On 04/07/2012 01:43 PM, Scott Mickey wrote:
> I need someone to educate me as to why this DEC hardware is worth
> more than $1K:
> eBay auction -
> "DEC PDP-8 paper tape software, books and core memory card"
>
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320880958746
> At first I thought it was a gag, but then I looked at the number of
> bidders and the amounts.
On Saturday, April 07, 2012 5:20 PM, Dave McGuire wrote:
Do you know any (for example) classic car enthusiasts? Do you know
any of them who have TRULY rare or historically-significant cars? Ask
them how much they'd pay for parts, or for entire vehicles. But, I
respectfully submit, if you have to ask the question, you wouldn't
understand the answer.
I know there are a lot of older fellows out there
holding on to their
PDP and VAX hardware because they are quite fond of it. However, at
some point each comes to the conclusion that unless they want to be
buried with their computers, the same as the egyptian pharaohs were
buried with their gold, they need to find a new home for them.
A fellow who was on oxygen and too weak to pick up his computers any
longer kindly give me two fully loaded VAXServer 3400's for free.
A few years later, from another retired gentleman, I received a
VT103 (11/23), VT100, RX02 (dual 8" flop drives), a pair of
CDC 9427H "Hawk" drives (which about KILLED me when I lifted each
one by myself), dozens of floppies, and a dozen 14" rigid platter
disk cartridges. I got all of this for free too. I did pay $100
for a MicroVAX II, with all original tapes and manuals. It has been
very educational learning all this old hardware and running the
early UNIXes on real hardware (not an emulator). I found all these
people and all of this stuff locally on craigslist. So when I see
bits of DEC paper tape and core memory going for more than $1000,
I am flabbergasted. Completely. Shouldn't this money be staying
in your retirement account? (No offense intended). Why is this
particular stuff so valuable?
"I got this amazing, incredible deal once (or even got lucky enough to
get such a deal TWICE!), therefore they're all like that."
No, I'm sorry, that's not the way it works. You got lucky. Twice.
Don't take it for granted. I know people who would skip meals for the
hardware you listed. I wouldn't, but there ARE computer-related things
I'd skip meals to acquire, with no hesitation.
Just like any REAL classic car person...except the car stuff is a lot
more common.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
Dave,
Thanks for your perspective. Where I live (near Denver), both Maynard
Massachusetts and Silicon Valley are a long-long way away, and always
have been. I think that is one reason why when older computers go up
on craigslist here, I am often the only person to email the seller.
I should have stopped at my original question, and left out the info
about DEC machines I have acquired, as it completely diverted attention
away from what I was asking. I was just shocked by the dollar figure
of that eBay auction, and telling my own story is how I reacted. So,
back to the question: What were the valuable items in the auction?
I don't think it was the books. And I doubt it was the core memory,
but I could be wrong. I think it must have been the paper tapes with
the original DEC labels. Those are somewhat fragile, and while a
computer can sit in a corner for years with little degradation, the
same likely cannot be said for the paper tapes. Or maybe people tossed
those tapes over the years with little thought, so now they are very
rare? But still, $1K, wow! Makes one think twice about tossing
anything, doesn't it?
Scott