On Sun, 16 Nov 1997, James Willing wrote:
> And so, the dilemma... do I open the disks and crank this critter up? Or
> just pack it all away as another classic 'artifact'? (or leave it until I
> have a fair amount of time to spend with it)
This is always such the dilemma. The question you must ask yourself is,
what is to be accomplished by keeping everything in its sealed state? Is
it going to be important to future generations to know what a brand
spanking new AT&T UNIX PC looked like out of the box? Perhaps. What is
the value of keeping the seals intact? Monetary or historical? Its the
same reason that collectibles such as comic books or trading cards are
more valuable in their original sealed package. Unfortunately, that
reason eludes me. I guess it just means it is still in some immaculate
state, untouched by dirty human hands. I think it's definitely an
irrational emotional issue, rather than a logical one.
Jim, I have exactly what you do: an AT&T UNIX PC 7300 with all the manuals
and software, including the original packaging. I also have the printer
that came with it, plus the owner's original notebooks with notes galore,
some software he downloaded off of BBS', everything. But my system was
used for a while and thus boots up and is actually quite usable (and very
neat!) If you don't want to open yours up, tuck it back away. Mine will
suffice as an operating example while yours will demonstrate one in
pristine condition.
I guess in the end yours will be appraised for more than mine :)
Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar_at_siconic.com
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Received on Sun Nov 16 1997 - 22:33:20 GMT