Altair - A different perspective

From: Bob Wood <altair8800_at_hotmail.com>
Date: Fri Aug 14 01:19:43 1998

It is likely that I am the only person on this
list who is a total "outsider". I am a collectibles
dealer. I never touched a computer keyboard until
two years ago. I will now probably be asked to leave
but before that happens I would like to share my
Altair "experiences" with you. This will be long
winded so if you are only interested in "sound-bite"
length messages hit your back button now. This little story
cannot be told in a couple of sentences.

I no longer remember how I learned of the existence
of the Altair 8800 but it was about a year and a half
ago. I learned about the history of it and it's
association with the beginning of Gates' and Allen's
business careers. I decided that the Altair's potentially could
be a big deal so I started looking for them.
Almost immediately I discovered a source. I bought eight
of them for from $100 to $300 apiece in about two months time.
At that time the price edged up to $3-500 so I said to
hell with it and stopped buying. I then put it all on the back
burner for six months.

Then, earlier this year, someone
offered to buy one from me for $800. I thought this was a sucker
price so gladly let it go. Two weeks later, that last
batch of Altairs and drives went on Ebay. The computers
sold for roughly $2K apiece. As a lark, I immediately listed a
MITS serial board and modem board on Ebay. At the time
I was so ignorant about what I had that I listed them
separately. I did not even know that together they are
a cassette interface. One brought $250 and the other $200.
I could not believe it. $450!
 
Like everyone on this list, I was somewhat shocked that
the computers had actually sold for $2K. When I first discovered
this list (six months ago) I posted asking for your opinions
of the value
of an Altair 8800. As always, you all were very responsive.
I vividly remember Jim Willing stating that, in his opinion,
the 8800 was worth $250.
So I concluded that the $2000 Ebay bids
must be the "real" sucker price. I offered the
buyer of my boards one of my 8800's
for $2K. Sold it.
Then a week later sold him two more for $1500 each.
I now had payed for every Altair item I had ever
bought and had a tidy profit as well. I was ecstatic.

Then, needless to say, I started to actively buy them again.
Went back to my one (and only) source and bought four more
8800's, one 8800a, two 8800b's, one turnkey b, one Attache, seven
Altair floppy drives, two MITS hard drives, controllers,
four Imsai's, three Sol 20's, every iminaginable software,
and enough docs and literature to fill a four
drawer filing cabinet. And I stumbled onto what
may be the only surviving example of a still unassembled
Altair 8800 kit. Up until last week I had been able
to have it all shipped to me but the last load was too much
to ship so I drove almost 2000 miles round trip to retrieve
it.

When I returned Friday a friend informed me that two
Altairs had been listed the day before on Ebay.
(I still do not understand the amazing coincidence
of two separate sellers listing Altair's within 35 minutes
of each other since it had been four months since the last
ones were listed).

It occurred to me that since the Altair's were about to be
hyped again that I should participate. Since I had just
come home with five Altair floppy drives, I decided that
was the logical thing to sell. The auction ends today (Friday).

My source for buying ended abruptly last week (that is
another whole story). So it is unlikely that I will be able
to buy any
more. I now think of the six months I passed on them because
I would have had to pay $400. If I had kept buying during that
time I would have a great many more of them now.
But I feel very fortunate to have the ones I do.

Why am I telling you all of this? It is because I have
been engaged in buying and selling collectibles for
25 years. I was in on the beginnings of many other
of these kinds of phenomena (jukeboxes, antique radio,
Coca-Cola, the list is long). But I have never had so
much fun as I have had with this. There is no doubt that
my involvement with it is totally different from that
of everyone else on this list. And I am certain that
(based on much of what I have read here) that many
will find it deplorable that someone like me is a
subscriber.

But the personal computer is now as important as the electric
lamp was 100 years ago. And, over time, the first examples
will be regarded with the same reverance as Edison's first
light bulbs. I feel lucky to be one of the people witnessing
the birth of that.


Bob Wood

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Received on Fri Aug 14 1998 - 01:19:43 BST

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