Legitimacy of the Ten Year Rule.

From: Allison J Parent <allisonp_at_world.std.com>
Date: Sun Jan 24 16:13:56 1999

<1. Ten years is just a guideline. If something is only 9 years old,
< I won't much mind hearing about it. I might even like it. But if

I happen to like that.

< it is only two or three years old, there must be a surviving
< users-group or something. Go find it, or start your own, but please
< don't clutter up my mailbox with it.

Generally PCs with 486 or Win3.1 and later are not discussion fodder for
here, too new and current.

<2. Nothing PC- or Mac-compatible can ever be classic. Sorry, that's
< just an indisputable fact. :-)

I draw a line based on two things early 386 or older and uniqueness. There
are many clones but a few were very unique and interesting of themselves.
An example is the Leading Edge Model D I have or the Kaypro ProPC both Xt
class and a bit different.

<5. The ten year rule should apply to the date when a thing dropped off
< in popularity; if it was still in common use eight years ago, it is
< not yet classic. (Justification: if it is still in common use,
< there will be other places to discuss it.)

Humm. This one is tough. We talk about VAXen and the MicroVAX is only
about 14-15 years old and some models do persist but they are uniquly
new compared to others. Example, we wouldn't be talking about 6xxx series
as the oldest ones are early 90s. However BA123 based Microvaxen
introduced in the 80s were still made in the early 90s and are able to
run current version of the OS. They are old enough to be of interest.

Another example is the DECMATE-III sold up to the early 90s but they are
related too. Why, they run OS/278 and WPS both legacy software.

The keys are OLDness, UNIQUEness and desireability. I'm sure there are
technical aspects that would qualify like machines with unusual word
length or the like but, they should be 80s or earlier in introduction
or common use.

So long as it's related to the collecting, preserving and discussion
centered around older machines there is little conflict.

Just my small cash investment in opinion.

Allison
Received on Sun Jan 24 1999 - 16:13:56 GMT

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