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WWYDWFI? (What would you do with fifty iMacs?)

makezine.com — In the fall of 2006, there were a bunch of Imacs in the old girl's locker room of the middle school. Nobody wanted anything to do with them, and since there were enough of them, it seemed like there might be something interesting to do with them. Give your ideas for the iMacs fate.

Who dugg this? Made popular Nov 24, 2006

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  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1041) Install keyloggers in them and give them to girls
    2) Periodically collect photos from HD and myspace/photobucket accounts
    3) Profit!
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+95Will they blend?
  • BadassCheese, on 10/12/2007, -1/+66I would drop them from a helicopter. No wait, that's turkeys.
  • shrewduser, on 10/12/2007, -9/+63donate them to a number of schools in needy countries.
  • NumberFour, on 10/12/2007, -9/+61make a website for it, called smash my imac, get people to donate money to you, make a video of it, and put it on digg.
  • jacks0n, on 10/12/2007, -6/+56beowulf cluster!
  • toppgun, on 10/12/2007, -1/+50ill trade you one red paper clip for that house
  • threepio, on 10/12/2007, -6/+46Xgrid ftw. Sure, you can blow them up - or you can cure cancer. Your choice man.
  • titlesaysitall, on 10/12/2007, -5/+37I'd sell them on eBay.
  • dustko, on 10/12/2007, -2/+32They've got two options in the end:

    1) Entertain the internet (blow them up in a variety of imaginative ways etc)

    2) Give them to a struggling institution that actually need them

    Hmm... I really hope they end up giving them to people in need. Sure, they're ***** slow, but there's thousands of community groups (in your own country!) who would just love to have something to use microsoft word on. Or young kids to play educational games, or paint and print out their creations. Or old people learning to use the internet and check their email for the first time.

    These iMacs could really warm the hearts of many for many years, or provide a fleeting moment of interest for us diggers. And for me, knowing how they could be better used, watching them blow up would be more saddening then interesting. I hope they do the right thing.
  • idonthack, on 10/12/2007, -7/+36Step 1: Install PPC Linux, maybe with distributed computing software.
    Step 2: Run Folding@Home http://folding.stanford.edu/
    Step 3: Save lives
  • BigBrother87, on 10/12/2007, -1/+27I'd try to buy Japan, red paperclip style.
  • echo2, on 10/12/2007, -3/+27Why not send them to some poor school in some third world country.
  • fasda, on 10/12/2007, -2/+25what about THERMITE
  • jaydj, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23I realize that you've just started making comments 3 hours ago, so I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt.

    Every single comment that you've made so far on digg, you have dropped your spam. This is not the place to advertise.
  • everfalling, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20imac fish tanks :)
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+22I'll take one and make it my bar computer for digging up recipes
  • sporkman, on 10/12/2007, -18/+34oh yeah, you can cure cancer with 50 iMacs...
  • khag7, on 10/12/2007, -1/+171 red paperclip buys 1 house
    i'd say 1 red paperclip is worth about 2 cents
    each of theses iMacs is about $50 at minimum
    so 1 iMac = 2500 red paperclips
    so 50 iMacs are 125000 red papercips
    and if 1 red paperclip = 1 house
    then 125000 red paperclips = 125000 houses
    thats like an entire suburban area!
    you could buy a town or two with those iMacs, according to the transitive property of redpaperclip
  • CaptShmo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17okay, i'll say it for all the pc people:

    GET THE CATAPULT!
  • Lyanto, on 10/12/2007, -13/+26Porn surfing.
  • CaptShmo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14thermite and catapult are not mutually exclusive =D
  • DeathBorn, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13I would connect all the monitors and make a huge display to show news on.
  • crashflow, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12yum! fifty big macs! EAT EM!

    ...oh wait...

