OTX is one of the Bay Area's almost 20 Microsoft Authorized Refurbishers qualified to upgrade older computers and render them ready to be use again.

Refurbishers such as OTX serve schools and nonprofits. Their costs are repaid by grants or by charging fees for the equipment, or a combination of both, as is done by OTX.

"We charge the families nothing. We charge the schools $75 for a Pentium III or $55 for a Pentium II. These machines come loaded and ready to play. We charge the schools $2,000 for a lab with 30 computers," said OTX founder Bruce Buckelew.

OTX serves students in public schools from grades six and up. It holds free three-hour classes throughout the school year to show students and their parents how to operate a computer. "Parents must know all that the computer can do," Buckelew said.

Buckelew takes a dim view of the nation's current administration, which he accuses of denying the existence of the digital divide — the lack of access to technology for lower-income families.

"There's a big digital divide and it's getting bigger," said Buckelew, who attributes his passion for refurbishing computers to this belief.

"Ninety-five percent of my students are people of color or Latinos who are recent immigrants. Reuse is the answer to the digital divide," he said.

Buckelew understands the problem of educating the public about the reuse of computers.

"Donors don't differentiate between recycling and reuse. Their economic problem is just to get rid of the computers," Buckelew said. "Sometimes, they sell their excess (computers) to resellers, who resell to other parts of the world or they will melt down the parts to get the copper."

Oakland Tribune: General Contact Information
401 13th Street
Oakland, California 94612
(510) 208-6330 Switchboard
(510) 293-2709 Online Content
www.oaklandtribune.com