On Tue, 26 Jan 1999, Marvin wrote:
> Okay, it seems a bit late but *I* have a number of questions (in no
> particular order):
>
> 3) What happens if enough people start contributing to this new list that
> the minor "problem" Doug thinks I have created here with sporadic postings
> becomes major?
Make it a WORM list: Write-Once, Read-Many. Only Marvin can post his
finds to the new list to avoid a splintering of ClassicCmp. That is the
only purpose of the new list anyway (to be a forum for Marvin's ebay
announcements) so it shouldn't present a problem.
> The trend you are describing *WILL* happen but I see little evidence that
> the end is near. It has been quite a while since I have seen a TRS-80 model
It HAS happened! Everyone who comes to me with juicy offers of equipment
these days now goes off to ebay, finds out its worth a mint, and I never
hear from them again. Before they were just all too happy to get rid of
the crap.
Look, don't take this as a bitch. People are entitled to do whatever they
want with their property. More power to them. But it really sucks. It
was so much more relaxed when people were in this for the hobby, rather
than for the money, which is what we have now.
> 1) It would provide a resource for giving at least a hint of what something
> might be worth.
And these values would have to be corroborated and scrutinized to death to
make sure they are realistic and take into account many factors, including
the true rarity of an item (and I don't mean local scarcity, I'm talking
number of units produced) as well as its condition, and therefore
collectability!!
> 2) Credibility might suffer if just anyone was allowed to enter information,
> and/or unverifiable information was allowed to be entered into the database.
I agree. These prices would need to be established by an experienced body
of collectors. In fact, I would go so far as to say an organization would
need to be formed, of which membership was based on a demonstrable
knowledge of computer history as well as other factors, and THIS body
would be responsible for establishing prices. Otherwise, you're only
going to have 5-10 different price guides come out, all contradicting each
other in the most tortuously assanine ways (ie. one will list a Commodore
64 at a realistic $5 while another might say $100).
> 4) Would this infomation be downloadable as file, or just available on the
> web?
Such an endeavor as I have described would indicate much effort on the
part of many people, and therefore would dictate that such information
would have a price attached.
Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar_at_siconic.com
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Received on Tue Jan 26 1999 - 14:45:04 GMT