Bay Area: IBM 4341 and HP3000

Since I'm one of the people who has been doing this (e.g. recent PDP-8 postings), I'd like to weigh in with a few thoughts on this topic. To begin, as to the point that it's costing you more money, I'm afraid I don't find that a big factor, for several reasons. First, as Mark Tapley explained down-thread: http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2015-January/002533.html start to think of these older machines as possibly collectable items of some value, they are less likely to toss them into the trash without further ado. (Yes, yes, I know, not all old computers are worth saving - just like not all old cars are, either. But unless you ask someone who knows, you don't know whether your old junker is a clunker or a jewel in the rough.) Second, you're only getting that item 'for cheap' because some other collector, to whom it might be even more emotionally important, doesn't know of it. I do have more sympathy with the point of view that says 'I spent a lot of time trawling through eBay, etc listings looking for that one diamond in a sea of pebbles; why should all my work be devalued by someone who just posts the listing so everyone can get on board?' I have some sympathy for that take (especially since I myself spend a fair amount of time looking through eBay for PDP-11 stuff :-), but for me it's out-weighed by the 'hey, I have this information, it's no use to me, I'd like to share it with people for whom it might be highly useful'. I'm not sure of your point here (the second part seems to be at odds with the first), but I will say that I think widely-attended auctions, starting at a modest price, are desirable: they are the best way to set the _true_ value of something. Too many items on eBay have some incredibly high Buy-It-Now price, and they sit forever, until someone really desperate buys it - which just encourages other sellers to ask for un-realistic amounts. So I applaud the sellers who put things up for real auctions. Noel