collectors vs. enthusiasts

George, I agree 100%. If you want something that bad you have to pay for it. Pure and simple. -----Original Message----- From: George Currie <g(a)kurico.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Wednesday, October 13, 1999 9:13 PM Subject: Re: collectors vs. enthusiasts 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". Are you implying that one must be of modest means to be an "enthusiast". If you saw a rare whatnot that you had always loved and wanted to tinker with, and had the financial means to acquire it, would you let it go to the scrap because you thought the asking price was too high? Would you let it go to a "collector asshole" because you thought the asking price was too high? If this is the case then you obviously didn't "want" the item that much or didn't have that much passion for it. Perhaps this activity can be further classified as "bargain vintage computer enthusiast". I am both an enthusiast and a collector. I try to get working what I can, but I don't stop acquiring if I know that I won't have time to get around to something. Maybe a computer has special meaning to me, and I just want to have one, and I have the financial resources to do it, does that make me an asshole? Now of course, there are people who would purchase something simply for the "coolness" of having it. With the advent of ebay, those who have deeper pockets are now playing the game. It's a real bummer having to pay lots for stuff that used to be given to you. But hey, that's life. Is the guy who drives a Ferrari an asshole because you drive a Ford (of course he could be, but not just because he drives the Ferrari of course). I fully understand the frustration, but venting it by making generalizations of those who happen to be better financially equipped than you, or are just willing to pay more for something than you, is just immature. I get just as bummed as anyone else when something that I've been wanting goes for more than what I'm willing to pay ($100 for an HP Integral, nope, don't think so, but dang, I've been wanting one for a very long time now), but at least it's not going to a scrapper (in my opinion, our true enemies). And yes, I know that those who don't have a passion for the item is more likely to scrap it if it's investment value/cool factor diminishes, so no come-backs about this are necessary. Another thing is this whole "if someone paid more than what I think something's worth, then they must be one of these slimeball collector folk" attitude. Before I discovered things like live auctions, ebay was the best/only (or so I thought at the time) to acquire things. If it is your only reasonable source, then of course you would be willing to pay more for something than someone who lives next door to Weird Stuff. Anyway, sorry for the long rant, but this whole "attitude" thing just irks me and I've been averaging like 4 hrs of sleep for the last couple of weeks (new baby + company being bought out) so I guess I'm a bit touchy (and not too coherent). So, whine about how hard it is to get stuff on cheap, fine, I do that all the time (just ask my wife). Call the guy who purchased an Altair for $2K an asshole/loser collector/not worthy, well, anyway, you now know how I feel. George