13 Jun
2015
13 Jun
'15
1:12 a.m.
Well ... some things really are not more expensive... the money is
just worth less
back when I used to buy pdp-8 computers for 100-200 dollars ... like
24+ years ago cars were a bunch cheaper too by far....
There are some things that went crazy like the Apple I but there is
still a lot of interesting things around especially if you are willing to
go out to sales and scrap yards etc.
Then remember there is the 'art' of anticipating what will be considered a
classic or totally cool and grab some on the time line point of near
obsolescence and when others finally figure out it is cool...
Two computers come to mind on that for us was Cobalt cube ( got a
cobalt rack unit to keep it company too) and a Next cube system
Ed# _www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org)
In a message dated 6/13/2015 12:24:00 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
scaron at umich.edu writes:
It's too bad that I catch myself thinking this so frequently these days,
but "thank goodness I got mine" ... before the scene blew up... I guess the
good times of just pulling carloads of cool stuff out of the dumpster for
nothing couldn't go on forever... I do tend to agree; at least it's
getting
preserved; but it's a shame if the financial barrier to entry to the hobby
is keeping potentially interested & enthusiastic people away... Like you,
I'd rather see someone playing with the machine; taking it apart; fooling
around; not having it just sit there in a glass case or being just another
addition to some guy's hoard who just has to have it all...
Best,
Sean
On Fri, Jun 12, 2015 at 2:48 AM, Ian S. King <isking at uw.edu> wrote:
The down side is that some historically significant
artifacts will be
purchased by rich twits who will stick them in a closet or a display
case.
The up side is that those same artifacts didn't
go to the skip, as they
did
all too often, all too recently. And history
demonstrates that they
will
come back out of those closets (or garages, in the
case of vintage
automobiles and motorcycles) and end up in the hands of preservationists.
We're seeing a tipping point where at least some people are beginning to
see the urgency of preserving our digital *hardware* legacy, even if
profit
is the driver. As I said, it's not going into a
dumpster.... -- Ian
On Thu, Jun 11, 2015 at 3:24 AM, Kevin Parker <trash80 at internode.on.net>
wrote:
> May be of interest to some list members - appeared in the Sydney
Morning
> Herald Digital Life section yesterday.
>
>
>
> Unfortunately I'm not one of the big spenders.
>
>
>
> I know the story about the $200,000 Apple has got a fair airing but
some
of
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/discarded-apple-i-worth
the other numbers being quoted here frighten
me.
-us200000-collectors-pay-big-money-for-old-tech-20150610-ghfmlu.html
++++++++++
Kevin Parker
++++++++++
--
Ian S. King, MSIS, MSCS, Ph.D. Candidate
The Information School <http://ischool.uw.edu>
Archivist, Voices From the Rwanda Tribunal <http://tribunalvoices.org>
Value Sensitive Design Research Lab <http://vsdesign.org>
University of Washington
There is an old Vulcan saying: "Only Nixon could go to China."