Goodwill Computer Store Austin, TX

From: g_at_kurico.com <(g_at_kurico.com)>
Date: Tue Nov 6 22:42:58 2001

On 6 Nov 2001 at 13:05, Ernest wrote:

>
> > Though I do covet some of the items in the museum, there is at
> > least one positive thing that
> > having it at Goodwill has over it being in the hands of a private
> > collector, and that is that the
> > items are available for many more people to "enjoy". Now they
> > might not get as much as
> > someone on this list who can "truely appreciate" it, but a great
> > many people have seen it and
> > had positive experiences. I think having something like this is
> > very good at raising the
> > awareness amongst people that these old computers aren't purely
> > boat anchors. A few of the
> > systems there were saved from the scrapper by the virtue of the
> > person seeing the museum
> > and donating versus junking the systems.
>
> That is a good point but doesn't it seem a little strange that an
> organization that is supposed to be focused on selling donated junk to help
> the poor would hold onto items that are clearly worth a bit of money for the
> purpose of display? Is that ethical? Are they developing a new focus?

Actually, their charter is to hire those who are normally "unhireable" and put
them to work. If the museum helps bring in business to keep their business
going, then it works within the system. Plus, if the store is selling enough to
"show a profit", then it's not really "necessary" to sell these items _now_.
Keep in mind that this is in reality a private collection, and could be sold at
any time if they wanted or needed to.

George
Received on Tue Nov 06 2001 - 22:42:58 GMT