>Collecting firearms has been greatly complicated by recent laws, yet
>it remains very popular. Getting old iron shipped does not require the
>paperwork and problems having a rifle or handgun shipped across state
>lines does.
Collecting firearms takes up nowhere near the space that
collecting vintage computers does though, and the space problem is
the thing that I see will limit the people who get into this hobby.
That is also why it's doubtful you will see specialty shops selling
vintage computer stuff the way you see shops dealing in stamps,
coins, vintage cameras and comic books. The onhand inventory would
be very limited due to space which would mean that the seller would
stick to those few very high priced systems in order to make a
profit. The problem there is that there wouldn't be a large enough
supply to make it worth while, even though the demand might be there.
Classic car dealers get away with it because the hobby as a whole is
built around big ticket items, which again is not the case with
collecting computers.
>Vintage hardware is valuable, and will appreciate in value. Demand will
>rise, and supplies will only drop for the really classic stuff.
>What do you think people might pay for a working Imsai 8080 in 20 years?
Of course demand will rise and supplies will drop as time
goes on. Much to our dismay, regardless of how we put the word out,
people will still trash these early systems. Attrition due to parts
wearing out and corrosion will also whittle away at the supplly. You
give an example of one of the few big dollar systems though. Demand
already outpaces the supply. This doesn't mean it will be that way
for a larger selection of machines though. There are a lot of truly
interesting machines that are practically ignored and that it is
nearly impossible to find information concerning.
Jeff
--
Home of the TRS-80 Model 2000 FAQ File
http://www.cchaven.com
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757
Received on Sat Aug 04 2001 - 11:12:44 BST