With computers averaging only a three- to five-year life cycle before becoming obsolete, there are plenty of old PCs cluttering up closets and garages, but many people find it emotionally wrenching to part with their outdated machines: "The reason you can't throw it away like an old shoe box is precisely because you've established a prior relationship with it," says an anthropologist at Xerox Corp. Part of the problem is the rapid pace of technological advancement: "My theory is that these folks are so giddy with the pace of change that they keep this junk around as a trail of intellectual breadcrumbs, leading them back to their computing origins," says futurist Paul Saffo. Meanwhile, computer critic Clifford Stoll recycles his machines into other useful household objects -- his one-piece Macintosh Plus is doing double duty as an aquarium, and the shell of an old IBM PC is now used as a cat litter box. (Wall Street Journal 2 Jul 97)
-- from Edupage, 3 Jul '97