A NY startup selling Linux-based thin-client management software has called foul on HP and Dell for recent efforts to fund computer recycling programs. Symbio Technologies says they stand to sell more new PCs if future diskless clients are destroyed, instead of being donated to schools or resold.
Tiny Linux startup sees through HP-Dell “Recycle” scheme
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Don’t bother reading the article – it, literally, is nothing more than a sales pitch for Symbio. They don’t even bother to disguise it very well:
“Just remove the hard drive, CD-ROM, and floppy disk drives, and connect the reborn PC to a server loaded with our Symbiont Management Suite and you’ll have a robust, new computer that runs as fast as your server,” he said.
But wait! There’s more!
Using the $1,300 commercially supported version of Symbiont, Del Russo says…
Yeah. See, that’s still “recycling” except you recycle cash instead of hardware. Right, man. Ok.
Often times donated PC’s cost more money than they are worth, aka repairs, update OS, and so on. Old PC’s are eventionally going to make it to the trash, so these recycling programs sound good.
Those heartless bastards over at HP and Dell have the audacity to redistribute computers that would otherwise be thrown away. How terrible!
Seriously, I had to read this article twice before I believed they weren’t kidding. All I can say is that those folks over at Symbio Tech are *incredibly* self-serving. The fact of the matter is that schools, charaites, etc. will probably get much more out of a 3 year old PC than a 10 year old one reconfigured as a thin client. Furthermore, I don’t see why the HP/Dell systems and the Symbio systems can’t serve different segments of the market: HP/Dell can serve those with moderate intensive computing needs and symbio can serve those with extremely low computing needs (e.g., email+word processing).
While I certainly don’t doubt that Symbio will lose some customers on account of HP and Dell’s recycling efforts, I think it’s ultimately a good thing to do. The amount of waste produced from discarded PCs is atrocious and the fact that recycling moderately old PCs hurts Symbio’s bottom line is tough.
They should tell their customers to use their thin client system because it is cheaper to maintain on new as well as old computers. That way they target more customers than if they just go for people with old hardware.
I am using with success programs like Thinstation (http://thinstation.sf.net) to use very old Pentium I computers as X terminals and/or rdesktop (RDP) terminals.
Here in Brasil there are many schools using solutions like LTSP to run linux on old machines, donated by companies.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3250876.stm
It is stupid send to trash computers without failure, only why they cannot run the last bloated and expensive Windows version. If now its is a reality with Windows XP era, imagine when Longhorn arrives…
Finally someone else has determined WHY major OEM’s have little or no interest in shipping a “desktop” version of Linux. Windows SELLS new hardware; and thats exactly what they are in business to do.
If I were an OEM reading the above posts; I would never ship a single copy of Linux preinstalled, as it might be my last chance to ever sell the same customer again in the future.
Linux is a wonderful way to keep those older desktop pc’s in production, however I can certainly understand a push from the OEM’s to get/keep them out of circulation.
I agree with your opinion but I think all IT managers sould resist to pressures for new acquisitions. They are payed to think about solutions, not to request to buy new hardware and software blindly.
This is the same reason why M$ never incentived the use of Terminal Services on NT. The TS-CAL license price is about the same of a regular windows license. It is abusive ! And you have to buy X copies of every program instaled on the server (where X is the number of TS clients), even if you are running Y << X sessions at the same time.
The only way to escape from thin insanity is using the most possible free (as free software) applications and operating systems.
“When I read how Dell and Hewlett-Packard wanted to assume more financial responsibility for recycling used computers, I couldn’t believe it. I turned to my partner, Gideon Romm, and told him, ‘They’re taking away future diskless thin clients from our system and other Linux systems. And then they sell new PC’s that become old PC’s. That’s their idea of recycling.'”
That’s EVERYBODY’S idea of recycling. These guys will be out of business within the year if that’s really their thinking.
>That’s EVERYBODY’S idea of recycling. These guys will be out
>of business within the year if that’s really their thinking.
Look, I can’t believe no one’s thought about this article. Symbio has a point — what’s the point in “recycling” computers if it involves creating another computer to take the old one’s place? Its a waste of energy (recycling is not “free”).
Here’s a company that takes old PC’s that would otherwise be scrapped (so HP or Dell wants to foot the bill, still a waste). HP and Dell have an interest in reducing the total number of PC’s on the market, because then people have to buy new ones (which is not a good use of the materials and energy required to manufacture them).
Symbio wants to charge organizations a reasonable amount to get utility out of computers that are already purchased. A very sensible and environmentally friendly business model. HP and Dell just want to create economies of scale on landfills.
HP and Dell will put Symbio and similar businesses out of business by taking losses on disposing of computers. Then, when the smaller players are out of the market, they can push the cost onto consumers.
Computers are very reusable, and “obsolete” computers usually still have quite a bit of use left in them. Wake up.
Computers are very reusable, and “obsolete” computers usually still have quite a bit of use left in them. Wake up.
I couldn’t agree more. I have six computers and all of them are under 1Ghz. I have no issues using them and it makes me sick to see people throwing down $1000 dollars for a new computer because their old one is “slow”, which is usually a result of viruses and spyware. It’s unbelievable that someone should feel compelled to replace a 1.5Ghz or so machine because of “speed issues”. I have seen it happen many times and it’s such a big waste of resources.
“I have no issues using them and it makes me sick to see people throwing down $1000 dollars for a new computer because their old one is “slow”, which is usually a result of viruses and spyware.”
Well if you’re savy, you’d say, I’ll take that old computer off your hands.
“This is the same reason why M$ never incentived the use of Terminal Services on NT. The TS-CAL license price is about the same of a regular windows license. It is abusive ! And you have to buy X copies of every program instaled on the server (where X is the number of TS clients), even if you are running Y << X sessions at the same time.”
I’ve seen MS warm up a bit to the use of terminal services in recent months. They have offered five additional CAL’s for free with Server 2003. By default you have only two available for admin use. MS will do whatever they can to keep companies from switching to “anything” else, and this is certainly a step in the right direction. Now if they would just come down from the mountain with their licensing methods. (they will if you press the issue)
Well if you’re savy, you’d say, I’ll take that old computer off your hands.
Unfortunatly, this is ussually something you find out several days/weeks/months after the fact.
He is right though, my parents are running an Athlon 1100 with a 168 MB of ram from god knows when, with some Compaq P166 hanging off it as a X terminal for my sister, and it’s fine. Right now, anything over a 1 Ghz CPU and 256 MB of ram (as some nice round numbers) is overkill*, yet you still running out to upgrade their already over-spec’d computers** simply because a certain OS doesn’t have decent security.
* – The latest 3d games not with standing. However, most people don’t play these, and even then, average joesumer plays things like Baldurs Gate and Medal of Honour. The hardware requirments for these sort of things is much much lower than say, FarCry.
** – That for some reason, still don’t seem to have an AGP slot, or a decent 3d card, and often seem to pair a 2.8 GHz Celeron with 128 MB of SD ram.
I should have added, is overkill for most people.
I play games, and I develop stuff. I have 768 MB of ram, and while most of it sits unused, there are times, when I have used all the ram, and really need more. But that’s me – my – and most geeks – requirements are very different from most peoples.
“I agree with your opinion but I think all IT managers sould resist to pressures for new acquisitions. They are payed to think about solutions, not to request to buy new hardware and software blindly.”
The reason new PCs are bought every few years is on-site warranty support. It’s cheaper to pay for extended warranties than to hire a few more techs to prop up failing hardware. Especially when you are supporting hundreds of PCs.