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~$200 doesn't go as far as you'd expect for good used laptop, even in Uganda. We did look into our options.

However, there's definitely a sunk cost aspect to the operation. After the first failure to send it through Australia Post, I became determined that Django was going to have that MacBook.

by oefrha17 hours ago|

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Wait, how the hell can Australia Post charge you the full AUD 111.60 for a failed shipment when it seems to be the fault of the clerk who approved the shipment against their own rules? And sounds like the package didn’t even leave Australia so even if you should pay for the full mileage it would be 20% at most?

by sofixa12 hours ago|

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Nah, it's the fault of the sender, all the ruled for what you can send are listed and it's up to you to check and respect them.

by IshKebab10 hours ago|

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Seems like it's the fault of the author for blindly trusting AI...

by Aachen9 hours ago|

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I couldn't tell if the screenshot was from an LLM or the post office's website. It sure looks like what a post office would say so I'm inclined to think that's not autogenerated. A total ban on anything containing lithium batteries, as the company claimed when returning the shipment, seems wrong as well. We receive laptops from customers for doing pentests all the time, for example. Australians could never order a phone or earbuds that didn't already make it into Australia via another shipping company. Etc. Why'd they forego all that custom? How many electronics nowadays don't have such a battery? This doesn't sound to me like it was only GPT spewing nonsense

But yeah I had the same question: OP said that ChatGPT initially produced words that turned out to be sensible, but not where that later screenshot came from

by oefrha9 hours ago|

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Not really, it this is too be believed

> At the post office, a friendly staff member confirmed it could be sent, helped me package it up securely

It's actually at least half a case of not blindly trusting AI, and pressing until a positive answer is given:

> I asked ChatGPT how to send the laptop, and it gave me a spiel about finding a reliable freight service or courier.

> (Later) I should have listened to ChatGPT.

by madradavid15 hours ago|

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I am Ugandan, that $200 could have gone a long way buying used locally , case in point https://jiji.ug/central-division/computers-and-laptops/lapto... , a used Macbook pro with some change to spare.

by wildzzz3 hours ago|

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Right, I figured there had to be at least something reliable in the $200AUD. That's about $140USD which won't get you a lot of laptop for that price here in the US but you'll definitely be able to find old MacBooks and Thinkpads that are plenty capable of web browsing, watching HD videos, and completing assignments for an undergrad in Computer Science. In college, that's exactly what I did. I'd buy $100-200USD Thinkpad X-series that were about 5 years old, use them until I couldn't, and then buy another. I'd just swap the SSD to the new Thinkpad and sell the old one, that at least paid for a fresh battery for the new one.

by eisa0114 hours ago|

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Very interesting, thanks for sharing!

Is that representative of the pricing? 550 000 USh is the equivalent of 145 USD, which is a lot for a 2011 13" MBP with a HD drive! That will be quite slow...

1.5 years ago I sold a 13" 2012 MBP with 500 GB SSD and 8 GB RAM on the used market here in Norway, and I couldn't fetch more than 90 USD... Half the value in the SSD itself?

And a 13" 2015 MBP with 256 GB and 16 GB RAM and new battery(!) I only managed to get 200 USD for, even though I'd tried for months for higher prices

So it seems like there's some market inefficiency here :/

by throw123539 hours ago|

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Christians colonized Africa and destroyed their cultures and tribes for not converting and now you send them a Christmas gift to them.

Hope Africans see these Europeans true colors

by nephihaha8 hours ago|

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Egypt, Ethiopia and Eritrea were Christian before most of Europe was. The entire Maghreb was once majority Christian.