SOL feeding frenzy? - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

15 Dec 1998

At 02:46 PM 12/15/98 -0600, Doug Yowza wrote:
...
 That's an idea.  Do you think there's a greed
gene we could test for?
The point was that there's more than one motivation for selling something,
and money alone isn't always it. 
If someone paid $6,000 for something, and someone else paid $100,
which person is more likely to preserve the something?

...
 I have no problem with high prices being paid, but I
have problems with
high prices being *publicized* because it directly affects me and the
hobby in a negative way. 
...
 We can no longer assume that everybody on this list is
interested in the preservation of old computers, so it doesn't make sense
to offer "special" deals here with the expectation that the machines will
get "special" treatment. 
You know the joke about the guy who goes to the doctor and says
"It hurts when I do this" and the doctor says "Don't do that"?
Well, you're right.  You can't expect to make a public announcement
and somehow control the outcome after the sale.

If someone really wants to preserve a system, would it be so hard
as to hand-pick someone to get it?  Let's say you had an old Terak.
You do a simple web search and see this nice guy in Wisconsin with
a Terak museum web page, and you decide to give it to him instead
of selling it on eBay for $10,000.  Problem solved.

Oh, but wait you say - we aren't talking about people who want
to preserve systems, we're talking about people who want to sell
them and get as much money as possible for the transaction.

...
 But this isn't a rant about prices, it's about
expectations of behavior in
this "community."  
There is no community.  You've been believing too many techno-pagans
in the pages of Wired.  :-)

At 12:43 PM 12/15/98 -0800, Kai Kaltenbach wrote:
...
 I feel compelled to point out that I know all of the
classic computer
collectors here, and I am only aware of one millionaire in the world ever
paying stupid prices for old junk, and he's the founder of some independent
web design company, he does not work for MS. 
I wasn't thinking of anyone in particular.  Sorry about that.
I recalled someone else complaining that some xxxx(a)microsoft.com
bidder was walking away with systems on eBay, and assumed it
was true.

...
  I am not aware of anyone who is _buying and
selling_ classic computers for a profit. 
There's the Bob guy, the antique reseller, right?  Good for him.

At 04:19 PM 12/15/98 -0500, Max Eskin wrote:
...
 That right there is a very important statement, on par
with "Carthago
delenda est". I agree with you completely.  
What do you think you can wipe out, and how?

...
 I guess the old days of
innocence are gone. It's not just an Enrico Tedeschi every few months,
there are actually people trying to make money off this hobby. 
Hobby?  Who said it was a hobby?  There are obviously some people
on this list who have made it their life's work.

- John