12 Nov
2007
12 Nov
'07
11:27 p.m.
Likewise, it may come to a shock to many of the people
on this list
(but it should not), but the collectors with the deep pockets are
generally the BEST collectors. They are the ones that know how to take
The counter-argument to that is that if such a person considers $5k to be
'small change' then he may not worry too much about losing it. Whereas
somebody who is poorer will spend $100 on a machine and look after it
because every cent matters.
I've seen it work both ways...
care of the things they spent a bundle of money on -
proper shipping,
proper storage, proper use. They generally do not have their
collections arranged as stacks in the spare room, but as properly
displayed artifacts. And GASP, yes, they actually use them as well!
You've made this sort of comment before, and I have no problem believing
that you know collectors who act in this way. Conversery, I know of
collectors who buy mildly rare stuff (the HP9100 is a favourite), then
never allow it to be turned on, never allow anyone to press the keys, and
certainly never open it up [1]. So I think perhaps it would be more
reasonable to say there's little, if any, correleation between how much a
collector generally pays for a machine and whether he uses it or not.
[1] I have a freind who was likewise interested in old HP desktops. He
knew this chap woh had the HP9100 and who would never allow it to be
turned on. When I met the (first-mentioned) friend, I dug out one of my
9100s, not only powered it up and let him try it but also took it to bits
and expalined the internals. That's why I have the machine after all.
-tony