Collecting (quit whining and do something about it!)

From: Sam Ismail <dastar_at_crl.com>
Date: Mon Apr 21 16:17:36 1997

On Mon, 21 Apr 1997, William Donzelli wrote:

> > If it does become mainstream (though I doubt it will, not in the very near
> > future), we have another reason to be more aggressive in collecting. So far,
> > we're rescuing old iron, minis, micros and what not from the disgusting
> > tentacles of "computer recycling" and the dump.
>
> I would like to point out that this attitude towards scrap dealers is
> really unproductive to our efforts. I have noticed it several places on
> this list.
>
> Simply stated, scrap dealers are not the enemy! Some of my best goodies
> have come straight out the junkyard. The secret is to get to know the
> people doing the scrapping - some of them will turn out to be fine, just
> uninformed. True, some are jerks that would stab their brother in the
> back just to get a good deal, but most are simply out to make a good
> living, being their own boss.

Yeah, the Lawrence Livermore Labs here in California phased out their CRAY
I a couple years back and the high bidder was a scrap dealer who bought it
for...I forget how much. Either it was $10,000 or he expected to get
$10,000 out of the metals in it. At any rate, reading his quote in the
paper about what he would get after melting it down got me incensed.

>
> To them, the old minis are resources of gold, some chips, some aluminum
> and tantalum, and misc. dirty metal. Most do not know that there are
> people that cherish and collect the old gear. They are simply interested

Good point. I never thought to go to the scrap dealers and get a
relationship going. This is a terrific idea! I think I'll start
scouting them out this weekend.

Sam
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Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass
Received on Mon Apr 21 1997 - 16:17:36 BST