Making Use Of  The Obsolete
By: DTMF

There are so many discontinues or obsolete items floating around; from
garage sales to flea markets, overstocked and clearance items.

The problem is, the common consumer doesn't know what to do with them.

So I figured in this article I would compile a list and come up with some new ideas.

Wireless Data
Wirelessly send data from your Laptop - On the cheap.
Wireless modems as a regular modem replacement failed, they were too high priced
and poorly supported. Now you can get a steal on them.

All you need to do is setup a dial-up server on your desktop end, and a terminal
program on the Laptop end.  Or better yet, use one of those old BBS programs.

You can shop around for Wireless modems (you will need 2 identical brands)
for example the ones sold on Extreme Computing for $9.95.

Note: Most modems you will find are relatively slow, so don't expect to download
your latest MP3 collection this way.

Cheap Input
These Mouse Pens were a great idea, and it is too bad they aren't made
any more. They feel more natural than a mouse. Now you can get them cheap.

Hopefully someone gets smart and makes an optical version - then we are talking!
Note: These tend not to last very long.

Pen Tablet
Pen computing was at the forefront of high technology, the problem was the pricing,
the high technology market also carried with it high prices.

The CruisePad was a device marketed by the now defunct Zenith Data Systems,
and jointly developed by offspring CruiseTech.  Proxim developed the CruiseLan
for ZDS in order to achieve wireless networking and Citrix provided the metaframe
technology to provide the near real-time updated screen of the server (host PC).

Although this technology is dated, these units can still be neat to wirelessly surf the
web, send email and do general computing.

Don't expect it to run on NT, XP windows platforms, the software was made to
run on Windows 3.1 or Windows for workgroups and DOS. But it should run
on Windows 95/98.

Although it does require a Proxim 2.4 Ghz wireless 802.11b network card (not included), at $59 this product is still pretty cool. Tigerdirect has the wireless 
cards needed for another $39. You can snag a Cruisepad at different surplus
warehouses, such as www.computersurplusoutlet.com.
Cruisepad drivers are available HERE for a short while only.


DO YOU know of an exciting way to make use of obsolete technology?
Possibly a use that the product wasn't originally designed for? Let us know!

In Progress...