[Athen] Your opinions on keeping old AT

[David Andrews]

You might be able to find homes for some stuff. 
In Minnesota our Tech Act program, called STAR 
recycles obsolete technology, and gives stuff to 
people who can use older technology.

There are a number of projects that collect 
Braille for African countries, and others.

It is work, but it may ease your conscious.

Dave

At 10:21 AM 7/17/2019, you wrote:

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>Curious about others' opinions here.

>

>Over the years I've had a variety of deans, 

>supervisors, bosses. Each time we switch to new management priorities change.

>

>One boss will want us to spend money when we 

>have it and buy as much equipment as possible. 

>Another boss wants to clean out and throw away 

>everything we haven't used in a few years. One 

>boss worries about accommodating every student 

>while another boss only worries if a student complains.

>

>The current management is on a massive cleanup 

>canpaign so everything I don't want to see 

>thrown away has migrated to my office. I have 

>piles of stuff we "might need" someday but 

>haven't used in a while. Before I could stop it 

>a thirteen-volume Braille textbook was thrown 

>away that was only used one quarter. Last year 

>they nearly threw away my PIAF machine because 

>nobody had seen me using it – but I resurrected it in time.

>

>So when the cleanup started I grabbed stuff. Now 

>I can hardly move I’m so – ‘er’ stuffed with stuff in my office!

>

>But maybe like some previous bosses, I myself am 

>a hoarder. Maybe I need to just say goodbye and move on.

>

>I email other departments asking if they want 

>some wacky thing, like a Braille atlas of the 

>world or an ancient but still working CCTV and get no response.

>

>I surplused three perfectly working Braille 

>embossers a few years ago simply because I no 

>longer had convenient parallel or serial ports. 

>I couldn't take it home because that would have 

>been stealing but it was probably broken up for 

>scrap metal. And just yesterday I threw away all 

>our CD-based Daisy players because nobody has 

>requested one in at least four years.

>

>I do tend to hoard because it  has served me 

>well before. One of my friends still uses a 

>large-print French-English dictionary, a massive 

>thing I found at a flea market for a dollar. No doubt some school surplused it.

>

>When I lost my job at TeleSensory, they were 

>literally throwing Braille displays and Optacons 

>in the dumpster. My husband and I snuck back 

>after dark and loaded them in to our car. I gave 

>away the Optacons to very grateful users and still use those displays today.

>But I was young and poorer then; I’m not going 

>to grab stuff that doesn’t belong to me, yet I hate to see it thrown out.

>

>Do you others tend to hang on to obsolete 

>technology in case it might be needed? Or do you 

>toss it out because after all you don't have space and don't want to hoard.