Writings on AI from 17 years ago....

[Chris Zach]

> I really wonder how things related to old tech / engineering are being
> done in the world. I think certain things need to be financed by
> someone who has a steady income and can afford to have a decades-long
> mission to do this or that, usually for the good of humanity.
> ...
> Perhaps collectors on this list should rethink their options. Maybe
> start a church.

This is a problem that has been going on for a long time: Think of the 
Egyptian Pharaohs: They had amazing stuff, it was buried with them in 
massive pyramids, and within a few generations it was looted and 
probably melted down into junk lost to history. People didn't care. Took 
thousands of years before people actually cared about the remaining loot 
boxes and to be honest it's only been 100 years so it's quite possible 
King Tut's junk will be trashed when the next revolution comes (see ISIS).

Honestly the best idea may be to bury this stuff in concrete and sink it 
in a deep hole somewhere. Stuff is used, then worthless, then suddenly 
valuable and cherished when it's almost all gone.

To be honest, the best thing that can happen is if prices for this stuff 
skyrocket on Ebay and stay there. People take better care of things they 
pay a lot of $$$ for and while I know people pish posh selling it on 
Ebay to the highest bidder it's probably the best way to make sure it 
gets taken care of as opposed to a "donation" that is treated like junk 
because it was "free".

I saw this happen with early Porsche 911's. They were nice, then 
worthless then you couldn't give the damn things away. Now they go for 
100-300k. I'm trying to convince my dad to just trade his 68 911L for 
the best Porsche that Stuttgart can build so it can go to their museum 
and they will actually value the little thing....

I just gave away a Megaframe, a pretty priceless little thing. I hope by 
now they are rare enough that the guy who got it will take care of it 
and love it. We'll see.

C