My motivation behind writing this blog is to draw on all the creative business minds out on the Internet to help me solve an ethical business idea that's been bugging me for the last few years.
Background:
"An unfortunate by-product of today's fast-moving digital age is the obsolescent equipment that gets discarded in its wake.."
Dealing with toxic computer waste (BBC News Article)
Opportunity:
All major cities like London have literally millions of old computers destined for the land fill. These machines are seen to be useless by their owners as they don't have the ability to run a secure & responsive modern operating system.
The vast majority of these machines will be thrown out at the dump or street side over the next few years. I know there are good organizations like Computer Aid International that are willing for individuals to drop off their machines in person or via courier. The cost of couriering invariably putting off most good doers.
Known:
I know it's possible to get my hands on literally thousands of older machines in a densely populated city like London at no cost except the time spent networking on sites like freecycle & gumtree e.t.c.
I know it's possible to load a totally free modern operating system like Linux (DSL / Gentoo / Arch / Vector / eLive / Xubuntu...) that will allow older machines to operate relatively quickly and securely while on the Internet.
The Crunch:
How does one take the above two freebies and convert it into a viable & ethical business idea?
Please post a comment.
