Altair - A different perspective

From: Doug Yowza <yowza_at_yowza.com>
Date: Fri Aug 14 01:56:19 1998

On Thu, 13 Aug 1998, Bob Wood wrote:

> It is likely that I am the only person on this
> list who is a total "outsider". I am a collectibles
> dealer.

I have no problem with this. The more diverse this list, the better. I
am aware of others who are also on the list that share the profit motive,
so I believe you're not alone.

> 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.

Obviously, the Altair's popularity has benefited tremendously by
Microsoft's success. The PDP-10 was probably even more influential, and I
remember when Microsoft did most of their development on VAXen, but I
doubt these machines will ever have the same collector appeal as the
Altair.

> And I stumbled onto what may be the only surviving example of a still
> unassembled Altair 8800 kit.

I think you're the third person this year I know of that has found the
sole surviving Altair kit :-)

> 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.

But the Altair wasn't the first personal computer, so maybe the Ford
Model-T would be a better analogy. The Altair's place in history is
really about Microsoft and the early hobbiest movement, not about
computers in general. Affordable desktop computers have been around since
the 60's (and even the late 50's if you include analog machines like the
EC-1 at $199).

The main area in which I think for-profit dealers can contribute would be
in a grading system and price guides, something that is interesting to all
collectors, even if they have no plans to sell.

-- Doug
Received on Fri Aug 14 1998 - 01:56:19 BST