How long will it last?

Last week my roommate unlocked his old, rusty, seatless bicycle and left it in front of our building. We wondered how long it would take for the bike to find a new owner despite its defects. Unlocked on Monday afternoon, I figured the bike would last until Friday night but not past Sunday. The bike didn't last past Friday afternoon.

The neighborhood I live in is close to a university and all kinds of things are left on the curb all the time and disappear to new owners all the time. But how long does it take for random stuff to go from curbside to a proud new owner? Let's find out.

This morning I put a cordless telephone set on my curb. It's nothing fancy and not many people use landline telephones these days so I think its a good item to see how long it takes to go away. Personally I'm giving this one no more than 48 hours.