    1.) give them to a public school
    2.) Run Folding@Home. Help develop medicine to cure diseases.
    3.) Run SETI@Home. Find the damn vulcans, i mean radio technologically-able advanced extraterrestrial race.
    4.) Connect the world. Send all 50 macs to different parts of the world on a project that allows sharing of info about culture...and *****. I dunno... :)
    5.) Create AI, named Skynet. Or the Apple version, iNet.
    6.) Send it to where people need up-to-date real time information to save lives. Like organ donor hospitals or pizza delivery.
    7.) Give 1 to david letterman for the "Will It Float?" segment.
    8.) Make a aquarium/ terrarium. Snakes in a iMac!
    9.) Set up a bar that uses social networking and a few webcams, to show who's in the bar and if anyone is interested in hooking up, they...hmm...will get back to you on this..:)
    10.) Cycling helmets. they're pretty streamline anyway.
  • DrGamez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+111. Get a carousel and strip everything off of it except the bars.
    2. Attatch imacs to bars using chains.
    3. Put wheels on carousel.
    4. Activate carousel-o-death and drive it around town.

    5. CONQUER WORLD.
  • JuyLe, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13I would write "OLPC" on it and send it to Africa.
  • ruprecht, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Leave them in the girls' locker room, hook webcams up to them and make a million dollars.
  • fatlip, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11give them to a bunch of kids that are less fortunate?

    AM I THE ONLY ONE THAT CARES ABOUT THE CHILDREN?!
    THE CHILDREN, DAMMIT!
  • idiotwithastick, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Donate them to places where people actually need computers...
  • stmiller, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10^Won't work. There is no PPC Linux FAH client. And no plans for one. :(
  • burke, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Yeah. I won't hold it against you --- but stop now ;)
  • dhughes, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8 50 of the World's biggest portable mp3 players...just add a belt loop..and a battery.
  • uptown, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I suggest a reprise of this:
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8973616/
  • burke, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9You mean "(PRODUCT)^RED"? haha
  • Snakedal337, on 10/12/2007, -8/+14Why not send them to some poor school in your native country?

    We need to clean up domestic problems first.
  • SpazticChips, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I have a mix of 20 G3 iMacs and eMacs at my dispose, hadn't a clue what to do with them. I think i'm going to learn how to make a cluster and then do something useful with them instead of paperweights in a closet. This article reminded me that I can do something with them.
  • idonthack, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Hairs on a bobbin!
  • elv1s77, on 10/12/2007, -0/+550 really big paper weights?
  • taotehue, on 10/12/2007, -1/+650 PPC MACS have the power of 50 machines. To say that they have the power of 5 decent desktops is lame. while it is true that machines have gained processor power exponentially, those older machines still have a lot potential to be put to some good use, especially if they are put into a cluster.
    They may be older, but I wouldn't call them crappy. By doing that you limit what your capable of and show the potential of your ability to use your imagination to create resources in this age.
  • shauncullen, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Make an iMac cannon. Then shoot stuff. With iMacs.
  • titlesaysitall, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I am using a 7 year old iMac (iMac 5 Colors, Blue 350 MHz, 384 MB RAM, 10.3.9, 80 GB HDD) as we type, it works except video playback is a couple FPS or won't play at all.
  • D3koy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I would buy one of those in a heartbeat....That would be cool. Hell i'd pay 100$ for one...And i don't even like macs
  • burke, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6PPC Linux + OpenMosix = Render Farm? DistCC Cluster?

    *Imagine a beowulf cluster of those!*
    (Sorry, I had to)
  • D3koy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7I love that you picture(Digg logo thingy) is some flame, and your suggestion involves fire(a burning apple logo upon closer inspection...)
  • tjl2015, on 10/12/2007, -2/+61. Rip out all the components.
    2. Add current hardware.
    3. Market it as a 'retro."
    4. Put them on eBay as custom case mods.
    5. Get the link to digg.
    6. $$$ PROFIT $$$
  • Black913Hole, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6REAGAN SMASH!
  • iJump, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6"I can't see *****" (in that picture)
  • SharkyTech, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Tie a chain around the handle at the back and USE IT AS A BOAT ANCHOR!!!

    But seriously, make a cluster/giant display.

    Or install a PPC version of Linux, maybe one of the Ubuntus and give them out to anyone who wants one for free, maybe a local Linux User Group or whatever.
  • znicket, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Send them to me here in Sri Lanka. I can distribute them to various schools and charities that have absolutely nothing IT related. The kids here really want to learn but computers are not available to the vast majority. 50 computers would set up maybe 10 schools.
  • FzArEkTaH, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4iMacs are good, but Wu-Tang is for the children!
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