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Computers #9a-z (Auction Laptops and other gizmos)
My former employer (The MITRE Corporation*) employ thousands of scientists and engineers at lots o
f sites around the world. Providing all those geeks with the tools of the trade included buying boatloads of laptops for them and refreshing them with newer technology after a "reasonable timespan" (started out at two years, gradually stretched out to 3½ years by the time I retired). I actually had one of the first MITRE-provided laptops, a Gateway™ Liberty™ bought for me while I was working in Germany in 1994. It was a screamer... at the time (Intel™ 486DX4-100 CPU, 8MB Memory, 340MB IDE drive, external 1.44MB 3.5-inch floppy, 14.4kbps data/fax modem, and running WindowsForWorkgroups™ 3.11). It was a "featherweight" at 4.2 lbs. (not including the external floppy and AC adapter). I brought it back with me when I relocated back to the states in 1995, and when it was time to get it replaced they let me buy it outright from them for $25(!), which was a pittance considering what laptops cost back then. Others got wind of the semi-official "perk" of buying your old laptop for pittance and the employees who didn't have assigned laptops (not everyone got a laptop back then, only folks who traveled a lot) complained, so they changed the policy and instituted periodic auctions where anyone could bid on any turned-in laptop. After awhile the auction added desktop machines and monitors and printers. I got into the habit of buying a newer auction laptop whenever the company replaced *my* company laptop, so my work laptop was never more then 3 years old, and my home laptop was never more than 6 years old. I also dove into the "between-upgrades" auctions to buy cheap laptops for family and friends. I stuck with Dells™ since that's what I was used to.
When I see the sleek lightweight laptops available now and think back to that first heavy, thick doorstop-of-a-laptop, I just shake my head.
I also bought CRT and flat-screen monitors at auction, and even twin laser-printers... one for each house!
* - "The MITRE Corporation was chartered in 1958 as a private, not-for-profit company to provide engineering and technical guidance for the federal government*." [https://www.mitre.org/about/our-history]
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