collectors vs. enthusiasts

From: George Currie <g_at_kurico.com>
Date: Wed Oct 13 20:11:35 1999

> > It's crazy. I can't believe what they are paying on EBay for less
> > than *incomplete* systems. I could see $1400 with drives, running,
> > tested, manuals, etc... but a shell??????
>
> <rant>
> That's because eBay is where "collectors" hang out. Not people like
> us, for whom collector is an insufficient/inaccurate term.

Whereas I agree that there is a differentiation between the
"collector" and the "enthusiast", I must take umbrage to the ,again,
generalization of the person who pays "too much" on ebay
automatically being "collector assholes, just because he had deep
pockets".

Are you implying that one must be of modest means to be an
"enthusiast". If you saw a rare whatnot that you had always loved
and wanted to tinker with, and had the financial means to acquire
it, would you let it go to the scrap because you thought the asking
price was too high? Would you let it go to a "collector asshole"
because you thought the asking price was too high? If this is the
case then you obviously didn't "want" the item that much or didn't
have that much passion for it. Perhaps this activity can be further
classified as "bargain vintage computer enthusiast".

I am both an enthusiast and a collector. I try to get working what I
can, but I don't stop acquiring if I know that I won't have time to get
around to something. Maybe a computer has special meaning to
me, and I just want to have one, and I have the financial resources
to do it, does that make me an asshole?

Now of course, there are people who would purchase something
simply for the "coolness" of having it. With the advent of ebay,
those who have deeper pockets are now playing the game. It's a
real bummer having to pay lots for stuff that used to be given to
you. But hey, that's life. Is the guy who drives a Ferrari an
asshole because you drive a Ford (of course he could be, but not
just because he drives the Ferrari of course).

I fully understand the frustration, but venting it by making
generalizations of those who happen to be better financially
equipped than you, or are just willing to pay more for something
than you, is just immature. I get just as bummed as anyone else
when something that I've been wanting goes for more than what I'm
willing to pay ($100 for an HP Integral, nope, don't think so, but
dang, I've been wanting one for a very long time now), but at least
it's not going to a scrapper (in my opinion, our true enemies). And
yes, I know that those who don't have a passion for the item is
more likely to scrap it if it's investment value/cool factor diminishes,
so no come-backs about this are necessary.

Another thing is this whole "if someone paid more than what I think
something's worth, then they must be one of these slimeball
collector folk" attitude. Before I discovered things like live auctions,
ebay was the best/only (or so I thought at the time) to acquire
things. If it is your only reasonable source, then of course you
would be willing to pay more for something than someone who lives
next door to Weird Stuff.

Anyway, sorry for the long rant, but this whole "attitude" thing just
irks me and I've been averaging like 4 hrs of sleep for the last
couple of weeks (new baby + company being bought out) so I
guess I'm a bit touchy (and not too coherent). So, whine about
how hard it is to get stuff on cheap, fine, I do that all the time (just
ask my wife). Call the guy who purchased an Altair for $2K an
asshole/loser collector/not worthy, well, anyway, you now know
how I feel.

George
Received on Wed Oct 13 1999 - 20:11:35 BST