I was talking to someone earlier today about how many Altair 8800 systems have survived up to the present, and obviously all that we could do is make a guess. Does anyone know? Also, has anyone thought about creating a web site for users to add system that they have to it for tracking purposes. For instance, if you have an Altair, you go to the site and add your system to the list of Altair owners. It might list the serial numbers, model, owner, etc. This idea could be used for many old rare systems. Basically, a registry of owners and their systems. You obviously wouldn't need to include something like the Commodore 64 or Apple IIe but at least the more early computers, like the Apple I for instance. That way, once a system is listed, collectors can somewhat keep track of them informally. How many Apple 1 or PDP-8 systems are left?

Jeff wrote: For some of the rarer machines, such as early PDP's, Cray's, SOL-20's and such, it might be a good idea though for future reference. A great many classic automotive makes have them and their numbers tend to be larger than the early computer systems. Classic aircraft tend to have their registries as well and know how many of a certain type there are and where they are.

I'm surprised that this hasn't caught on more in the computer crowd. It's a good idea I think, and it will surely help in the future. Do you think that computer guys just don't want to register their systems? We are a strange lot, after all.

That's to bad. Maybe people didn't know it existed? I didn't. If there was one, an easy way to promote it would be to add a link to it if you have a related old computer web page. I would register my old

equipment but I don't think that I have anything that would likely be on a list like that. I think it's a good idea to keep track of some of the old computers, the same why the art community keeps track of paintings by certain artists. It seems like a least a few computers would be worth the effort (Altair, Apple I, Mark 8, etc.)