At 08:09 PM 12/15/98 -0600, Doug Yowza wrote:
>Unfortunately, there's little correlation. I routinely spent that or more
>on stock certificates, but that doesn't mean I hold them very long.
Tony Duell said "Doesn't that rather depend who the people are?", and
you say something similar, and I must say I agree - but my point is,
unless you know something about the character of these buyers, you
don't know whether they're planning on preserving the machine or not.
To use my deflated Microsoft millionaire example, that person is
perfectly capable of paying $6K for an Altair and then paying someone
to insure it's up and running. Is the "Computer rescue squad" concept
only good for acquiring machines, or is it for hire to help keep machines
alive? If an old machine's ROMs fail while it's being held by a
speculator, chances are they'll pay to have it fixed, if the price
for a working machine is significantly higher.
Overall, I think these (supposed) higher prices are a Good Thing for
the preservation of old computers. It means fewer will be scrapped,
and more people will know they should be saved, either for their
cash value, or for their sentimental value, or both.
And again I must emphasize, tales of these inflated sale prices are
highly anecdotal and not fact-checked. Perhaps we should sooth our
souls by believing these buyers are conscientious instead of uncaring.
With the dearth of evidence or direct testimony, we might as well
wear rose-colored glasses.
>BTW, have you seen my Sol museum?
> http://www.yowza.com/classiccmp/sol/
Hmm, good idea. The unscrupulous could set up fake computer museums,
testifying to their good character, placing poor quality but honest
photos showing the lovingly restored and maintained machines, and
then beg for donations of cash and old computers.
>I routinely spent that or more
>on stock certificates, but that doesn't mean I hold them very long.
You E*Trade speculators, you're destroying the good ol' stock broker
lifestyle, playing day trader, denying an honest commission to a
starving professional - and I bet you don't even care about the
fate of Netscape or AOL or Xoom, do you, as long as you're making
a profit? :-)
- John
Received on Wed Dec 16 1998 - 08:30:25 GMT