Get Cash For Your Used or Broken iPhone

Look at the condition of your old iPhone. Darn right you replaced it. What good is the best smartphone in the world when the screen is cracked? There’s only one thing to do now - drop it in the trash and fuhgeddaboutit. Right? WRONG!

Throw away that iPhone and you are committing two unforgivable sins. First of all, you are throwing away money. Second, you are polluting the environment. Why do that when you can get cash for used or even broken iPhones?

Unbelievable, but true. There is company that will actually present you with offers for your old iPhone whether it works or not. Of course, the better the condition the more you get. But even old junkers are worth a little something. Compensation ranges from a few dollars on up to over $100 cash. I just checked the some typical compensation values and it actually says you can get over $100 for a functioning iPhone 4S. You won’t get a hundred bucks if you toss it to the curb in last week’s trash, now will you?

By the way, sending in your old iPhone won’t cost you a cent either. You just enter your contact information on a quick online form and tell them what iPhone you have and its condition and, in most cases, one or more buyers will send you a pre-paid mailer. Put your iPhone in the mailer, send it off, and wait for your moola to arrive shortly. When you think about it, that’s not much more trouble than taking out the trash and it pays a lot better.

Here's something even better. This not only works for iPhones, but all sorts of other smartphones, too. You can get cash for tablets, digital cameras, MP3 players, game consoles and e-readers as well as a wide variety of smartphones and feature phones.

Even so, you’ve got an old iPhone in the desk drawer, don’t you? Well, it’s time to get paid. Check the offers, select the best one for you and request your pre-paid equipment mailer now. Then do one more wonderful thing. Donate that found money to a good cause (like this one). You’ll feel even better.

Clod Computing Challenges The Cloud

Cloud computing is making a name for itself by challenging the cost of running traditional corporate data centers. But just as the cloud is reaching critical mass, a new challenger appears with an even lower cost model. They call it clod computing.

Just what is the “clod” and why is it cheaper? The business model is based on reducing infrastructure cost by getting computing resources for free. As explained by startup vendor Chip-On-A-Shingle, “A clod is simply a cluster of unwanted computers and peripherals all hooked together to create some really awesome processing.”

It’s true that there is a surplus of computers headed for landfills simply because they are no longer the new shiny thing. Most computers go to their graves perfectly functional. They’ve simply gotten too slow due to lack of memory or processing power to keep up with the latest software applications. Some are tossed for simple ugliness as UV exposure turns their once cream colored cases a nasty shade of orange.

“What gave me the idea,” said J. Unkmann, a pioneer in the new technology of OaaP (Obsolescence as a Platform), “was when I saw all these computers sitting out by the curb on trash day. It seemed like every other house had a tower or a monitor. They didn’t even bother putting them in the recycling bins. I got to thinking about all that processing power going to waste and decided to pick up a few and see what I could do with them.”

Unkmann’s breakthrough was in networking dozens, then hundreds, of old computer CPUs and selling the processing capability as a service. As he points out, “Any old 486 may not have much throughput, but when you have hundreds or thousands of cores you’ve got yourself a super-computer. I don’t dare take my array out of the country. The government has laws against exporting this advanced technology.”

Instead, Unkmann and a legion of similar visionaries are offering their services to anyone from caffeinated gamers to corporate IT departments. Unkmann’s below-ground data center has wooden racks filled from floor to ceiling with everything from old IBM PCs to brightly colored iMacs. The primary cost of the operation is electricity. “Heat could also be a problem, he remarked, but we live up North so it’s cold most of the time. Security isn’t much of a issue, either. Mom’s got a mean dog upstairs and the storm cellar door has been rusted shut for years.”

In addition to processor cycles, Chip-On-A-Shingle offers scalable storage as a service. “You can see how extensive our disk array is,” noted Unkmann pointing at a shelf stacked high with hard drives. “Some of these are only 40 GB or so, but people are throwing out computers with 250 GB drives these days. Just call up and tell me how many you want and I’ll plug ‘em in.”

Costs for clod computing are running considerably lower than those quoted by well known cloud service providers. J. Unkmann has flexible financing available that includes anything from PayPal contributions to bartering arrangements. “I’m most interested in PoD (Pizza on Demand),” he commented.

Connectivity arrangement are flexible, too. “We can wire up just about anything you want. Dial-up works just fine if you are on a tight budget. I’ve got maybe a thousand modem cards in a box over there. We can also go wireless. Just send me a time card for my prepaid phone.”

Major carriers and cloud service providers have been loath to embrace clod computing so far. But as the recession drags on, breakthrough ideas such as this may come to fill a very low end niche in the marketplace, until the economy picks up... hopefully by next April 1.

Earth Day Means Money For Electronics Recycling

It’s Earth Day, the day to hug those trees and generally show appreciation for Mother Nature. We better show a little respect for Momma Earth, before she decides that we’re the ones who ought to be recycled. Even so, can’t we find some way to make a buck off all this environmental goodness?

