On 24 May 2004, at 20:00, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
There is a school near me that has 120+ Mac SE/30's sitting in storage. They
ditched them from service eight years ago when PC's took over the market.
Unfortunately, they have been unable to get rid of them due to restrictions
from the local school system's policy on selling equipment bought with state
funds.
Can I post on this occasion as an educational purchaser and asset administrator rather than as a Mac-Head?
As a purchaser, I am responsible for buying kit from public funds; all purchases have to conform to EU regulations on openness, publicity, equal treatment of bidders etc. As an asset administrator, I'm expected to have a reasonable idea where hardware might be at any time. Six months ago the University financial auditors asked me to find three random pieces of hardware (value �250 each); two were in the expected location and one was flagged as awaiting an update to the main database. It took an hour or so to locate the third one but stuff happens. The establishment for whom I work cannot give "obsolete" kit away to members of staff. When kit no longer fits my department's support criteria, it is offered to other University departments and then to computer scrappers who sign contracts regarding safe data removal from hard disks and environmental disposal of hardware. It is not acceptable to send CRTs to land fill.
I guess that the paragraph above suggests lots of red tape. It may be that you call it red tape or you could call it responsible public finance administration. Obviously you need to ensure that a new P4 system is not gifted to a member of staff but surely you can give away a compact Mac? If you're giving away compact Macs, make sure that mine is the SE/30 with a Micron Exceed card that I could sell on eBay for more than a P4 system box...
The big problem is that accountants control assets and accountants have no idea whether a IIci with a DayStar PPC accelerator is worth money or that the visually identical box without accelerator next to it is worth nothing. Were you talking about a four year old white box PC, the accountant could look at her/his depreciation tables and report that the kit is junk. But for a 15 year old SE/30 (as quoted by the previous poster), s/he has no idea of current resale values but does know that the kit cost a lot of money in the first place. That SE/30 cost a lot more than the white box PC your organisation bought four years ago, your accountant doesn't know why, so it is a lot safer to leave it in a warehouse for the next accountant to sort out.
If you want to get computer stuff from a UK educational establishment:
-- be sort of professional (write on letter headed paper, have a web site, have a non-Hotmail email address); you don't need a limited company but you do need to convince people that you'll do the job properly -- indicate that you always wipe disks and that you can do secure wipes if required
-- make it clear that you know the resale value of kit
-- don't pay for anything unless it is really worth it -- you take the good stuff in return for taking the junk that you have to pay to dump
-- have a list of stuff that you won't accept (eg 486 and 386 PCs)
-- indicate that local environmental disposal standards are met
-- get a list of what is available in advance
-- turn up in a suitable vehicle and make sure that you have enough assistance to shift the kit promptly
-- be aware that you have to collect during office hours from universities and colleges
-- check the list while you are loading; you can't afford to pay to dump that load of Pentium P90s if someone has already pinched those gorgeous SGI Indigos from the junk pile
Phil
-- Compact Macs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/>.
Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html>
Compact Macs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/compact.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/compact.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/>
---------------------------------------------------------------
The Think Different Store
http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
