23 Feb
1998
23 Feb
'98
4:08 a.m.
Regarding the three Altair machines that were recently posted
to the net auction at ebay.com - they went from $1525 to $2025.
Mind you, these weren't complete systems. The software, extra
drives, etc. were auctioned separately.
- John
Jefferson Computer Museum <http://www.threedee.com/jcm>
23 Feb
23 Feb
5:25 a.m.
On Mon, 23 Feb 1998, John Foust wrote:
Regarding the three Altair machines that were recently
posted
to the net auction at ebay.com - they went from $1525 to $2025.
Mind you, these weren't complete systems. The software, extra
drives, etc. were auctioned separately.
Complete enough for someone to want to pay that much for them. Those
prices aren't too far out of line with what I'd expect someone to pay.
And they had all the cards necessary to make them useful. I personally
would never pay that much because eventually one will plop into my lap
for far cheaper, perhaps even free. Now if the bidding had gone to
$10,000+ I'd be worried.
I think the guys who ended up with the Paper Tape software got the rarest
items.
Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
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8:21 a.m.
On Mon, 23 Feb 1998, John Foust wrote:
Regarding the three Altair machines that were recently posted
to the net auction at ebay.com - they went from $1525 to $2025.
Mind you, these weren't complete systems. The software, extra
drives, etc. were auctioned separately.
Yup, one just went for $1575 last night at Haggle Online (www.haggle.com)
for just the chassis and cards. It didn't look like any of the cards were
original MITS, even the CPU was a Z80.
The prices are getting up there, but this is still less than an original
owner would have paid (even w/o adjusting for inflation since this box was
well-stuffed with S100 cards).
Besides the Apple 1, does anybody know of a computer system that has
actually appreciated in value? :-)
-- Doug
9:49 a.m.
At 13:21 2/23/98 -0600, you wrote:
Besides the Apple 1, does anybody know of a computer
system that has
actually appreciated in value? :-)
Lisa One.
__________________________________________
Kip Crosby engine(a)chac.org
http://www.chac.org/index.html
Computer History Association of California
11:16 a.m.
On Mon, 23 Feb 1998, Yowza! wrote:
Yup, one just went for $1575 last night at Haggle
Online (www.haggle.com)
for just the chassis and cards. It didn't look like any of the cards were
original MITS, even the CPU was a Z80.
The prices are getting up there, but this is still less than an original
owner would have paid (even w/o adjusting for inflation since this box was
well-stuffed with S100 cards).
Besides the Apple 1, does anybody know of a computer system that has
actually appreciated in value? :-)
Well, if I wanted to buy a Commodore 64 from you got $5,000 I'd say that
was an appreciation in value. But I probably wouldn't.
This goes back to the old saying...it's only worth what someone will pay.
If you stuck the rarest stamp in the world with documentation and proof of
authenticity in front of someone who didn't even know what a stamp was, to
them its just a little scrap of paper. Pricing, no matter who determines
it, is always subjective.
Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
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Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass
Coming Soon...Vintage Computer Festival 2.0
See http://www.siconic.com/vcf for details!
12:13 p.m.
Boy, ain't that the truth! Sometimes pricing is not so subjective
as it is absurd! I saw an ATARI 1200XL at a thrift for $49.95,
sitting next to a fully functional WY-50 (my favourite terminal, BTW)
for $9.95, complete with keyboard (miraculously).
Guess which one I pounced on?
Jeff
<top snipped>
This goes back to the old saying...it's only worth
what someone will pay.
If you stuck the rarest stamp in the world with documentation and proof of
authenticity in front of someone who didn't even know what a stamp was, to
them its just a little scrap of paper. Pricing, no matter who determines
it, is always subjective.
Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass
Coming Soon...Vintage Computer Festival 2.0
See http://www.siconic.com/vcf for details!
1:04 p.m.
On Mon, 23 Feb 1998, Sam Ismail wrote:
Well, if I wanted to buy a Commodore 64 from you got
$5,000 I'd say that
was an appreciation in value. But I probably wouldn't.
This goes back to the old saying...it's only worth what someone will pay.
If you stuck the rarest stamp in the world with documentation and proof of
authenticity in front of someone who didn't even know what a stamp was, to
them its just a little scrap of paper. Pricing, no matter who determines
it, is always subjective.
It's subjective, but not completely arbitrary if you believe in market
efficiency. I'm actually surprised Altairs are going for as little as
they are given their place in history, relative rarity, those cool
flashing lights, and the number of millionaires at Microsoft :-)
-- Doug
9641
days inactive
9641
days old
6 comments
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participants (5)
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dastar＠wco.com -
engine＠chac.org -
Jeff.Kaneko＠ifrsys.com -
jfoust＠threedee.com -
yowza＠yowza.com