to be sure, i've met several people who earn a living going through dumpsters etc. in boulder colorado. actually i should get back a hold of them, they've had some nice electronics goodies before. in the past they've had brand new, still in the factory wrap scsi 3 terminators (not more than a year after scsi 3 came out) that had been tossed in the dumpster, stacks of them! and there were at that time at least 2 surplus stores in boulder that would by that kind of thing, not to mention the many, many places online where they could have gotten several hundred dollars back for less than an hours work by a lower level employee, and avoided wasting them!
companies don't get big by acting like big companies do, and big companies can sometimes be competed with successfully just because they've forgotten how to be efficient (and smart). big companies make big mistakes all the time. the guy who invented xerography, the process used by all modern copiers and laser printers, tried to sell the idea to ibm, they weren't interested, so xerox was born! another big company who wound up competing with ibm in several other areas just because they missed a big, big chance. ibm could have owned the copier market, but for whatever reason they just weren't impressed, but others were correctly impressed enough to fund this startup dedicated to making copiers. just imagine how rich some of those initial investors got! of course knowing which dice to throw in hindsight is a bit easier than foresight. and the people who make decisions at big technology companies are usually not people who were great engineers with a great understanding of technology and business, they usually only know one or the other, usually business. the computer hard drive was a boot leg, unfunded, unofficial project at ibm. the hard drive was being developed as an analog recording medium for instant replay of football games. the engineers recognized that it would be great for computer data, but management didn't think so and didn't fund it. so at the same time the analog hard drive was being developed resources were siphoned off to develop the computer hard drive, which was eventually demonstrated to management who finally got it once it was staring them in the face! just think about the huge, huge links in computer technology made possible by the hard drive compared to tape drives. yes, there is waste and foolishness everywhere, more than enough to go around. sadly the government is one of the leading sources of education in this area. Yersinia wrote: -------- > I can't resist the urge to comment on this briefly. You are absolutely > right about the govt not having a monopoly on waste (or inefficiency, > might I add, but that's another story). My boyfriend works for a fortune > 500 company and he's gotten the most unbelievable stuff from what would > have gone into the garbage. Most of the stuff he takes isn't anything *I* ----------- -- <http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3267.htm> proof that the U.S. media is now state controlled! Ask your' local tv station why the hell they aren't airing the news any more! Our system of government requires an informed public, with their eyes open. -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.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/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
