On Mon, 8 Mar 1999, Chuck McManis wrote:
That sort of re-defines rare in a different way, and
after the orgasmic
frenzy has passed of finding things that used to be incredibly hard to find
in your local neighborhood, expectations will get reset and the market will
rationalize and the so called "bottom" will drop out of Altair prices.
It is also the economy and it is more than a trivial contributor. How
many solid years of growth since 1983 or so? You end up with a lot of
money chasing goods like these.
Indeed, perhaps if the y2K bug causes a global recession/depression, then
maybe the old computers will have the last "laugh".
I expect there will be a correction, regardless of cause, in old computer
prices. The Altairs and similar probably have a floor under them of
several hundred dollars, but there will be many items that will see the
dumpster once again.
I just picked up a SABA OCR "mouse" for $10 plus shipping. A sort of
cross between a mouse and a tablet hockey puck with a window and cross
hairs to pull a line of text. Mouse, ISA card, manual and all software.
Unique and unloved items will always be available to be nabbed.
-- Stephen Dauphin