If I remember right, NeXT computers are not that expensive. I think mine was $450 including computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse, and sound box (NeXT Station Color Turbo W/400MB hd and 8mb of RAM) Tony > -----Original Message----- > From: Adam Jenkins [mailto:adam@merlin.net.au] > Sent: Friday, August 14, 1998 2:31 PM > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > Subject: Re: Altair - A different perspective > > > > >Exactly, the Altair helped kick-off the hobbiest movement by > being cheap. > >The Mark-8 did this earlier, but it was so slow and buggy that it was > >pretty much a non-starter. The Altair was an improvement, > but it was also > >pretty much a non-starter that fizzled after about 10,000 units. The > >Altair was the grandfather of the S-100 bus and CP/M, both of which > >fizzled and left only a minor mark on MS-DOS, which didn't fizzle. > > I think that to say that the S-100 Bus and CP/M "fizzled" is > to seriously > understate the value of both. :) I'm sure you don't mean to > suggest that > they were without value, but keep in mind that 6 years of > dominance (which > is probably the minimum that one would give to CP/M and the > S100) is an > incredibly long time in the fledging personal computer > field. True, it > doesn't stand up that well to 15+ years of Microsoft, but it was the > dominate architecture on teh market. > > >Low prices, enabled by the microprocessor, is one of the > elements that got > >us to where we are today. A high-degree of interactivity is another. > >Computer graphics is another. The desktop form-factor is > also a strong > >survivor. So, if somebody were really looking at collecting > Altairs as the > >machine that "started it all", I think they have been misled > and would be > >better off collecting the IBM PC, early Apples, early HP > desktops, the > >PDP-8, and all of the PDP-1's they can find :-) > > I don't support these high prices, and I'm another of the > collectors who > wants to save and use, rather than simply buy and store their > systems. I > don't have, nor do I particularly desire, an Altair (but I do > really want a > NeXTCube), but the significance of the Altair and the > hobbiest movement > should not be measured in terms of computers sold. :) My view > is that the > Altair made it clear to hobiests that they could own a > computer, and so > even if they didn't buy one it started them dreaming about > one. (And yes, > I know it was not the first). This is much the same as with > the Lisa - > people didn't necessarily buy them, and indeed they ignored > them in great > numbers - but without the Lisa then I doubt the Macintosh > would have been > as successful. First you have the great implementation of a > grand concept > that you can never own, and then you follow it with an > affordable version. > Anyway, the point is that the Altair led to the hobbists, while the > hobbists pushed the tech both in hardware and software, creating the > potential for personal computers to move into new markets. > True, this was > a marketing dream of many of the computer companies before > the Altair, but > the Altair is definitly one of the most important systems. That's my > opinion, anyway. > > As to prices, well I come form a number of collecting backgrounds, and > prices are never increased so much by rarity or actual value, but by > perceived value. When people started thinking Teddy Bears were worth > money, the prices lept ahead - but only in the brands which > the collectors > recognised. The Altair is recognised as significant, is relativly > uncommon, and every article on computer history sings it's > praises. You > could almost guarentee that the prices would go up. > > If only Apple IIc's were worth a fortune - then I could > finally get my NeXT. :) > > Adam. > >