer at a key time in her life. My only regret at the time was not having something better to give away myself so she could have something better than a third generation hand me down.
It feels good to do, and it's something that we as developers can easily do.