We've gotten several tech exchange requests since posting the announcement, but no offers yet, which is sad. Hopefully those will come in soon -- some of the requests are quite pitiful, from writers who suffered hard drive crashes, or who never owned computers at all. I'm planning on donating a printer (which I got for free when I bought my new computer) in a day or two, and my old digital camera when I buy a new one (around Christmas, I think, before the Sri Lanka trip), but that's all I can do at the moment. We actually have a spare laptop in the house, but technically it belongs to Univ. of Illinois, so we can't give it away. I hope other people donate stuff!!!
Not much else to report. Must focus. Must write.
Is there any way to see what people are looking for?
Hmm…y’know, we didn’t set it up that way, but I’m not sure I see any reason not to make that info public, if stripped of all personal information. That might make extra work for our staffer — I’d have to check. Do you think it would be useful information?
So far, we have requests for one Mac laptop, one IBM laptop, one computer of any type, one printer to go with the Mac, one printer of any time, and one digital camera of any type. I think — that’s all from memory.
We couldn’t put up the requests we’ve gotten already without asking, of course.
Honestly, I’m not sure how helpful it would be. In my case, I have a digital camera that I was going to sell on eBay. I wanted to check if anyone on the exchange list needed it first. It’s a 0.8 Megapixel camera, so I wasn’t sure if anyone needed it.
But since I don’t know if someone wants it, I’m less inclined to put it on the list and have it sit there, possibly indefinitely. If I saw a specific need, I’d probably get off my bum and offer it right away — somehow it’s more personal and therefore more inspiring.
Just rambling here, so ignore at will!
Hmm…will think about it further. But for now, I’ll note that there definitely was someone who only asked for a digital camera — they don’t have one right now, and they could really use it to help with story research.
What Jenn said makes sense to me too. There’s stuff that I’d just as soon try to sell or keep hanging around, but if I knew someone out there actually was looking for it, that would be an impetus to make me want to answer the call. If you’re donating something, it’s always a good feeling to know that someone really does want it. As opposed to wondering if you’re just tossing it into the void.