State of the Hobby

From: Jeffrey l Kaneko <jeff.kaneko_at_juno.com>
Date: Thu Jul 1 11:24:29 1999

This will draw alot of flames, and may upset certain people.
Please send personal attacks to me directly.

On Wed, 30 Jun 1999 10:20:38 -0700 Kai Kaltenbach <kaikal_at_MICROSOFT.com>
writes:
> Classic computer collecting is rewarding on so many levels. And in
> so many senses, we have a collector community relationship that rivals
those
> of much more established hobbies. That's why it's so important, as the

> hobby begins to reach maturity, that we not lose sight of our
fundamentals.

But you've missed the one 'fundamental' that uniquely gives our hobby
its true appeal: Our hobby exists (existed) purely for its own sake.
No strings, wire, or unneeded baggage. It existed purely for the joy
of computing at its most base level, and the aquisition of knowledge
of the science.

> Lately, there has been a disturbing trend towards isolationism and
> elitism among our flock, up to and including outright hostility. This
has
> got to stop.

Hostile? Yer damned right. We're on the defensive now. The
'marketplace'
is poised to fundamentally change what I perceive as the original charter
of the computing hobby.

> Now, as Dennis Miller says, I don't want to get off on a rant here.
> As much as anyone else, I'd like a world full of retired aerospace
> engineers with garages full of free Altairs. I'd also like the IRS
> to abolish my income taxes and give me a free Ferrari. It's just not
> going to work that way, folks.

You hit a raw nerve here, buddy boy. I don't *want* garages of free
Altairs (or whatever). All I want is to be able to purchase the material

that is of interest to me at a *reasonable* price. Now the retired
Aerospace
Engineer thinks he can make a fortune off his old computers. Piss.

> Lashing out at people who want to publicize our hobby is like
> sitting in the nosebleed section of your hometown baseball stadium
> and hoping to god that your team loses big so you can afford better
> tickets next year.

This to me, clearly says you have no clue as to what is at stake here.
Received on Thu Jul 01 1999 - 11:24:29 BST