Destruction of consoles!

[Harrison]

Who else feels very sad when they hear of the unjust and unnecessary disposal and destruction of games consoles and computers? especially vintage ones!

My Uncle mentioned last week that he had cleared out his loft and had taken a load of old "junk" down to the local dump, including all his old computers!

I know that he used to be a big Commodore fan and had a Vic 20, C64 and C64C and did mention "it was old junk like Commodore 64's and stuff that were just rubbish taking up space in the loft, and they were of no use!"

Very sad considering they were all fully working. I expect he even threw the cables, drives and all the software away too!

And another time a while back a friend say he had been given a Dreamcast and a Playstation from a friend who no longer wanted them. He was going to throw them down the dump too, but thought he would ask my friend before he actually did. The worst thing was that he had already through over 100 original Dreamcast and Playstation games down the dump only the week before! Are these people mad?

[AlexJ]

Haven't they heard of eBay? I mean, I can understand people thinking that Commodore stuff is worthless (even though you get at least a tenner for the C64 alone excluding games) but PSX and Dreamcast stuff is worth at least £2 a game (absolute minimum) so 100 games would have got at least £200, even as a job lot.

[Demon Cleaner]

What a big mess, I still want to get a VIC20, they are not so easy to get nowadays. I'm sure that most people think that it is old junk, as it really is, but for guys like us, it's gold.

[LowercaseE]

One one hand, it does suck that people just throw these things away. Especially considering they could probably ask around a few friends and find someone willing to purchase them or at the very least "take them off of their hands". On the other hand, storage space for many people seems to be at a premium anymore so if they have something that's been sitting around for years with no possibly chance of use, I can understand why they would just get rid of it. There are plenty of things I've gotten rid of over the years that I regret now, but at the time, I just didn't have the space for them.

[Demon Cleaner]

There are plenty of things I've gotten rid of over the years that I regret now, but at the time, I just didn't have the space for them.

Yep, same here, and not only no space for them, but also no use. I remember when I sold my amiga because I got a PC, I didn't need it anymore.

[Harrison]

It is true that as newer things appear, some older stuff is no longer needed. For example when I purchased a 21" CRT monitor it was great, but now it is just a huge out of date thing taking up space and definitely not needed or wanted. But the difference is that something like a monitor isn't unique in its function, whereas a games console or computer system is.

[J T]

I guess many people would see the old things as junk and not have even the slightest inkling that there are entusiasts out there that still like to use the machine and talk about it, let alone willing to pay money for one. Sad, but that is the way it is.

It may sound bad, but a lot of people probably cannot be bothered to list things on eBay (either because they don't know about it, or don't want to learn how to do it, or just don't care).

[Harrison]

I think it is mainly the latter, that they just don't care. I suppose it is much like old cars. To some people an old car is a vintage piece of history, whereas to others it is just an old out of date car that needs to be scrapped.

[Demon Cleaner]

I suppose it is much like old cars. To some people an old car is a vintage piece of history, whereas to others it is just an old out of date car that needs to be scrapped.

You're right. I don't care about cars, I don't wash them, maintainance is done only when urgently needed, when it gives up, I buy a new one, and thrash the old. But I want to buy a Porsche 996, when I'll get that car, I will surely look after it.

[Harrison]

Porsche 996, nice! Which model? Although what about the 997 that replaced it? And especially the 997 Turbo. That is a very nice car.

If you did get one it would be essential to take a trip to the Nurburgring!

BTW, are they also referred to as 911's over there? as in the UK all of these are just called different versions of 911, such as 991 Carrera S.