For those who love technology, there is something inherently sad about a shiny, multi-thousand-dollar machine becoming trash. Once upon a time, you dreamed about having such a machine, saved up for it, or maybe even went into debt for it. But one day, it runs slower than you remembered, and it achieves doorstop status.
Perhaps the most startling thing about the process is how quickly computers become obsolete: it's a time scale usually measured in mere years, and sometimes even months. The socio-economic force of obsolescence is what inspired me to begin collecting computers in the early 1990s, hopefully saving them for future generations to come.
But not every computer can or should be saved. Millions of PC are shipped to consumers every year, locking up hundreds of tons of valuable raw materials that could be recycled to make new computers in the future.
With that in mind, in the slides ahead, let's take a look at a handful of dramatic, sometimes haunting photos that show what happens when computers become trash.
1. Green Bins
I think I spot at least two old 1980s luggable machines tucked in there. Sometimes collectible machines get mixed in with the scrap, but there is little we can do about it.
2. Waiting for Eternity
(Photo: EnMin Ser)
3. Computer Cave
(Photo: Nizar Kerkeni)
4. Losing Memory
(Photo: Robert Antoniuk)
5. Through the Fence
(Photo: Anna Vignet)
6. Recycling Day
7. Surrounded by Trash
Some unscrupulous recycling companies ship electronic waste from the U.S. and Europe to developing countries like China and Ghana, where it is sold to residents who attempt to harvest raw materials from the trash—usually by hand and without protection. Unfortunately, the process usually poisons the residents and their environment.
With so many computers and gadgets in use today, this problem is only going to grow in the years ahead. So if you have to throw out your old computers, make sure they will be processed safely and locally—and not shipped overseas.
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