On August 12, 1991, the Boston Computer Exchange (BCE) held an “Irish wake” for the original IBM Personal Computer. The 10-year-old PC had finally reached the point where it had no resale value, a BCE manager claimed, so it was now time to mark the machine’s “transition from a salable commodity to a donation item.”

The BCE was one of the first used computer dealers in the United States. Even jumping back five years to 1986, Computer Chronicles had already taken notice of the growing market for second hand computers. Indeed, BCE’s co-founder was among the guests on this October 1986 episode devoted to the topic.