Information Superhighway Littered With Obsolete Computers, Software

Every year, thousands of outdated computers are relegated to the closet, usually by frustrated owners who don’t know what to do with them. There they sit, gathering dust and becoming more obsolete by the second. To computer enthusiasts, they’ve become known as closetware.

And the problem is growing. A 1991 study by Carnegie-Mellon University predicts that by 2005, the nation will have discarded approximately 150 million computers.

Not surprisingly, the quest for a computer made from recyclable materials that are easily dismantled has been undertaken by manufacturers both here and abroad. In Germany, computer makers are already required by law to take back old machines owners no longer want. And American manufacturers, including IBM and Hewlett-Packard, are currently working on ways to reclaim and recycle used computers.

For now, computer owners eager to clean out their closets have three basic options. They can donate old computers to nonprofit organizations for a tax deduction (usually the machine’s current market value). They can sell them - assuming they can find a buyer - for a fraction of the original purchase price. And a growing number of vendors, like Micro Exchange in Nutley, N.J., and Crocodile Computers in Manhattan, accept old computers as trade-ins.

In any case, the task may require a little initiative. Unless you’re getting rid of a lot of computers, Salvation Army-style pickup trucks are rare. Donors and sellers with only one or two computers are usually responsible for packing and transportation costs. When the recipient is a charitable organization, however, documented transportation costs are tax deductible, said Rubin Gorewitz, a certified public accountant in Manhattan.

Old software and computers are often accepted by churches, schools and other local nonprofit organizations. But too frequently, the well meaning give recipients equipment they don’t know how to use or that doesn’t do what they need. One way to ensure that computers find the right home is to donate them through a placement service, like the National Cristina Foundation.

Cristina, which matches computers with donors, has a national network of recipients, from the National Easter Seal Society to countless schools and job-training programs. “When technology is no longer of use in its first place, it should be transferred to a second place of use,” said Yvette Marrin, the organization’s president. The 11-yearold foundation accepts working computers - any Macintosh and IBMs from the XT model on. As with all placement services mentioned here, donors receive documentation for tax deductions.

National Cristina Foundation, 591 West Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, Conn. 06830; (800) 274-7846.

In working order, please

“Placement agencies have lots of requests and plenty of places for these old computers,” said John L. German, the director and founder of Non-Profit Computing, a national service. The trick is getting the right raw material. Though his organization accepts almost any used computer, German prefers donations in good shape. But he recently found a home for broken machines with a school that trains women to repair computers.

Non-Profit Computing Inc., (212) 759-2368.

Where computers go for rehab

Unlike most other placement services, the nonprofit East West Education Development Foundation in Boston accepts computers in any condition. At its warehouse, technicians make any necessary repairs, produce rehabilitated machines complete with mice, modems, software and adapters, and send them to those who need them throughout the world. Recipients have included Sarajevo’s remaining newspaper, Oslobodjenje, and Hands Across Watts in Los Angeles. Multicomputer donors can choose their nonprofit recipients.

Randall, who accepts any Macs and IBMs from the XT on, believes even obsolete models offer years of service. “Only 3 percent of the people on the planet have ever touched a computer,” he said. “In the right hands, they are mind-enhancing tools.”

East West Education Development Foundation, 55 Temple Place, Boston 02111; (617) 542-1234.

An overseas connection

Since 1991, the Student Human Rights Exchange has sent used computers to human rights organizations in Nepal and Mongolia, among other places. It accepts all Macs and IBMs from the XT on.

Student Human Rights Exchange, (202) 625-1214.

Robin Hood helps fight poverty

The Robin Hood Foundation distributes used computers to 85 New York City poverty-fighting organizations, including youth groups and job-training programs. It accepts Macs and the IBM 286 and up.

Robin Hood Foundation, 111 Broadway (near Pine Street), New York 10006; (212) 227-6601.

The profit motive

Sellers get the best deal if they can find a buyer directly. A good example is classified advertisements, whether through a large on-line service, like America Online, or in computer magazines like the Mac Street Journal, published by the Mac Users’ Group in New York, (212) 473-1600.

PC owners can seek out buyers at the monthly meetings of the New York Personal Computer User’s Group. Information is available by calling (212)533-6972.

Secondhand computer vendors also buy equipment; their advertisements run in publications like Computer Shopper. “You get a quick sale,” said Bob Cook, the president of Sun Remarketing, a mail-order concern specializing in used Macs. “But you get a wholesale rate.”

Sellers must ship computers at their own expense, about $25 by UPS, Cook said. He buys Mac SEs, originally $2,495, for about $180, and sells them for $279.

Sun Remarketing Inc., (800) 821-3221.