1 Jul
1999
1 Jul
'99
10:08 a.m.
Well, just to put things in proportion, today, you can go to Best Buy and
get a 300+ MHz P-II computer with an 8gb HDD and 256K of RAM, etc, for $600
including a nice 17" monitor.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeffrey l Kaneko <jeff.kaneko(a)juno.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Thursday, July 01, 1999 12:24 PM
Subject: Re: State of the Hobby
On Thu, 1 Jul 1999 11:02:51 -0600 "Richard
Erlacher" <edick(a)idcomm.com>
writes:
This argument is getting to where it's pretty
silly.
PLease, hear me out on this . . .
I don't see how anyone can complain about
buying used computer
hardware for considerably less than it cost when new.
OKay, $500 or $1000 is alot less than the $4k+ these things
cost when they were new, but $500 is *still* alot of money for
most people, certainly for one who's just starting out.
The mythical "free Altair" which pops
up again and again is
generally sold, even in "better than new" (properly assembled
and functional) condition for significantly less than what it
cost new, in "real" dollars. -- YES -- even on eBay!
But e-bay makes the difference between 'easily affordable' and
'hopelessly out of reach'.
The typical PDP8 owned by persons in this
particular interest group
were certainly not purchased for what they cost new, even in inflated
dollars, so I really can't see what the complaint is.
The complaint is that what was once easily within reach, may not
be in the future . . .
Sure, some people are able, and, some, misguided
though they may
seem to be, even willing to pay more than I think they should for
a given item. To them, I sell what I can.
No matter how inexpensive, I does cost *something* to do this hobby
afterall; so . . .
In a recent auction on eBay, a MITS Floppy Disk
Drive was auctioned
off at $565. "WOW!" you may say, but that unit cost $1300 when new,
and
that was in dollars that were a DOLLAR, and not
just the price of a
candy
bar.
As I said, that's still alot of money. The cool thing about this
hobby was that you didn't need alot to get cool stuff. That's
starting to change.
I'm presently in the process of selling off
excess 8" floppy drives for
$5 each, functionally tested and aligned, plus
the estimated cost of
packaging and shipping, since I don't want more work on top of the
alignment and testing, estimated by Mailboxes, etc, which is where I'll
have them boxed and shipped. I've offered
these same drives to people,
as is, for just the cost of shipping, and most
wouldn't pay even for
the shipping.
Now see, this is what I've been talking about. You supply a scarce
commodity (in working condition I might add) for a reasonable price.
You are actively trying to make a contribution to our hobbyist community.
When I bought my first pair of 8" floppy
drives they cost $675 each.
The last pair I bought cost $470 each in 1981. In 1980, it seems to
me,
a typical S-100 CPU cost $250. A floppy
controller cost about the
same, and a terminal cost $750.
Yep. Big money. Definitely not something you do casually. BY 1993
though, you could get these for next to nothing. Suddenly, you could
persue the hobby you couldn't afford ten years before.
If people wanted more than that for these
devices, even though they
were in perfectly functional and cosmetically perfect condition, I
could
understand the complaints. I won't be
convinced that the prices being
paid at
auction, publicity or not, for "old, used,
obsolete" computers or
component
are unreasonable until someone shows me a
similarly pristine '55
Thunderbird that's going unsold because its price is over half what it
cost
new.
Well, automobile collecting is definitely a rich-man's hobby; which
sure leaves me out. I just find it painful to see our hobby go
the same way.
Jeff
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