21 Mar
2014
21 Mar
'14
5:06 p.m.
On 03/17/2014 03:31 PM, Tony Duell wrote:
> Mind you, if I ever got an unassmbled heathkit, or any other kit, I
> would assemble it. The whole point of htis unit is to run programs. Not
> to sit as pile of parts in a cardboard box.
This, of coruse, is a personal decision. There is no 'right' and 'wrong'.
It's your kit, you can do what the heck you liek with it, including
simply using the components for other projects. But then again...
That was my first thought, too...
But on the back of that, I start thinking that there just aren't enough
hours in the day to run (and keep operational) everything that I have,
anyway - I end up with a few favourite systems, and lots more stuff that
spends most of the time just sitting on a shelf.
Sure, I know the feeling.... Peronally, if I had a kit that I didn;t
want, and didn't have time to build, I would try to pass it on to
somebody who was goign to build it.
After thinking that, I then start thinking that maybe it'd be better to
keep it as a kit of parts, because there might come a time when there
aren't any kits left, and it would be more interesting to people in a
museum somewhere (particularly if all the assembled ones had long since
ceased to function anyway) in its current state.
Of coruse after that time, the kit would not work if assembled.. ICs wil
ldie whether in the kti or i nthe assmebled machine.
I can see what you are saying, but I do wonder at the interest in the
exact way the kit was packed. to me, that has nothing to do with
computing. I guess it does have some historical interest, but you have to
weigh that against the interest from havign a working H89 now. Which I
suspect is greater.
Of course the reality is that I'd find it fun to assemble it and get it
working, and so perhaps wouldn't be able to resist :-) But I can
understand how there's an argument for keeping it as-is, even if the owner
isn't treating it as some form of investment.
True. I know that _I_ would assemble it, becuase it would be fun for me
to do that. But then I've bought rare manuals in the shrink-wrap and
immediately ripped the wrapping off becasue I bought the manual to read,
not to look nice. Or I've unpacked 'new in box' items to use...
-tony