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Scrap Life

The RedBox machines were fun when they first came into existence - a novel and budget entertainment concept that many loved. Times have changed and the machines are now being sold as scarp metal. That is one way to end it for the machines that have serve now purpose as the company is bankrupt. But there could be other options - bring them into maker-spaces or house them with folks who have the time and imagination to repurpose them. 

There is a lot going on inside the machine that would be fun for those who love to tinker to play with. The question to ask is what is the most creative thing anyone could do with a RedBox machine and not what is the cheapest way to dispose of it. Schools could pick them up to give kids a change to take it apart and understand how the whole system works - so many ways this could have ended instead of what is actually going on: 

Taylor, the Alabama mover, said that so far he has been hired to move 44 of the machines from retailers’ sites—outdoor machines already unmoored from the ground, ready to be taken to various recycling centers.

He said he was paid $180 to $200 a machine by the company that hired him, plus roughly $50 to $70 when taking the metal in for scrap recycling.

While its great someone is making some money in the process, this kind of thoughtless, wastefulness of opportunities to learn and create is very disheartening to watch. 

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