Ancient machines turning on (was Re: eBay strikes again...)

From: John Ruschmeyer <jruschme_at_exit109.com>
Date: Sat Oct 31 17:10:24 1998

>
>
> It's not that weird. Everyone knows that 286 and 386 machines are
> crap ;) In fact, one reason is that noone gets attached to them, and
> also because Pentia aren't that much different from 386s. So, no
> nostalgia. And, I think that early PCs were a lot less useful than
> some other machines of the time (like Commodores and Apples)

I'm not sure I'd agree with the "crap" part, but I do think that there
are a few reasons why there is not more excitement on the 286 and
386 systems.

To begin with, the 8088 and 286 systems (and to a lesser degree 386
systems) are too new to have a "nostalgia" factor associated with them.
That is to say, because any software which ran on them can still be
run on a Pentium, there is little reason for someone to pick one up
just to run some beloved old game, as is the case with some buyers
of 8-bit Ataris, Apples, and Commodores.

Secondly, the fact is, 286 and 386 systems are just too ubiquitous.
Also, the clone factor means that many of them are nondescript and
contain nondescript parts. This mostly rules out the "rarity" factor
so common on EBay. This will continue until such time as older PCs
have the status of vintage Hot Rods and an Ebay description can say
such things as: "This is a fine example of a typical 80286-based PC,
equipped with a classic MFM 40mb drive and a genuine Hercules
monochrome graphics card. It is a wonderful specimen of a typical office
PC, circa 1987."

Lastly, I'm sad to say it but 286 and 386 PCs are not considered "useful"
by the mass market definition of "useful". Now I will be the first to
admit that a 286 running WP 5.1 can process words just as well (and
probably faster) than a Pentium 133 running Word97 and that a 386
with plenty of memory makes a fine Linux or FreeBSD box. But we are
talking about Ebay buyers here the sad truth is that if they don't see
a system as being "collectable" or "useful", then they will probably
just see it as "useLESS" (sort of like corporate America).

To be brutally honest, given the Ebay pricing on 486 and even early
Pentium MBs and CPUs, my first inclination when looking at a 386 is
to assess its usefulness as a case and power supply donor. Why not,
when I can upgrade a 386/33 to a 486/33 for under $20?

<<<john>>>
Received on Sat Oct 31 1998 - 17:10:24 GMT