The shockingly wasteful fate of secondhand PCs
By Dave Parrack
What do you do with your PC when you decide to hock it for a brand spanking new system? Do you bin it, destroy it in a fit of rage, sell it, or give it to a friend, relative, or charity in dire need? It seems most of us choose one of the first two options because the majority of used PCs go unused beyond the first owner.
When computers were first released, they were gargantuan beasts that filled whole rooms. Then, the invention of the microchip saw PCs become a reality. They were once still the reserve of the wealthy, but are now cheap enough for the mainstream to own them in droves. This affordability has increased the computer technology footprint considerably, but it also means people upgrade their systems often to keep up with the latest advances.
But with people replacing their PCs as often as they do, you’d think there would be an incredibly healthy secondhand PC market on the go. There is a market, but it seems over half of all discarded PCs aren’t being used after their first owner decides it’s time for an upgrade. Surely this can’t be good, especially when there are numerous countries around the world who could use the technology that those of us in the established computer markets discard at the drop of a hat.
A recent Gartner study found that of the approximately 197 million PCs retired during 2007, just 44 percent will ever be reused. This is just counting those that are in a fit state to use, having not been rendered useless by a fatal hardware failure or some other type of issue that makes repair a non-option.
What’s more, the study showed that just 1 in 5 PCs from established markets such as America and Western Europe make it to territories most in need of the technology. The hurdles preventing better distribution include environmental or privacy considerations, export taxes, and high transportation costs.
With ultra low-cost laptops now entering the market, and efforts such as the One Laptop Per Child initiative making waves, surely steps should be taken to ensure used PCs are getting to the people who need them. We in established markets may be used to buying and upgrading PCs every few months, but there are still plenty of countries where a secondhand computer could change the lives of many people.
I personally blame Microsoft Vista.
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December 1st, 2008
This was going on long before Vista. How useful is a computer with no infrastructure? If I pulled your internet access how much would you use your computer?
The commodity status, the cheap pricing and the quick doubling of capacity makes for a tiny used market.
Macheads liked to brag about resale value, but that was due to a tightly controlled monopoly and a comparatively, agonizingly slow advance in hardware. What you got from a 3 year old Mac compared to a new Mac made sense financially.
You could often buy a new PC with the same or better specs than what people were asking for used ones with no warranty.
There is a reason that service isn’t really stressed much with PCs, they aren’t a long term play any more. If they run for 90 days, they will last until you upgrade.
The truth is, it’s hard to even donate computers here in the US. Places are overflowing with them. You have to pay to dispose of them in many places. I remember in the 80’s banks would make business loans using PC’s for collateral. I also remember when TVs were kept for a decade, when cd players and vcrs were worth repairing.