27 Jan
2001
27 Jan
'01
5:52 a.m.
From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
Perhaps somebody could expain the aims of this hobby of
ours. Is it to :
Obtain as many machines as possible without caring what they are
Obtain as many of particular types of 'interesting' (to you) machines
Getting (again) the machine that you 'used as a kid' and enjoying those
ancinet games again (say)
Getting machines that you dreamed of owning many years ago and could
never aford back then
Getting machines that have particular hardware (or software) features
that you find interesting, whether or not you've ever heard of the
machine before
Preserving a piece of computer history
Programming a machine that is really simple enough to fully understand
Repairing a machine that's built from parts you can get and understand
Learning about the operation of a computer by understanding a processor
at gate level
I guess for me it's many of the above and more besides.
Amen..
... and not every machine I have is for the same set or subset of
reasons.
Some I hack for the hardware, some represent MY history, other computing
history and the handfull that were out of my reach when new.
But most of those 'reasons for the hobby'
don't depend on getting a
bargain, and thus it's not unsporting/against the aims of the hobby to
pay for a machine.
Generally, though dropping a bomb for a given machine like a ceratin rare
painting or other object is as much personal as business.
OK, I know most of us (myself included) can't
afford to spend as much
money as we'd like on this hobby, and we'd love it if the machines were
free... However, it wouldn't bother me to spend say \pounds 100.00 on a
machine of particular interest to me, knowing that I would get at least
that much enjoyment/education from programming it, repairing it,
learning
about it, etc. And I don't thing that's against
the aims of the hobby.
That is the clearest explanation I've read.
Allison