26 Jan
1999
26 Jan
'99
5:38 a.m.
> I, for one, will not be on this new list, but
I'll respond to admin
> requests.
Okay, it seems a bit late but *I* have a number of
questions (in no
particular order):
1) How many people on this list are actually
interested in participating?
Already on.
2) Should these auction notices go to a separate list
or remain here. These
notices *are* on-topic as far as this list is concerned.
In fact, I always loved (most of) your postings, but I can also
live with the list (already some rules added to keep track and
fill a seperate folder). Ok, maybe it is cheap and weak to bow
before screaming voices, but I'm also a bit tired about it.
3) What happens if enough people start contributing to
this new list that
the minor "problem" Doug thinks I have created here with sporadic postings
becomes major?
His fault, he offered the list, and he will get burried by the result .)
I would also love to see this list added to the classiccmp 'FAQ'.
> On a related note, I want to make it clear that I
do find the price trend
> disturbing. Call me Chicken Little, but I fear The End is Near! It
> appears to be increasingly difficult to find "interesting" vintage
> machines from the usual inexpensive sources. I only saw a few S100
> machines at ham fests last year, and I suspect that number will decrease
> by half this year.
The trend you are describing *WILL* happen but I see
little evidence that
the end is near. It has been quite a while since I have seen a TRS-80 model
I machine but I am sure they are still out there. I think though that a
little more digging will be required to find them. And I STILL think a lot
of stuff is going to that dumpster in the sky, and THAT is something I am
concerned about.
They are dying - I noticed the same over here - real old or
uncommon machines are already nonexistent on swap meets. It
comes more to an point like in the car collections - no more
garage/barn finds anymore.
> Would there be any interest in an anonymous
database that tracks prices
> collectors paid over time, and the sources where they found the machines?
> If so, I can setup a website in about a day.
That would be a wonderful thing, and I would encourage
you to do that!
Couple of comments:
1) It would provide a resource for giving at least a
hint of what something
might be worth.
but needs a reasonable controll, so a trustworthy maintainer
is needed to check new entries for beeing reasonable (not on
a 100% base, but at least if it looks unusual).
2) Credibility might suffer if just anyone was allowed
to enter information,
and/or unverifiable information was allowed to be entered into the database.
Jep. Maybe every entry should be guarded by a source field,
to enter the source of the information (price) like ePay,
haggle, swap, personal, regular auchtion, etc. So possibly
several price levels can be calculatet, to reflect the different
trade areas.
3) I have been looking for a free way to make some
money without having to
do the research and I would love to put this information on the new CD I am
planning on selling (said tongue-in-cheek but you can see my point.)
If this database is made as an effort of all of us, I would
sugest to put the date on a kind of GPL licence type - all
or none.
4) Would this infomation be downloadable as file, or
just available on the
web?
I would suggest both.
Gruss
H.
--
Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut
HRK