Algorithmic pricing gone critical - Re: PDP-10 programming [was RE: Dumb Terminal games (was Re: Looking for a small fast VAX development machine)]

[Robert Jarratt]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of william
> degnan
> Sent: 02 March 2016 03:30
> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
> <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
> Subject: Re: Algorithmic pricing gone critical - Re: PDP-10 programming [was
> RE: Dumb Terminal games (was Re: Looking for a small fast VAX development
> machine)]
> 
> On Mar 1, 2016 8:19 PM, "Toby Thain" <toby at telegraphics.com.au> wrote:
> >
> > On 2016-03-01 7:36 PM, Sean Conner wrote:
> >>
> >> It was thus said that the Great Rich Alderson once stated:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> For most hobbyists, even $100 is too much.  I was simply astounded
> >>> at
> the
> >>> chutzpah of the seller--right there on the Amazon list--who was
> >>> asking nearly $1500 for a copy.
> >>
> >>
> >>    I think that comes from an unchecked computer algorithm, not
> >> simple
> greed.
> >> I think what's happening here is someone (some Amazon third party)
> offered
> >> the book for, say, $5.  Another third party scans Amazon for such
> >> books,
> and
> >> offers it for say, $6, with the hope that you (the potential buyer)
> >> will only see their their offer for $6 and buy from them, at which
> >> point they will buy it for $5 from the original seller, sell it to
> >> you for $6 and pocket the $1 profit.  The problem comes when a third
> >> third-party seller sees the offer for $6 and does the same thing as
> >> the second one, only now they're offering it for $7, will pay $6 for it and
> pocket $1 profit.
> >>
> >>    Keep repeating that process and you end up with books selling for
> $1500.
> >
> >
> > Or more:
> > http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?p=358
> > etc.
> >
> > Remind me why HFT is a great idea...
> >
> >>
> >>    -spc (Who knows?  If you keep searching, you might find the original
> >>         seller selling it for $5 ... )
> >>
> >
> 
> I would think pdp 10 original books / manuals are hard to find.

I still have my copy of the book by Michael Singer: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Introduction-DECsystem-10-assembler-language-programming/dp/B0007AJF54/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456948533&sr=8-1&keywords=singer+decsystem. This is the book I used to program a DECSYSTEM20 in assembler, although I must have used other resources to help me along that I no longer recall. The book is available at a much more reasonable price than the Gorin book (which I don't have).

Regards

Rob