13 Oct
1999
13 Oct
'99
3:21 p.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: Marvin <marvin(a)rain.org>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Wednesday, October 13, 1999 11:02 PM
Subject: Re: collectors vs. enthusiasts
Tony Duell wrote:
My main objection to e-bay (and to most other forms of selling,
actually), is that I don't know who the item is going to be sold to.
The same could be said about newcomers to this list, and just about anyone
I
> It's crazy. I can't believe what
they are paying on EBay for less
> than *incomplete* systems. I could see $1400 with drives, running,
> tested, manuals, etc... but a shell??????
<rant>
That's because eBay is where "collectors" hang out. Not people like
us, for whom collector is an insufficient/inaccurate term.
Whereas I agree that there is a differentiation between the
"collector" and the "enthusiast", I must take umbrage to the ,again,
generalization of the person who pays "too much" on ebay
automatically being "collector assholes, just because he had deep
pockets". don't know. This is something only time will
correct. The same goes on
ebay.
After a while, you see a lot of the same people bidding
on stuff. The other
not so minor detail is that people that pay for this stuff will probably
not
send it to that junkyard in the sky.
Collecting computers is in it's infancy (for the general population). I
don't think owning an old mini with front panel switches will ever go out of
style. Stamps first, then cars, now computers....
I don't see these EBayers leaving anytime soon. Just look at the other
items... IE: Monopoly games. A 1933 board game fetched $30-40 last year,
this year it's over a $100. As more people get online there will be more of
that *one* person that just HAS to have the item on the auction block.
and for computers... how many Silicon Valley Execs are retiring this year???