Hmm... speciality. I collect all sorts of things, like beer bottle tops
and teaspoons. As far as computers are concerned, I've started to weed out
the less interesting (to me) from my fifty-something collection.
I have quite a few Acorn machines from the '80s, because I worked for them
or places that used/repaired their machines for most of that decade. I
have a fair collection of Acorn-related software, lots of old price lists,
sales brochures, etc, and a pretty good technical document collection.
Also a few unusual items like a prototype BBC-ARM inteface card which was
used when they were developing what became their first RISC-based machine,
and (thanks, Kevan!) an ARM Development System which was a semi-commercial
co-processor for the BBC Micro.
Most of the rest are things I've collected because I lusted after them
years ago when they were unaffordable, or they have some special
significance, or they round out a family.
An Exidy Sorcerer was the first machine I owned, so I have one of those,
and the same monitor, printer, etc as I had originally (they're not all the
same ones I originally owned, though).
An Apple ][ was a machine I used at college, and a //e is a better version
so I have both. To follow the line, I have a Mac Plus with some add-ons
because it's cool as well as being the ]['s successor, a IIvx, and finally
a NeXT slab -- another machine I lusted after at the time.
Another line has to do with PETs. I have a 2001-8K, and to go before it a
KIM-1, and to follow, a Vic 20 and a C128 (not interesting so relegated to
an attic), and an Amiga 500 Plus. Contemporaneous with the Sorcerer, Apple
][, and PET is my Nascom, and a ZX81. I nearly had a ZX80 twice, but not
quite. That's followed by a Sinclair Spectrum and a Spectrum II to
contrast with the BBC Micros, and a Sinclair QL to contrast with slightly
later machines.
I have a few DEC machines. I got to know the QBus machines quite well when
I worked for a third-party maintenance company, and I always wanted an
11/23. A few years later, I got one -- CPU box only, no storage, and
that's really what started the collection about 15 years ago. I would go
looking for some part or device, and when I found it there would inevitably
be other parts too. The other parts wouldn't make a whole, so I'd collect
still more. I've had at least three 11/23s, a couple of 11/73-S's, a few
11/03's, part of an 11/24, an 11/83, and a fairly good 11/34. I traded the
11/34 when I got an 11/40, and now I have a PDP-8/E (which was the first
machine I used "hands on"). I also have two MicroVAXes which will run VMS
"one day".
My third 11/23 came with 7th Edition UNIX and a lot of disk and tapes,
which is how I got into UNIX just before I went back to University. There
I discovered SGIs, so I now have a collection of Indigos and Indys. And
the inevitable Sparcstation and the like.
There are a few others of course, which roughly fit in with the ones i've
mentioned. There's even a PC (an early Intel model)! Networking equipment
too, because that's what I do (and on a few occasions, my hobby helped get
whatever the job was at the time: Acorn, UNIX, networking).
What else do I want...
Well, space is limited so an ASR33 that folds up and fits on a bookshelf
would be good. More bookshelves, too. More DEC microfiche. An MMU for my
11/40. A copy of Spacewar to run on my 11/40 and VT11. More shelves. Dev
Pak and manuals for my Sorcerer. I've asked for a 25th hour in the day for
the last three Christmasses and four birthdays.
... not much, really ;-)
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Received on Wed Feb 06 2002 - 17:59:00 GMT