eBay (aka: ePay, eVay, oyVay, etc...)

At 06:35 PM 10/26/98 -0800, Doug Coward's Rant... So you would prefer that these computers silently went into the land fill rather than have you see that they exist and perhaps rescue them? Perhaps this come under the heading of what you don't know doesn't hurt you... I think for many of the posters on the list "worth" is irrelevant in terms of SELLING computers, but many of us find it worth something to acquire them. If the promise of wealth, or even just something for what they consider to be "junk" gets those machines out into the open at least if gives you the _choice_ of deciding what it would be worth to you to get one of these computers. Again, I'll argue its better than having someone make it into dust because the fingers on it had .001 oz of gold. At least I can chip out the lucite, I can't reassemble a board that has been crushed! [description deleted] Rudeness is a fact of life, I suspect it is more the caliber of people who are on the internet has gone down rather than a sudden rudening of the world. And yes, there are people who hear stories of the guy who pulled an Altair out of the dumpster and sold it on eBay for $5K. That brings a newer, less savory, portion of the population into the mix, and yet as your story shows, the seller can choose not to sell to rude people. Further you can always post a message saying in effect "I'm not rude, I'm not turning these things around for a quick buck, I'm a serious collector who will care for your machines." You'd be suprised that a lot of folks will be responsive to this. But you haven't changed and nor has your equipment. A friend of my Dad has a '55 Porche Roadster that he bought new and kept up. Only 1,500 made, appraised at $158,000. He still drives it, plays with it. Even though by "adding miles" he reduces its value. The same it true with these old machines. You use them or you don't. I power on/off my PDP-8/e knowing that this might be the time it burns out a light bulb, but I do it anyway because I'm more entranced with the machine than with its value. So what good does it do to attempt to deny that some other types of collectors exist? So this bad thing you rant about has the effect of making computers you would never have heard about available to you. That is what a market is all about, bringing goods and consumers together. The supply of classic computers is steadily shrinking, the quantity of people interested in owning one is increasing. I share your sense of 'grief' that the "easy pickings" are harder to find (except for Megan of whom I"m intensely jealous this evening!) but it is inevitable, and it will only get worse. Or start collecting PC clones, they'll continue to be cheap for a while... --Chuck