What to do with old computer books?
I have a meter of old computer books that I no longer need, I can't really see there's much demand for Java 1.3, or Dreamweaver 4.
I have been told that acid based papers can't be recycled, I'd take them to the charity shop but it seems pointless if they'll just throw them out.
> I can't really see there's much demand for Java 1.3, or Dreamweaver 4.
Designate one bookshelf as your "memory shelf". Keep the books on the languages you learned the most from or that remind you of your best (or most horrible) projects, and place them on that shelf.
Display it prominently, and it will be become a conversation starter for every nerd that comes to your home. "OMG, I haven't thought about Dreamweaver in years!". You can then share war stories.
It will only get more fun as the years pass.
Most old books are effectively disposable decor - the industry prints them by the millions and many have a limited life akin to the Dreamweaver how-to's. The "last a lifetime" highly sought-after books are truly the exception here.
For archival purposes you can go see if it's in the Library of Congress or scanned into Internet Archive, and if not, that's a project you can opt to take on(but it's pretty high effort). Quickly checking for resale value as other comments suggest is also not hard, just expect that most of your stash will go straight to the bin, and getting more out of it means making it your job.
Just throw them in the trash. There is no way to recycle them, and nobody needs them. Do not waste your own and other people’s time by trying to “find them a home”.
Use it to raise your monitor to the right height
Stuff that is specific to old versions of applications is probably best used for kindling or to show off how awesome your 50 cal is. Stuff that is more theory based will be appreciated by somebody.
My father had shelves of computer science books from the 50s and 60s - the first half of the books would always be dedicated to how to decipher a particular professor’s writing and flow charting style, and then it would get into the actual computer science. Nobody writes books like that anymore. He also had a complete set of IBM System/360 manuals at one point. Then he threw everything away and it just killed me. He had boxes of both used and unused IBM punch cards that suffered the same fate. I would have hsuled it all off just for nostalgia value if I had known.
The binding of books makes them hard to recycle and usually they just get trashed.
Don’t waste charity shop time, if you have technical books that are of no historical interest and are long irrelevant with expired technologies, just trash them, they served their purpose.
Ask yourself if there is a practical chance that a particular book would be able to get into the hands of someone who would actually value the information inside. If not, garbage.
Most of them are pretty thick so they can be used to line the walls of bunkers for extra bullet proofing.
Honestly, I am super into old computers and have bought antiquated manuals. There are a ton of people into it. Depending upon what you have, I’d actually take them off your hands… like the Java book. I don’t care about Dreamweaver, but someone would. Post them on eBay. If the buyer pays shipping, anything is better than nothing right?
The charity shop really won't want them if they have no resale use/value.
I'd be astonished if those books cannot be usefully recycled alongside (say) cardboard.
But you might first ask your local museum or university computing dept if they'd like some for historical record!
Java books are still useful if they were considered good while current. Many good programming books remain useful even as the language evolves and the syntax diverges. Dreamweaver 4 can be useful to someone to understand the concepts of design. Browsers will still mostly happily render old code. I'd give them to a library if they are willing to accept them or list them on a site like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace for your locale.
C, C++, Linux, Unix, and Cisco books are eternal. They may not teach you secure ways of doing things, but they are eternal. NetWare may be obsolete. ;)
If there’s a retrocomputing museum in your area, chances are they’d accept your books as a donation.
Pay someone $10 to make twenty origami Blade Runner unicorns out of the book pages and sell them as artsy cyberpunk tributes for $5 on Etsy.
Keep in mind the cost and logistics, so it would probably be best if some kids in your neighborhood worked for pocket money...
Yeah, I know it's already out there but yours are sustainable cyber art, aren't they?
download a digital copy from the web. throw out the paper.
I did a clean out a couple of years back of cassettes, books, CDs, and vinyl LPs and replaced them with digital copies. I also threw out the IKEA Billy bookcase they had been stored in.
I used to sell old IT books on Amazon or Ebay. Thankfully most were more timeless than "Foo 1.2.3 in 21 days". Once I even acquired and sold a one-foot-cube-sized MSDN box for about a thousand dollars. Both of us made a lot of money.
At some point Ebay deleted my account and I recreated it later but lost my history. Amazon now requires invasive identity verification I refuse and won't let me sell anymore, despite having over a decade doing it in good standing. It is possible it was related to me briefly selling an ebook, which doing permanently took away some of my privileges. Dunno for sure, the site is obtuse and has more archaic layers than the Windows control panel. Easy to get into a link loop and never find out why it doesn't work.
TL;DR—These big companies just DGAF. I now throw old IT books in the trash/recycle-bin when I move. Currently have some about CMS that would be useful to someone.
> I can't really see there's much demand for Java 1.3, or Dreamweaver 4
You'd be surprised. Go to "sell back your books" and install the app, scan in the bar code or QR, and find out. They might offer you a small amount of money.
They also take some non-technical books, btw. They send you a prepaid shipping label, too.
Hollow them out and hide stuff inside. The old hardcover Java books work particularly well.
I throw them out all the time. I constantly buy new books and throw it older ones. If I donate them to libraries or goodwill I’m selfishly burdening them with useless books do I just throw them out myself.
See if it's been archived digitally or not. I'm sure there is someone here who at least knows someone who is interested in preserving old documentation.
I used to donate them to my local library because I thought they would know best what is worth to keep and what to throw away.
If you’re looking for wacky ideas, here are some:
- get some resin and make micarta with them, then sell the micarta or use it in some creative projects
- use them for all your future gift wrapping, especially when giving to fellow nerds
- wallpaper a closet or two
- make a collage on plywood and hang it up as art
- make origami paper cranes
Have fun!
Love how often Dreamweaver gets mentioned. Must have shaped many people's connection to software development. I've only used it a couple of times but I assume it's the HTML output that people are critical of :)
I've donated all of my old books to local library. I've also donated some of my old high school books to school. Those are editions published by school, and I had them in mint condition.
I had dozens of obsolete books (think "Introduction to PHP 4").
- Libraries didn't want them
- Collectors didn't want them
- Charities didn't want them
Ended chucking them in the bin.
If you are in Canada I might buy a few :D
I put mine in a near by Little Free Library and in a few days they'd all been claimed.
give them to homeless shelters, or any charity, maybe someone will get interested and you'll change a life, even if the book is outdated
the main reason I'm where I am today is the 2 programming books I got as a birthday gift at 10 yo
I use them as furniture. Or as to elevate my computer laptop.
Jason Scott from archive.org may be interested in such things.
post a pic or title list!