You bet we can. I’ll bet even Ed Begley, Jr. wouldn’t be too horrified at the idea of pocketing a few dollars from doing a good thing for the ecology. I’m certainly not above it. How about yourself? Would you like to do a little painless recycling and put a few bucks in your pocket for the effort?

I thought so. Well, here’s the deal. We’re a world swimming in a sea of unwanted electronics. Grandpa would be horrified at the thought of setting his Atwater Kent out at the curb for trash pickup. But thanks to automation and mass marketing, electronics is now a throw away commodity -- literally.

Think about it. Where is the cell phone you had before the one you have now? How about the one before that. We’re probably talking less than six years for three generations of cell phone design, and this has been going on for a couple of decades. So, is it in a desk drawer? Or was it dumped unceremoniously in the trash during last spring’s cleaning frenzy?

This is typical of not only cell phones, but digital cameras, MP3 players, gaming consoles, home audio equipment and computers of all types. Would you be shocked to learn that the “junk” electronics you set out at the curb last Sunday night could have taken you to a nice dinner and a movie, or financed the next electronic gadget on your wish list?

It’s true, and if you’re suspicious that this just can’t be so, find out how much cash you can get for your electronics now.

Oh, you think that running ads and trying to sell that stuff is more trouble than it’s worth. That’s probably true. But you don’t have to run any ads or wait for people to come to the door and then try and talk you into a lower price. There’s no need to go through that grief when you can just check electronics recycling prices online in a minute or so. If you like the price this recycler is offering, then click to order a free shipping box. Drop your stuff in the mail and back comes a check. Does it get any sweeter than this?

So, where’s the Earth Day tie-in to this blatantly capitalistic activity? It comes from keeping electronics out of the landfills here and abroad. This equipment may look benign, but left out in the environment it starts to decompose and leach out all sorts of toxic materials. The legacy of trashing your iStuff is iPoisoning for some future generation. You don’t want to be responsible for that, do you? Of course not. So even if your old unwanted electronics proves worthless, send it in for proper recycling anyway. Your Mother Earth will appreciate it.

There’s $$$ In E-Waste

Did you know there’s a $100 bill in that trash you set out at the curb? Oh, I’m sorry. The truck’s already come. Looks like that c-note is headed for the landfill. It will probably be found by future generations, but be so decayed by then that it will have no value. Pity about all the poisons that will have leached into the environment.

What am I talking about? E-waste. That’s short for electronic waste. Ah, I’ll bet you can guess what’s going on now. The $100 bill in the trash wasn’t in the form of a greenback. It represents the value of that smartphone or navigation system you chucked because you bought a newer model. You can set it out for pickup or you can send it in for cash. It’s your choice.

Electronic waste has been a problem since the first radios and TVs started showing up at the city dump. Nobody made a big deal of it because the early electronic appliances were big, expensive and not likely to be trashed until after decades of service. There was also a lot less environmental awareness back then. That doesn’t mean that these things were benign trash like old chairs or broken window panes. Those metal chassis were chock full of lead solder and chemical filled electrolytic capacitors. Some had batteries with paper wrappers that quickly decomposed.

Fast forward to today’s electronics. Cell phones have a life cycle of around two years each. That’s how long it takes for the contract to expire. With the rapid advance of technology, many people want a new phone every couple of years just to get the latest goodies. They can often get a cell phone for free when they sign a new contract.

Computers don’t fare much better, especially in business. Few microprocessor boards ever wear out. They go obsolete years before they would have failed in service. All those circuit boards are still full of lead solder and components made of various elements. Some, like gold, are valuable. Many are toxic and tend to leach out when exposed to water over many years. Think of the millions and millions of electronic circuit boards piling up as electronic waste, and you begin to sense the potential size of the cleanup problem downstream.

Just as tragic is the residual value of the electronic devices being casually tossed away. Some people may take a stab at selling their old gear using ads on craigslist or eBay. For most, though, that's just way too much effort for the expected reward. After all, that old gadget doesn’t have any value to them since they aren’t using it any more. What they don’t know is that for almost no effort whatsoever they could be pocketing $10, $20, $50, even $100 or more for that “electronic junk.”

What types of devices are we talking about? Cell phones, of course. But also some laptop computers, digital cameras, MP3 players, PDAs, gaming consoles, GPS devices, LCD monitors, satellite radios, projectors, streaming media devices, home audio equipment, camcorders, external drives and Blu-ray players. Even content such as movies on DVD and video games may have residual value.

How can you be sure that you have something of value rather than junk? Better yet, how can you cash in with little effort? The way to do that is to sell your used electronic devices to a recycler that specializes in trading cash for gadgets. You simply visit the website and check the value of what you have in whatever condition its in. If you like what you see, you request a free prepaid mailer and send your gadget in for evaluation. Once approved, a check will be on its way to you quickly. Even if your offering has no remaining financial value, you can still send it in for proper recycling as the responsible thing to do.

So, treat yourself to a fancy coffee or a nice cold beer with part of your proceeds. Be sure to toast the device that served you well through those years and then gave you the opportunity to get a little cash at the end. From now on, you’ll be collecting on all your e-waste.