Sunday, December 21, 2003
Sources of Macs
Someone browsed this BLOG and asked where do all the Macs come from. There are 2 answers. The ones I've been mentioning recently are all at the elementary school where my wife teaches. Donations to other schools and surplus Macs come mainly from the FLMUG user group in Orlando.
Years ago, my wife's school purchased a bunch of 580's and 575's (one for each classroom plus several in the library). Then, after I met my wife and started volunteering, they bought a lab of bondi iMacs (about 32). More recently they bought 2 carts of iBooks and some wireless base stations, a variety of newer CRT iMacs in various colors, and 1 eMac.
The school also solicits and accepts used, donated Macs. A few years back they got all the surplus Macs from the local fire department, mostly 6100's and 630's. The district tech people were furious with the principal for accepting these, but the computer teacher knew that they could be put to good use, and that I was available as a volunteer to work on them. The computer teacher also asked other schools in the district for any PowerMacs they no longer needed, and this how the school got about 30 5x00's, a dozen 7200's, and various other models.
Previously in the BLOG I mentioned getting 12 8100's for another public school, and 36 6100 and 7100's for a private school. These all come from FLMUG's RD&S project, which accepts unwanted Macs from the Orlando area, fixes them up, and donates them to charities as needed. I've been involved in both the school and RD&S for about 5 years now.
RD&S gets a lot more donations than they can handle, so they often let me take away really old models. First I got a van load of compacts and imagewriters. I continue to prep these as homework computers and give them to low income families with kids at the school. More recently RD&S decided to unload all the pre-Quadras, and then all the Quadras, so I have a variety of those.
In the next few days or weeks, RD&S may find a new location, suspend activity and put equipment into storage, or disband altogether. I would like to see them continue somehow. But every couple of years they seem to lose their workshop space. If they don't find a new workshop, maybe just finding storage (even renting a storage unit) and working in members' garages could be a new way to continue the operation.
Someone browsed this BLOG and asked where do all the Macs come from. There are 2 answers. The ones I've been mentioning recently are all at the elementary school where my wife teaches. Donations to other schools and surplus Macs come mainly from the FLMUG user group in Orlando.
Years ago, my wife's school purchased a bunch of 580's and 575's (one for each classroom plus several in the library). Then, after I met my wife and started volunteering, they bought a lab of bondi iMacs (about 32). More recently they bought 2 carts of iBooks and some wireless base stations, a variety of newer CRT iMacs in various colors, and 1 eMac.
The school also solicits and accepts used, donated Macs. A few years back they got all the surplus Macs from the local fire department, mostly 6100's and 630's. The district tech people were furious with the principal for accepting these, but the computer teacher knew that they could be put to good use, and that I was available as a volunteer to work on them. The computer teacher also asked other schools in the district for any PowerMacs they no longer needed, and this how the school got about 30 5x00's, a dozen 7200's, and various other models.
Previously in the BLOG I mentioned getting 12 8100's for another public school, and 36 6100 and 7100's for a private school. These all come from FLMUG's RD&S project, which accepts unwanted Macs from the Orlando area, fixes them up, and donates them to charities as needed. I've been involved in both the school and RD&S for about 5 years now.
RD&S gets a lot more donations than they can handle, so they often let me take away really old models. First I got a van load of compacts and imagewriters. I continue to prep these as homework computers and give them to low income families with kids at the school. More recently RD&S decided to unload all the pre-Quadras, and then all the Quadras, so I have a variety of those.
In the next few days or weeks, RD&S may find a new location, suspend activity and put equipment into storage, or disband altogether. I would like to see them continue somehow. But every couple of years they seem to lose their workshop space. If they don't find a new workshop, maybe just finding storage (even renting a storage unit) and working in members' garages could be a new way to continue the operation.
