Re: [NTLK] The demise of the Newt - Crushed?

From: Paul Braun (splendor_at_ctgonline.org)
Date: Tue Oct 08 2002 - 11:28:55 EDT


On 8 Oct 2002, at 10:58, jon.turner_at_mindspring.com wrote:

> On a different note, I had forgotten about the Handspring $100
> trade-in offer for PDAs until I saw this link
> http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=06457 Back when this was
> current news I contacted the California company that was hired to
> dispose of the trade-in PDAs. Unfortunately, as per their contract
> with Handspring, the PDAs were crushed and salvaged for any precious
> metals.
>
> The lady I spoke with said there were "many, many crates" full of PDAs
> and accessories which they destroyed. She said there were "lots" of
> Newtons and "some unusual stuff such as the Magic Cap system."
> Unfortunately, they would not sell any of these systems or
> accessories. (Trust me, I tried.) Reminds me of the old rumor that
> thousands of Apple LISAs being buried in a landfill only I know this
> story's true.
>
> Who knows how many perfectly good Newtons were destroyed so that $0.25
> worth of gold connectors could be salvaged? Seems a shame these
> systems weren't resold, but I suppose that wouldn't have benefitted
> Handsping.
>
> -- JonTurner
>
This unfortunately isn't that uncommon. Most scrappers have
contracts with their suppliers that are pretty strict. Occasionally
they'll get stuff in that the original vendor doesn't care what
happens to. However, quite often the stuff comes in with an
"unconditional destroy" order, and if they violate that, not only will
they lose their contract, but they will be sued.

I occasionally work for a surplus dealer who buys from salvage
places on a regular basis. A lot of retired desktop computers can
be resold (this is how I got all four of the PowerMacs I use, plus
my Powerbook, my Thinkpad, my wife's Thinkpad, and her desktop
pc....), however, I've seen a lot of really cool stuff that had to be
destroyed. Often, when one company buys out another, they'll
destroy all existing inventory of the company they bought so it's no
longer on the market, as was the case when $4 million worth of
brand-new, in-the-box networking equipment got shredded
because the company that bought that manufacturer wanted the
old stuff off the market RIGHT NOW. Or, skids and skids of
practically-new Kodak dye-sublimation printers that had to be
destroyed. Sometimes, though, it makes no sense, like the 5 semis
of security cameras and monitors that had to be destroyed, even
though the company that scrapped them had nothing to do with the
security industry.

When Motorola got out of the PDA biz, they destroyed pallets and
pallets of Marcos and Envoys, along with all the accessories and
batteries. Why not sell the batteries to all the dealers who sold the
original units? Why not let employees buy one? Seems stupid. My
best friend was on the engineering team for the Marco, and he had
to sneak around under the table just to get one of the Marcos that
he helped design.

I stopped going to the salvage warehouse with my friend because
it was starting to get depressing....

Paul Braun WD9GCO
2102 Yorktowne Dr
Valparaiso, IN 46383
splendor_at_ctgonline.org

"A computer without a Microsoft operating system is like a dog
without a bunch of bricks tied to its head."

Quote from Microsoft Programmers' Guide: "If it ain't broke,
it needs more 'features'."

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