Bid list

From: Chuck McManis <cmcmanis_at_freegate.com>
Date: Fri Oct 23 01:52:08 1998

Its funny, I read through the list, crossing my fingers and hoping for a
PDP-8 core stack, and 90% of it is PC junk. Then I kind of laughed because
of course that stuff will probably be "collectable" for my daughter.
Assuming she decides to collect computers. Although if history is any
measure then she'll probably collect Pentium II machines since that will be
the "hot" machine that she can't afford (stuck with a measly 75Mhz P5 :-)

Another factiod registered which is PC collecting is going to be *much*
more of an art than say mini-computer collecting is because the technology
is changing soooo quickly. In case you haven't noticed there is a certain
temporal component in the PC compatible space where the hardware, and more
importantly the software, are tied together at their release dates. "Visual
BASIC, Win 3.1, Borland C++, 486/66" they make a set. Use this stuff on a
Pentium and it won't use half the features, use it on a 386 and it won't
run acceptably. And how "long" was the 486 PC window? Perhaps 3-5 years?
Compare that with the utter contempt with which people treat 486
motherboards (3 for $5.00 at Weird Stuff Warehouse) and you realize that
these things are headed for landfill big time. Along about 2010 or 2015 and
trying to put together a representative 486 system from the "early 90's" is
going to be damn near impossible. Look at the PDP-8's which spanned 15
years of production and are now pretty difficult to get hold of.

I don't know if I should laugh or buy an old Dell 486 box and wrap it up in
plastic and dessicant and save it for 20 years.

--Chuck
Received on Fri Oct 23 1998 - 01:52:08 BST