It sounds like this is a "bad" thing. Is it?
If so why? It would seem that
eBay is making a market for older computers that before didn't exist. Now
is it that the 'old timers' who were used to picking up C64's at a garage
sale for $1 will now have to pay $25 are grumbling? Doesn't this
potentially increase the value of your own collection many fold? Isn't that
a good thing?
As a matter of nature, I don't care for the monetary value of
my collection. What I care is to get new exciteing finds.
Traditionally there is a rush of "collectible
fever" (if
you've ever dealt with collectibles, and my Dad has for many more years
than I) where lots of people rush in an buy anything that may be
collectible hoping to get in at the bottom of the next "beanie" craze, then
there is a rush of junk dealers who prey on those bozos and come in and
sell them a bunch of "L@@K! R@RE!" Commodore 64's or 486SL machines for
over market prices, and then there is a general "crash" of the market as
the bozo's leave and prices go back to more rational levels (but usually
higher than they were before the "collectible" craze hit) and then, if they
are truely collectable (and there are many properties of things that make
them so) then the price begins to reflect actual rarity, condition, and
that imponderable "desirability."
Actual rarity ? Hmm so lets see - a PET is more rare than a KIM ?
Or a Apple I five hundret times rarer than a NASCOM-I ? Come real
prices beside the usual 1 to 100 USD are just rubbisch. Just follow
Jim about his Intellec/Altair thing. For shure, the Intellec is a
nice thing, but everybody just looks at the Altair.
I have to stay on swap meets and garage sales - and maybe I find
an Apple 1 :)))
Gruss
H.
--
Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut
HRK