16 Oct
2010
16 Oct
'10
11:06 a.m.
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2010 12:35:47 +0100
From: Andrew Back <andy at flirble.org>
Subject: Re: Xerox Alto on ebay (not mine!)
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at classiccmp.org>
On (21:02 15/10/10), Tony Duell wrote:
Tony, does a week ever pass where you don't feel the inescapable urge to
flame those who work at museums, regardless of their knowledge, ability and
track record?
You are rude and insulting. Yes, damned rude even. How dare you make such
sweeping generalisations? If the subject of your disapproval were a
particular race or subscribers of a certain religion this would not be
tolerated. Yet somehow it is and you get to flap your jaw, spewing out utter
nonsense asserting that everyone who works at a museum is an idiot, and we
have to put up with it. And *you know full well* that there are plenty of
people who work and volunteer at museums on this list. Oh, I'm not one, in
case you wondered.
...
So, how about this. Have you ever considered that if you slightly adjusted
your attitude and learnt to work with people rather than lambasting them,
you might actually contribute to the preservation of computer history for
future generations.
But, no, it's much easier to take the moral high ground and boast about how
clever you are and how much of an idiot most everyone else is.
Andrew
--------------- REPLY:
Whoa!
Talk about "rude and insulting," and making "sweeping
generalizations"...
He said he's dealt with "some particularly clueless people at museums;" how
did you get "everyone who works at a museum is an idiot" out of that?
And if he and Curt decide that based on their bad experiences they won't
lend their systems again to a museum, I think that's their choice to make.
Finally, to suggest that he hasn't in fact "contributed to the preservation
of computer history" is preposterous and highly insulting; I don't see many
reverse-engineered HP schematics or extremely helpful posts "working with
people" on here with your name on them...
Not many of his contributions are relevant to my interests but I for one
certainly appreciate the time he spends helping the folks on here, in the HP
community and elsewhere (even if his rants are a little repetitive at times)
;-)
Sheesh!
mike
Teo Zenios wrote:
I feel even more strongly about this, having dealt with some particularly
clueless people at musuems and related organisations [1]. To the extent
that no part of my collection is ever going near a museum. There are many old machines that are worth
preserving but are better
off
in a museum then in somebody's cluttered basement left to rot.
There are cases where that's true - but I know how museums can't
possibly