16 Jun
2003
16 Jun
'03
4:06 p.m.
On Mon, 16 Jun 2003, Tony Duell wrote:
If you are merely a collector (I like to consider myself an "archivist") I
think the modification is part of the historical fabric of the machine,
and changing it would alter that history.
If you're just a hacker, and you intend to continue use of the machine,
then any change you make becomes part of the historical fabric of that
machine.
It just depends on how you look at it.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
* Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *
I had my
Otrona 8:16 upgraded from 256KB to 640KB RAM, so it now has
stacked chips. However, that was a mod done at the time (actually,
Otrona Advanced Systems had gone under by then, but it was a 3rd party
(Brown Enterprises) mod that was current with the machine. What Tony was
objecting to is a modern collector hot-rodding an old box by increasing
the RAM (or processor, or ...) in a way that would not have been done
contemporaneously with the machine.
Related to that is what you should do if you find a modified machine --
do you keep the modification, or return it to factory spec? There are
plenty of arguments either way (e.g. 'The modification is part of the
history of the machine and should be kept' .vs. 'The machine should be
preserved as it was originally'). Personally, I am undecided on this.
Sometimes I keep the modification (particularly if it's useful and
doesn't adversely affect the operation and repairabilty of the machine),
sometimes I remove it.