Some of the folks at Motorola are also good about stuff like this. Many times I have needed data sheets for some of their more obscure, long obsolete chips, and they came thru with free photocopies from some ancient databooks. William Donzelli william(a)ans.net

At 10:27 07-05-98 -0700, Gary Oliver <go(a)ao.com> wrote: *Very* few companies, darn it. A problem is that companies get bought out and/or go completely out of business. These circumstances cause loss of a *lot* of parts and paper useful for folks who still have equipment they want to use or, like us, to preserve and document. Yeah, occasionally I still privately support ("unofficially" as far as my company is concerned) a few of our old customers who have ancient optical measuring instruments that are 25 to 40 years old. They eventually track down and call my company who is now the third generation instrument manufacturer from the original manufacturer (originally Bausch & Lomb in this case). Customer Service in my company turns them toward me partly because they know I used to build and repair those products (I've been here 24 years), they kinda want to provide good Customer Relations as in 'Good Will' ("We can maybe sell a new electronic linear encoder system to them later") and finally, they know I'm a Certified Pack Rat who has rescued a lot of old parts and manuals from the Dumpster Patrol. The net result is for us to ratchet upwards market share even if it's ever so slight. We as collectors/preservationists wish companies in the computer world would do the same but there's reasons mentioned further on.... This is a bell-ringer with many companies who pay too much attention to "The Bottom Line". Even my company's bean counters panic when they find that obsolete parts have been setting on the shelf for more than a year or so. "Call the Dumpster Brigade! We've got an emergency in Finished Goods" is the call from the company comptroller. We're a small-to-mid sized company, so sometimes we can negotiate with the comptroller so salvage some stuff. The IRS socks it to all companies to pay tax on all of their parts inventory. If it is not making money (as in being obsolete and not many repair parts being sold) then trash it. Otherwise, a company could be bled dry of its financial resources over a period of time from being taxed too much for too long. Try to tell a company driven by bean counters the exact value of "priceless". I mean to say that the sales/engineering/manufacturing parts of that company may have the good customer relations at heart but sometimes the accountants want to see the money in that. --Chris -- -- Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian Jamestown, NY USA Member of Antique Wireless Association URL: http://www.ggw.org/freenet/a/awa/

Christian Fandt wrote: And some people wonder why I'm such an Anarchist/Libertarian. In theory, (ask OJ), you can't be tried twice for the same crime. "Inventory" tax means that for as long as you hold the merchandise, you will continue to be taxed every bloody year unless you bite the bullet and throw the stuff away. That makes it damned hard to go into business fixing old equipment that doesn't break often or for that matter being a used-book dealer. That latter being my chosen next career. -- Ward Griffiths They say that politics makes strange bedfellows. Of course, the main reason they cuddle up is to screw somebody else. Michael Flynn, _Rogue Star_