7 Oct
1998
7 Oct
'98
4:09 p.m.
By that arguemnt, a built heathkit (or whatever) has
little/no historical
value. And that's something that I don't accept.
Today, if you build a classic (1950-60s) Heathkit, you really are changing
the piece in a drastic way - probably more so than doing anything else to
it. But building a classic Heathkit back in the 1950-60s _built_ the
historic fabric associated with the kits! And there are _plenty_ of
examples of built Heathkits out there, with all sorts of historic fabric
just ready to be enjoyed - crummy joints, burnt wires, "improvements",
notes from the builder, etc.. Same with Altairs...
The financial arguement is possibly bogus.
Sure, you can get LOTS of enjoyment out of building a kit - so much that
you probably can not put a value on it. From a purely accounting view,
however, an unbuilt Altair, all complete and virgin, would fetch how much?
Would anyone like to guess? My guess would be over $5,000. How many built
Altairs could you buy for that much?
William Donzelli
william(a)ans.net