24 Jan
2010
24 Jan
'10
10:33 a.m.
William Donzelli wrote:
Recall about a week or so ago I had an informal survey concerning
wills, and taking care of collections after the collectors have
passed. Results were better than last time - barely. Two.
I guess this means there are going to be a lot of Straight-8s and
Apple Is scrapped in the next 20-30 years.
Will
-------------------------------------------
One problem I see is that the general population views old computers as just a bunch of
old office equipment. When my friends come over, they tease me about all the effort I put
into this stuff, saying, "Why bother with all this old crap? You realize that when
you die, it's just all going into a dumpster?"
And that's precisely what's going to happen if those not knowledgeable are left
with your collection in their hands and not knowing what to do with it. It's just too
hard to sell for most people.
So, seems like "old office equipment collectors" could use a safe, central place
to register... a place that they or their heirs can contact when it's time for the
collection to go.. an organization that either handles dispensing of the collection, or
that merely alerts others in the collecting world that the collection is available.
Another question is whether old computers will have the same popularity as they have now
(whatever that level of popularity is now). Will interest go up over time, or will it go
down as the people that grew up with those models are replaced by people who did not? I
would hazard the guess that most people are most fond of the machines they grew up with..
and then second, those that at least existed during their lifetimes, and then lastly, a
sharp drop off for those that existed prior to their lifetimes. That pattern could
change some due to machines having gotten so much smaller starting in the 70's.
The prior question has much bearing on how much goes to dumpsters. If you others are
contacted about a collection, will they even come?
What is the best thing, today, that I can tell my family about what to do with this
collection if I were to check out? I really don't know the answer to that question.
John Singleton
24 Jan
24 Jan
11:24 a.m.
One problem I see is that the general population views old computers as
just a bunch of old office equipment. When my friends come over, they
tease me about all the effort I put into this stuff, saying, "Why
bother with all this old crap? You realize that when you die, it's
just all going into a dumpster?"
And that's precisely what's going to happen if those not knowledgeable
are left with your collection in their hands and not knowing what to do
with it. It's just too hard to sell for most people.
So, seems like "old office equipment collectors" could use a safe,
central place to register... a place that they or their heirs can
contact when it's time for the collection to go.. an organization that
either handles dispensing of the collection, or that merely alerts
others in the collecting world that the collection is available.
Another question is whether old computers will have the same popularity
as they have now (whatever that level of popularity is now). Will
interest go up over time, or will it go down as the people that grew up
with those models are replaced by people who did not? I would hazard
the guess that most people are most fond of the machines they grew up
with.. and then second, those that at least existed during their
lifetimes, and then lastly, a sharp drop off for those that existed
prior to their lifetimes. That pattern could change some due to
machines having gotten so much smaller starting in the 70's.
I am not so sure that it is necessarily the case that people lose interest
in things that pre-date their own lifetime. I live in Manchester in the UK
and we have a museum of Science and Industry here that is full of old
stationary steam engines that are still operated. These machines certainly
predate the lifetimes of their current curators and maintainers.
If there were no interest in things that pre-dated our own lifetimes then
there would not be any museums. The peculiar problem faced by computer
history is perhaps the frenetic pace of computer development, which has
meant that historically interesting computers are not generally recognised
as such because they are still relatively recent and become obsolete so
quickly that they are discarded far too readily. I am sure the time will
come when computers will become of general interest to anyone with any
interest in history, the only danger is that we may have already thrown them
all away.
Regards
Rob
11:40 a.m.
Germane to the discussion of "museums" is today's BBC World Service
"Forum" program held at the British Museum. The topic is "objects"
and more than once the term "virtual museum" has been used.
FWIW,
Chuck
(who doesn't listen to what passes for radio in the US)
11:46 a.m.
On Sunday 24 January 2010, js at cimmeri.com wrote:
Another question is whether old computers will have
the same
popularity as they have now (whatever that level of popularity is
now). Will interest go up over time, or will it go down as the
people that grew up with those models are replaced by people who did
not? I would hazard the guess that most people are most fond of
the machines they grew up with.. and then second, those that at
least existed during their lifetimes, and then lastly, a sharp drop
off for those that existed prior to their lifetimes. That pattern
could change some due to machines having gotten so much smaller
starting in the 70's.
Some of the people on this list are pre-dated by most of the "classic"
computers that they collect, and are more interested in the history
aspect, and less so in the "I want to hoard machines that I grew up
with" aspect. I guess I fall somewhere in the middle of those two.
Pat
--
Purdue University Research Computing --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/
The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org
12:20 p.m.
On Jan 24, 2010, at 10:33 AM, js at cimmeri.com wrote:
One problem I see is that the general population views
old
computers as just a bunch of old office equipment. When my friends
come over, they tease me about all the effort I put into this
stuff, saying, "Why bother with all this old crap? You realize
that when you die, it's just all going into a dumpster?"
Don't worry, this is an easy problem to solve. There are two
options:
1) Choose better friends
2) Educate your existing friends
#2 is, of course, the best option, and often the only option with
family members. The analogy I like to use is cars. Everyone
understands the guy with the Model T Ford in the garage. I explain
that this is exactly the same thing...just the cars have only
revolutionized transportation, while computers have revolutionized
EVERYTHING, and preserving them, and their history, is just as
important if not more so.
Every nontechnical person I've explained this to has gotten it,
without exception. You can actually watch their facial expressions
change as the light dawns, then suddenly they start to respect the
equipment and sometimes become curious about it. In fact, two of
those people now own (and love) small PDP-11s.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
5:47 p.m.
And that's precisely what's going to happen if
those not knowledgeable are
left with your collection in their hands and not knowing what to do with it.
?It's just too hard to sell for most people.
This is very easy language to add to a will.
So, seems like "old office equipment
collectors" could use a safe, central
place to register... a place that they or their heirs can contact when it's
time for the collection to go.. an organization that either handles
dispensing of the collection, or that merely alerts others in the collecting
world that the collection is available.
BAD idea. The will and probate system has been around since the dawn
of law. Don't screw up something that works with a competing, well
established, well run, and effective system.
--
Will
9:27 p.m.
From: "William Donzelli", Sunday, January 24, 2010 2:47 PM
BAD idea. The will and probate system has been around
since the dawn
of law. Don't screw up something that works with a competing, well
established, well run, and effective system.
You have a *lot* more faith in lawers, courts, etc. than I do!
Vince
5273
days inactive
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7 comments
7 participants
participants (7)
-
cclist＠sydex.com -
js＠cimmeri.com -
mcguire＠neurotica.com -
pat＠computer-refuge.org -
robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com -
vrs＠msn.com -
wdonzelli＠gmail.com