Software Collecting

From: Marvin <marvin_at_rain.org>
Date: Tue Oct 13 00:18:39 1998

Zane H. Healy wrote:
>
> >Having early software with the original manual and packaging will be a
> >critical part of any collection in the future as it adds breadth to
> >systems in the collection.
>
> This is a valid point. A computer sitting in a musuem with software and
> manuals around it is a lot more interesting than just the computer sitting
> there. Especially if it's a non-functional example of the system.

The real question is how much breadth! For myself, I keep all original
disks (and cassettes) for systems dated in the 70's and before. Well okay,
I keep everything for those systems. However when a school dumped all their
teaching software for Commodore and Apple computers, I picked it all up
since I didn't want it going to the dump. This stuff is dated in the middle
80's. I tend to segregate any original Apple or Commodore software, but the
question becomes what to do with the rest.

As Sam said, some of the classic games and productivity software are worth
keeping. But what about the rest?
Received on Tue Oct 13 1998 - 00:18:39 BST