101 Uses For Old Computers- Part one

So you just got a new computer? Hopefully a Mac? If you’re reading this, you’re probably trying to repurpose your old computer. Don’t let it sit idle. It isn’t useless. In fact, over the next four months I am going to offer you one hundred and one useful ideas for how to use that old hunk of junk. Today I present to you the first three for just a quick tast of what’s to come. To automatically see all of the others as they are posted simply subscribe to our email newsletter on the left sidebar. Enjoy! 🙂

1. Live Feed Watcher- This works preferably with laptops. Plug it in on a remote shelf, and enjoy news, stock prices, weather alerts, website traffic info, or whatever you prefer 24/7. Here’s how I did it. I took a crappy old HP netbook, and left it open, and plugged in on a shelf ten feet from my bed. Next, I opened up Google Analytics in Chrome (because Internet Explorer Sucks!) and entered the live traffic beta area. From this area, which can be found in the sidebar of the home screen for your site, you can monitor traffic on your site in real time. I also tried several apps from the mac app store, and hooked my Mac up to an external display, and I was able to display a live stock ticker, weather feed, RSS feed (news of your choice), and twitter feed with ease. It was quite cool. Just be efficient though. Close the laptop, and turn off the screen when you leave, because this will be a real power waster when you are gone. I configured my screen to turn off after three hours of inactivity, which I would also recommend.
2. Furniture- You read this right. Furniture made of old computers is the ultimate geeky item. I’ve seen conversion kits for several machines, but my favorite is the imac G3 to table conversion kit which creates an incredible imac coffee table. For around $50 you can get the conversion kit, and make a mac table yourself, or you can buy one pre-made for a little over $250. These are great talking points for spicing up your home.
3. Donate to Those Less Fortunate– An original ipad may seem like an outdated piece of technology for example, but in the poor schools of South America, I have witnessed through my own travel that most of the people in the town have never seen nor heard of a tablet. Donating an old tablet or computer is the equivalent of donating a vast library to a school. It opens up a whole new world of opportunities. One Charity to consider is Computers With Causes which ships your old computer off to a great new home helping children to learn or fulfilling other charitable missions. Check it out.
4. Sell parts– Computers have Gold, Silicon, LCD screens, mice, and so many more things that you could sell on Ebay. Just sell it part by part. Or you could sell the whole thing by going to the Free resources we provided you in the post from Sunday of this week. Check it out on the home page, subscribe to our newsletter, and be sure to check back for 96 other ways to repurpose your old computer, plus so much more. See yah! Got any repurposing experience? Tell us what you did below and you may be featured in a future post!