[...]
> In the text of the article is allegedly said (I have not seen the article)
> that early microcomputers were fetching sums of upwards of $25,000(US).
What is crazy (IMHO) is that some machines seem to attract prices that are
far too high for the type of machine. A case in point : About 10 years ago
at a radio rally (hamfest), I could have bought either an Altair or an
Intellec MCS8I. The Intellec was \pounds 10 more expensive, but appeared
to be the more interesting and historically significant machine. It also
had all the manuals with it, etc. It was getting late, and I couldn't
afford both. I bought the Intellec.
Of course now the Altair sells for very high prices (and I have no idea
why), while Intellecs are almost worthless except to serious old computer
enthusiasts like myself. So in a sense I lost a lot of money on that
decision.
Do I regret it? Not at all! The Intellec is the more interesting machine.
I don't collect these computers as an investment - I collect them because
I like old computers. I like to see how they work, how things changed over
the years, etc.
[...]
> I guess my base fear here is that if we actually managed to get the
> media's attention, a few major stories like this might drive the equipment
> costs to high (note I said COSTS, not VALUE) that only deep pocketed
> people with no real interest in the equipment other than its percieved
> 'value' would be able to afford to obtain it!
Absolutely. I was chatting to Wlodek Mier-J (An HP calculator enthusiast)
shortly before he published his 'guide to HP calculators' (which is
excellent, by the way). I was also worried that such a guide could cause
the second-hand prices of such machines to become very high, and
effectively cut a lot of people out of the hobby. He replied that this
could be a result, but that his intended result was to make people realise
that the 20-year-old HP calculators had a value, and that it was worth
selling them to collectors rather than throwing them out. The prices he
mentioned in the book are realistic, IMHO, and second-hand prices of most
HP machines haven't gone up.
However, that was a book written by an enthusiast for other enthusiasts.
The general media want a good story (obviously) and will quite happily
report that a particular machine sold for $25000 (or whatever). No matter
that it wasn't _worth_ that much - it was just that the buyer, for
whatever reason, wanted that particular machine. Of course the general
public suddenly get the idea that _all_ old computers are valuable, and
refuse to sell them for what enthusiasts consider realistic prices.
I've heard of Sinclair ZX80's selling for \pounds 175.00. Would I pay
that? Not at all - I could get a much more interesting machine for that
sort of money - probably some kind of minicomputer or workstation. I've
even heard of Science of Cambridge MK14's (Sinclair's first microcomputer)
selling for \pounds 1000. Now, I'd not sell mine for that (it was my first
ever computer, and I feel an attraction to it :-)), but I certainly
wouldn't pay that for a second one. For the same money I could get some
_very_ interesting hardware...
> -jim
--
-tony
ard12_at_eng.cam.ac.uk
The gates in my computer are AND,OR and NOT, not Bill
Received on Thu Mar 20 1997 - 12:02:00 GMT