Let people know about collectors

[...] What is crazy (IMHO) is that some machines seem to attract prices that are far too high for the type of machine. A case in point : About 10 years ago at a radio rally (hamfest), I could have bought either an Altair or an Intellec MCS8I. The Intellec was \pounds 10 more expensive, but appeared to be the more interesting and historically significant machine. It also had all the manuals with it, etc. It was getting late, and I couldn't afford both. I bought the Intellec. Of course now the Altair sells for very high prices (and I have no idea why), while Intellecs are almost worthless except to serious old computer enthusiasts like myself. So in a sense I lost a lot of money on that decision. Do I regret it? Not at all! The Intellec is the more interesting machine. I don't collect these computers as an investment - I collect them because I like old computers. I like to see how they work, how things changed over the years, etc. [...] Absolutely. I was chatting to Wlodek Mier-J (An HP calculator enthusiast) shortly before he published his 'guide to HP calculators' (which is excellent, by the way). I was also worried that such a guide could cause the second-hand prices of such machines to become very high, and effectively cut a lot of people out of the hobby. He replied that this could be a result, but that his intended result was to make people realise that the 20-year-old HP calculators had a value, and that it was worth selling them to collectors rather than throwing them out. The prices he mentioned in the book are realistic, IMHO, and second-hand prices of most HP machines haven't gone up. However, that was a book written by an enthusiast for other enthusiasts. The general media want a good story (obviously) and will quite happily report that a particular machine sold for $25000 (or whatever). No matter that it wasn't _worth_ that much - it was just that the buyer, for whatever reason, wanted that particular machine. Of course the general public suddenly get the idea that _all_ old computers are valuable, and refuse to sell them for what enthusiasts consider realistic prices. I've heard of Sinclair ZX80's selling for \pounds 175.00. Would I pay that? Not at all - I could get a much more interesting machine for that sort of money - probably some kind of minicomputer or workstation. I've even heard of Science of Cambridge MK14's (Sinclair's first microcomputer) selling for \pounds 1000. Now, I'd not sell mine for that (it was my first ever computer, and I feel an attraction to it :-)), but I certainly wouldn't pay that for a second one. For the same money I could get some _very_ interesting hardware... -- -tony ard12(a)eng.cam.ac.uk The gates in my computer are AND,OR and NOT, not Bill