collectors vs. enthusiasts

14 Oct 1999

...

   It's
crazy. I can't believe what they are paying on EBay for
 less than *incomplete* systems. I could see $1400 with drives,
 running, tested, manuals, etc... but a shell??????  
 <rant>
 That's because eBay is where "collectors" hang out.  Not people
 like us, for whom collector is an insufficient/inaccurate term.  
 Whereas I agree that there is a differentiation between the 
 "collector" and the "enthusiast", I must take umbrage to the ,again,
 generalization of the person who pays "too much" on ebay
 automatically being "collector assholes, just because he had deep
 pockets".    

 My main objection to e-bay (and to most other forms of selling, 
 actually), is that I don't know who the item is going to be sold to.

 Remember that I am an enthusiast and not a collector, so I _very
 rarely_ sell machines, or even complete peripherals. In general, if
 I've obtained something it's because _I_ want to learn about it,
 repair it, etc. [SNIP]

The fact that you don't know who it's going to is part of my point.  
It's the automatic assumption that if someone paid more than what 
you (not you specificially, just the generic "you") view as "too 
much", then they must be doing it for nefarious reasons.

[SNIP]

...
   and wanted to
tinker with, and had the financial means to acquire
 it, would you let it go to the scrap because you thought the asking
 price was too high?  Would you let it go to a "collector asshole"   
 Don't be silly. If I have the money for something, and I consider the
 price to be reasonable, and I want it, then I buy it.  
My point was that the asking price was more than what you 
thought was reasonable (i.e. would you sacrafice your moral ideal 
as to what the item is worth to "save" it?) 

...
   than you, is
just immature.  I get just as bummed as anyone else
 when something that I've been wanting goes for more than what I'm
 willing to pay ($100 for an HP Integral, nope, don't think so, but   
 You know, if I saw an Integral for that sort of money in the UK, I'd
 try to find a way to afford it... 
What, you'd be willing to spend over $100 for an Integral, you must 
obviously be some collector scum.  Your ruining my enthusiasts 
pursuits by artificially driving up prices of Integrals ;)

George

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

collectors vs. enthusiasts