value of RK05

From: Bill Dawson <whdawson_at_mlynk.com>
Date: Sun May 7 01:02:19 2000

<snip>

-> Oh well... 2 interests (old radios and old clocks) gone already.

Same here as far as old (1919 to 1950's) radios go. Can you say Catalan,
boys and girls?

-> Now I'm likely to leave classic computing as well.

Well, I'll be here until the value of an old (vintage) computer is based on
the style of the cabinet or the material the cabinet is made of. By that
time, the computer museums will be well established and properly
representative of this era. I won't have any qualms then about selling my
vintage computer equipment to a "collector", because by then the rarest and
best of mine will have been donated to the museums and the "collectors" will
fund my retirement pastimes. Do you plan on donating the best yours or just
feeding the frenzy?

-> Looks like it's time to find some other interesting form of machinery to
investigate.

Like what, articulated Beanie Babies???

-> > 12 bit computers were obsolete at the end of the '60s. A 12
-> bit computer
->
-> So presumably you think all 4 and 8 bit microprocessors were obsolete
-> when they were designs. I doubt you'll find too many people who'll agree
-> with that.

Obsolescence is generally defined as being when a large percentage of the
original using population no longer uses an item because something better or
cheaper as come along. As far as I'm concerned, if something still does the
job, it is not obsolete. Last weekend I rescued a working VHS VCR from the
curbside, with the remote control and original instruction book. It was in
the box of the VCR that had replaced it. It is only a 2 head unit, mono
audio. Is it obsolete? Not to me. The portable TV I use with it is only
mono audio anyway. Is my Betamax Beta Hi-Fi SLR-1200 obsolete? It's over
16 years old and is still working just fine. I can still view all my Beta
tapes on it. Is my Signal Corps AC generator obsolete just because it has a
6 cylinder Willy's engine and last saw real use in WWII? Not to me when the
power goes off.

-> > built 6 years after they were *totally* useless is not my cup
-> of tea... and

Obsolescence is in the eyes of the user. If someone buys something new, but
the technology is a little outdated, what does it matter? The purchase is
for the function, not the format.

-> 'Totally useless'??? Considering they were sold for about another 10
-> years, and considering I still get to see them (and repair them)
-> embedded in machine tools, analytical instruments, etc, I'd not call them
totally
-> useless.
->
-> I know a number of people who'd love to be able to program, and hack
-> about on, a real PDP8. Any model. Even an 8/a.
->
-> No, they won't pay 'collector' prices for it, but honestly I wonder how
-> 'genuine' these prices are.
->
-> > Preservation comes in many packages. If I can use the
-> peripherals from one
-> > *new*, very common computer in an old one then I would prefer
-> to increase
-> > the value and use of the old computer. If the subscribers on
-> this list tried
->
-> Ah, that word 'value' again... I have no desire to increase the value of
-> anything.
->
-> I'd rather have as many machines working as possible. Oh, sure I move
-> peripherals between machines -- some of the interfaces on my
-> 11/45 came off
-> some of my 11/34 machines, but those 11/34s are still working, and still
-> have enough interfaces to be useful.
->
-> > to preserve every computer they got then they would probably be using
-> > COCO-2s for insulation in their homes ;-). My objective has
-> always been to
-> > preserve any computer built before 1973 - and I have saved
-> well over 60 of
->
-> My aims are rather different. Yes, I'd preserve anything before
-> 1973 that
-> I could get my hands on. I'd preserve a lot of significant machines
-> _after_ that date as well.
->
-> But the main reason I do this is to (a) preserve the knowledge that goes
-> with those machines (design techniques, operating methods, etc), (b) to
-> allow certain other enthusiasts over here the chance to use machine that
-> they otherwise wouldn't be able to see. I started doing this when I
-> realised that a lot of my friends (this was back in the mid
-> 1980s, FWIW) had
-> never used a front panel and had never used paper tape or punched cards.
->
->
Received on Sun May 07 2000 - 01:02:19 BST