VCF and Collecting

From: Tarsi <tarsi_at_binhost.com>
Date: Thu Oct 12 11:58:56 2000

>way. Of course, some may try to get the green paper by the
>pound, but in general it just opens a path for people to
>learn that there are other people who take the old box /
>board / terminal, so it must not end in a dumpster.

Although I've never attended a VCF but would love to (Midwest USA,
anyone?), I can agree with the above. Just starting serious collecting a
little over a year and a half ago, many many people around here are amazed
and bewildered that I have any interest in their old "piece of junk"
systems. As I get the news out, more and more computers are coming
in....people call me up, saying, "I heard from so-and-so that you take old
computers." It's great.

I guess I would say that although the idea of alerting more people to the
world of collecting sometimes makes the prices for such items go up, I'm
not as all-fire-concerned about prices as I am about the philosophy. We,
as collectors, are taking pieces of history into our own (sometimes
capable, sometimes plain lucky) hands to repair, restore, and work on these
old, beautiful machines. If I can persuade someone else into thinking that
old computers are pretty neat, then I feel really good about it. I want
more people than just myself to feel the power and beauty and wonderment at
playing with an old, big-chipped machine.

It makes the collectors into a community. And therefore our resources as a
whole (knowledge, parts, service) increase, making us each a better
collector in the long run.

Tarsi
210
Received on Thu Oct 12 2000 - 11:58:56 BST