20 Dec
2005
20 Dec
'05
2:45 a.m.
Lately I've been wondering if anyone attempts to
collect
mass-manufactured memorabilia by trying to get the lowest serial
number.
For instance, I have an Atari 800 serial #388801.
Has anyone done a wiki/database type web page where everyone can enter
the serial #s of their common computers?
This is mostly a pointless excercise, sorry to report. Serial numbers are
notoriously non-sequential. Some companies purposely skip chunks in the
series, and many actually will not start at 1 (it looks bad). To add to
that, the serial numbers can change as a system goes thru the factory -
#1 probably was not actually the first off the line, but the one
closest to the guy that put the stickers on when the shift started. The
real bastard companies are the ones that reuse serials!
William Donzelli
aw288 at osfn.org