13 Aug
1998
13 Aug
'98
11:32 a.m.
At 01:21 PM 8/13/98 -0500, you wrote:
I'll tell you why it's depressing. We had such a good thing going-- the
whole
world was (is) dominated by the PeeCee, nobody but us *real* hobbyists cared
about the interesting "old" stuff. It was a *real* hobby-- anyone with a
*couple* (meaning two) of dollars could get into the act.
ALl you needed to have some truly interesting stuff was a voltmeter, a
terminal,
and just a little luck.
Well, kiddies, the party's over. "Investment Grade" antique technology is
here to stay, it seems. Well I'll tell you what, guys. They can *have* it.
I'll have nothing more to do with "Investment Grade" computers. One
experience
was enough to show me the level of perversion that can be attained with this
mindset.
I can't
put my finger on exactly why, but I find myself extremely
depressed by this. Does anyone know (personally) the fellow who put in
the high bid? Will the Altair be something of inherent value to him,
or is it simply an investment?
I haven't looked at the URL but I'm sure I don't know anyone involved.
It IS depressing, isn't it? I've been thinking about this aspect of computer
collecting for a while. Someone on alt.folklore.computers said that he had
verified the authenticity of an Apple I system (complete with original cover
letter receipt signed by Steve Jobs, etc.) just before it was shipped across
the country to a new buyer. As I drooled over this, I realized that it's an
extremely desirable thing to
have (and this one in particular sounded rare) but the economics are just too
warped. There are only a handful of these machines, right? And they just
change hands and the prices go up. Also, it may be desirable to have, but
not
to USE. The RAM is expandable to almost 64K (though
I've never heard of this
being done) but there's only one slot and the only card built for it was a
cassette interface. The display is slow because it uses a shift register.
Yeah, it wasn't that great of a machine, even in it's own time (although, of
course, quite historic). But such was the lot of the hobbyist at the time.
I'm just too practical, I guess. I believe in
collecting things to use them/
have fun with them, and the rarity of the Apple I is at odds with this goal.
I too have to wonder at the motives of the buyer of this Altair.
It's all a matter of goals and priorities. There are goals that will
produce a
productive outcome if reached, and there are some that will produce a bad
outcome.
This is a good hobby, because even schoolkids withoout alot of money can
enjoy
the 'rush' of putting an old system together and running it (something *I*
couldn't
do when I was a kid).
But when it becomes a hobby for the rich, upper classes-- as many of the
'traditional'
hobbies have become-- then something will be irrevocably lost. Hopefully, we
are still a decade or so away from the complete commercialization of our
hobby.
I can't bear the though of the classic computer going the way of the
baseball card,
and the comic book . . .
There IS the possibility that this is an elaborate
"sour grapes" argument,
given that I have neither an Apple I nor an Altair. :)
And what I'm saying is that you don't need them to enjoy the hobby. In
fact, I'm
convinced now that having *anything* that's considered 'Investment Grade'
would
*preclude* you from experiencing the enjoyment factor. Our Pre-PC heritage
is so
vast and diverse, there literally must be something (else) out there for
everyobody.
Jeff
*FOR SALE*
Slightly used SOAPBOX.
Used only once to annoy
computer geeks online.