If you're planning on doing something like this, you could also look at old CRT Macs, Kaypros, Compaq luggables, etc. There's usually some on eBay that you could gut and put an Rpi in, and other things to play with, like converting the keyboard signals to something the pi could read.
Sure, if old Patek Philippes were routinely offered for free on craigslist because the alternative is that they become e-waste.
An expensive watch is different though. It has little intrinsic value and most people can’t outright tell if it’s “good” or “bad” because it requires knowing the story, and not the technical capabilities. Sort of like diamonds.
For the ones I've listed, there's plenty that keep being relisted on eBay, so the demand for them seems low.
But more importantly, there's some je ne sais quoi that you just can't get from an e-ink display. Hacking old things and giving them new lives is a pleasure in itself, I suppose.
Whether anyone does this or not will have basically zero impact on energy concerns.
I wonder if he put any effort into ensuring ventilation so the sets wouldn't fail, but it was about the time where even thrift shops were beginning to reject tube TVs, so he probably just hit up the free part of Craigslist every time one died.
Or maybe run xscreensaver with sfeed and some RSS news feeds.
Or maybe as a shitty terminal (good fonts for small displays exists, Unifont should adapt to the worst displays ever).
