Altair prices

From: D. Peschel <dpeschel_at_u.washington.edu>
Date: Thu Aug 13 15:21:47 1998

> I can't put my finger on exactly why, but I find myself extremely
> depressed by this. Does anyone know (personally) the fellow who put in
> the high bid? Will the Altair be something of inherent value to him,
> or is it simply an investment?

I haven't looked at the URL but I'm sure I don't know anyone involved.

It IS depressing, isn't it? I've been thinking about this aspect of computer
collecting for a while. Someone on alt.folklore.computers said that he had
verified the authenticity of an Apple I system (complete with original cover
letter receipt signed by Steve Jobs, etc.) just before it was shipped across
the country to a new buyer.

As I drooled over this, I realized that it's an extremely desirable thing to
have (and this one in particular sounded rare) but the economics are just too
warped. There are only a handful of these machines, right? And they just
change hands and the prices go up. Also, it may be desirable to have, but not
to USE. The RAM is expandable to almost 64K (though I've never heard of this
being done) but there's only one slot and the only card built for it was a
cassette interface. The display is slow because it uses a shift register.

I'm just too practical, I guess. I believe in collecting things to use them/
have fun with them, and the rarity of the Apple I is at odds with this goal.
I too have to wonder at the motives of the buyer of this Altair.

There IS the possibility that this is an elaborate "sour grapes" argument,
given that I have neither an Apple I nor an Altair. :)

-- Derek
Received on Thu Aug 13 1998 - 15:21:47 BST