e-bay item

From: Marvin <marvin_at_rain.org>
Date: Mon Mar 1 16:43:21 1999

Sellam Ismail wrote:
>
> I guess were just hopeless romantics then. I want to see the stuff become
> available to those who would appreciate it, and not just come up for sale
> because "Hey, I can make a $1000 on this old computer". Its the rape and
> pillage of this once serene hobby of collecting retired computers and
> bringing some life back into them for fun that I don't care for.
>
> I never got into this for the money.

I think being a hopeless romantic is a good thing! If stuff gets thrown
away because it is perceived as junk, then nobody gets a chance at it. One
thing I find *very* interesting is that when I receive an offer of
equipment/docs/etc. and I tell the person up front what it might be worth,
more frequently than not, I end up with the stuff anyway at no charge.
Right now, I have a lead on a SWTP S-50 bus machine, a mini in a rack (Data
General?), and other equipment of the same vintage. When I told them what
it might be worth, it was still offered to me. I have posted a number of
times the same situation, i.e. the IBM 5100 as one for-instance. Most
people I know are far more interested in a good home for their equipment
than in selling this stuff just for the money.

BTW, it probably needs to be added that this is a two way street; while I
frequently talk about receiving this stuff, I don't frequently talk about
the interaction that made the receiving situation possible in the first
place. I do spend a fair amount of time helping others with no particular
idea of getting something back in return.
Received on Mon Mar 01 1999 - 16:43:21 GMT