PDP 11/44

In article <49B80F86.9070207 at update.uu.se>, Pontus <pontus at update.uu.se> writes: Nope. Not when it comes to determining what people are willing to pay for a PDP-11. I did some checking on ebay and machines much less capable or vintage than an 11/44 were selling for more than $100. Examples: $475 PDP-11/73, item # 300295154117 $200 PDP-11/73, item # 250375935263 $105 PDP-11/05 boards and backplane, item # 230327891779 $99.99 PDP-11 header panel only, item # 230327888816 My understanding is that a PDP-11/44 is much less of a commodity item than either of those machines. Given that the plastic header panel sold for what someone paid for an entire 11/44 11 years ago should indicate what has been happening in this marketplace. More search results: <http://tinyurl.com/d4a4h2> Yes, but I don't think you can argue that a price from 11 years ago is going to be even marginally relevant to prices today, even when accounting for a temporary dip in prices because people are less willing to buy now than they were last year. What I've noticed on this list is that the people here have a tendency to undervalue what other people are willing to pay for vintage computing gear. Whether that's because they are just too cheap to pay a higher price or because they are living in a past-time when vintage computing collecting wasn't popular (I paid $100 11 years ago) or whatever, I don't know. However, it has been consistent observation in my experience. Deals can still be had, but they are not typical. I've received some stuff for free and other stuff I had to outbid other collectors in order to get it. The going market price for something is not a function of what someone paid for that item 11 years ago; it is based on what people are willing to pay now. Almost certainly everything we collect becomes more scarce over time; rarely does new supply become available. More people are interested in collecting vintage computers now than were interested 11 years ago. Supply has stayed the same and demand has increased. Its a simple economic proposition, really. -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html> Legalize Adulthood! <http://blogs.xmission.com/legalize/>