If eBay didn't suck so bad, I'd say just use that as your "box"
Heck, maybe what we really need is an online exchange. Mail in a cable, get a cable of your choice in return. So when you need some rare cable you've got it on demand... Just 5 days and $6 in shipping. Aww fuck it.
When I buy anything electrical in the UK, they often give you a UK plug, a European Plug and an American plug. Over time, or if you use a lot of electric things at work, you can end up with a huge pile of plugs that don't work in your own country.
If they do similar elsewhere, we could definitely swap.
@fakeman_pretendname @nucleative I was just thinking how grateful I am that my HD manufacturer did this and that I saved the extra plugs because I'm finding it difficult to find quality adapters for grounded US plugs here in Albania...
The nice bit about the HD design is that it isn't separate cords. It's the same cord and you can slide in the proper plug type at the end of it.
I felt so called out by this that I just threw away a box of cables. Thank you for giving me the push I needed to wait hold on I think I still need those USB-A cables for that old printer I've got in storage so I should dig those out of the trash real quick
"Well, of course I know him. He's me."
Who knows when he might need a cable? Surely, he might need one this year.
I have three largish ones, started in 88. One is just power cables. That's the one my psichyatrist worries about.
That reminds me. I've had a box of cables since '22 and every time I go through it I think, "damn, I really need to organize this and get rid of some shit". And then I shove it into my closet out of sight and out of mind until the next time I need something from within it.
Just use toilet paper rolls to keep them neat and seperated. You could even label each roll if you wanted to go all out.
It's nothing huge, but it's gonna make finding them so much easier.
Hahaha…asshole. I’m going through it tomorrow, promise.
In Australian accent:
"That's not a box... that's a box"
Gestures to my stacks of old computer equipment
I packed mine and moved it to a new house today; along with the voice module to the Odyssey game system i got for my 11th birthday.
What a tiny little stash. I have boxes and not by the hair of my old serial modem cable will I give any of it up.
Ive got several drawers of them. I might need those SATA cables someday. And mini USB cables. And cell phone charger and data cable for a Motorolla Razr.
I have a 5 gallon “bucket of USB.”
It’s only 3/4 full!
Heh. Went through just that box of mixed cables this year. Got rid of all the ancient cable duplicates (like 2.5 floppy ribbon cable) and kept one of each, more useful ones I kept duplicates of like SATA cables. The rest were gotten rid of.
There's a myriad of reasons to retain a healthy variety of outdated cables, but the most important for me has been ones to make digital archives. You probably have some hardware laying around in your attic somewhere and, someday, you may wish you had archives of your content. If you don't, you probably know someone who does.
Old tech like this is something that would be nice for your local library to keep stock of. I've been to libraries in the past that had a section carved out as a "library of things," where you could rent odds and ends like sewing machines, non-consumable art supplies, and even assorted computer equipment. If your local library doesn't have something like this, maybe you could propose that they start one and perhaps donate some equipment to help them get started!
My old man has been hoarding cables since he moved to Canada in 1987. He recently got the chance to use an old SCSI cable. He looked like he was 24 again.
The best porn was ASCII porn.
I'd love to have just one little container of cables.
Goddamnit I have to get rid of my box of cables
why
Don't. The gremlins are always watching. That will be the moment when they strike.
I thought this was supposed to be satire not a true story.
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