Introduction

Hi, ya'll- I'm overwhelmed and elated to have found this listserve. Overwhelmed by the depth of knowledge displayed here, and by your willingness to share it. Elated because I have been watching, and even participating, for years in the loss by destruction for recycling these old machines, without being able to do much about it, personally. This very active listserve gives me hope that the history of computing will not be lost! My entry into computing is very short compared to many on this list. I've been hacking on these things for only about 6-7 years, and I am self-taught. My first machine was a Sanyo MBC-1000 given to me by a friend. I graduated from that to a Mac 512KE, and have worked my way up through most of the Macs (including some backward steps). I will probably be mostly a lurker, although I do see now that I possess some little knowledge that I can share with the list, primarily about restoring old Macs, in the practical hardware sense. I don't know much about programming, except for the "higher" GUI, user-level stuff. The Macs that I have and use every day (that I calll modern) consist in a Mac SE-30 (that I'm setting up as a local router), a Quadra 610, and a Quadra 950; I had to suppress a chuckle (at myself), on visiting one of the links I found here (the Classic Computer show on the West Coast?) and seeing that the Q950 was included amongst the line of obsolete Macs. Oh, I know that it's obsolete, but it does my work quite well, for now, and I can't at the moment afford to upgrade to a PPC. (I paid big money for it, too.) The Q610 has a "classic" Apple 601 Upgrade card in it, which converts it into a 40Mhz PPC, and I've discovered works very well under OS 8.1, despite being disclaimed by Apple for support. I also have an Intel 100Mhz Pentium, on which I'm hacking on learning Windows NT 4. In spite of my preoccupation with the old stuff, my most ardent desire is for machines and software that really work well, for users in the present and future. Liken this to the auto industry: the first automobiles that came out had to have a physically strong person with a fair amount of knowledge of their auto's workings, in order to deal with the problems that arose while driving them. Automobiles have "progressed" to a stage where everyone can now own one, without much of a clue as to how they work, and can rely on them to get them to their destination. Computers are progressing along this path, at what I consider a much faster rate, than the automobile. Although I place myself in the first class of users to some extent, I DON'T WANT to have to go back and learn all the basics, that many on this list display intimate knowledge of. I'm too old (54), started too late in computing, and have too many other interests to take care of, to do that. Due to circumstances, I am in a place where there is a lot of old machines to find, and I do have a small collection. Also due to circumstances, I am needing to divest myself of my collection, and am actively doing so, on eBay. I was somewhat surprised at the interest displayed on two of my auctions, and didn't discover the reason for this, until I delivered one of the Sanyo MBC-1000s to a buyer in Austin, George Currie. He told me about this list, and said that someone had posted my auctions to this list, and the mystery was solved. There has been some recent talk on this list about old Mac restorations. I've been running an auction on 10 MacPlus analog pullouts, for two weeks, and have dropped the starting price from $3@ to $1@, in a Dutch auction. They have finally gotten bids, and if any on this list has any interest in them, this is their last chance at 'em. The auction ends today at 23:05:36. Had I known of this list, I would have offered them here, first. I think I paid $5@ for them, when I bought them, years ago. MacPlus Analog parts boards: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=28864145 "Recycleable" is the new politically-correct word for "Garbage" ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ mailto:heavy@ctesc.net * Jim Weiler * http://pages.tstar.net/~heavy http://home.talkcity.com/MigrationPath/blackbeardtcc/index.html ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^