On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 20:58:03 -0400 (EDT), William Donzelli
<aw288_at_osfn.org> wrote:
> It was very common in the 30s and 40s (and later) to chuck the guts of the
> radios, with the thought that the cabinets could be modified into a nice
> pieces of furniture. Well, very few folks actually made the modifications,
> so the cabinets just hung around in garages and basements.
It was very common in the 90s and 00s (and later) to chuck the guts of
computers, with the thought that the cabinets could be modified into
nice pieces of furniture. Well, very few folks actually made the
modifications, so the cases just hung around in garages and basements.
Seriously, I hear of people chopping up classic computers all of the
time. Sometimes they put more modern computers inside. Sometimes
they make them into aquariums. Sometimes they just smash them up for
pleasure. While it really doesn't matter if people do that stuff most
of the time, because these are mass produced items and there are
plenty to go around, it is a bit concerning. Are there enough people
out there to preserve most of the interesting models? And will the
interesting models survive in sufficient numbers that the interested
collectors aren't fighting each other for them (or bidding them out of
their price range)?
And yes, this is a concern. I know that I have switched over to
stashing documentation and software because hardware is too bulky (and
I have enough trouble preserving software from bit rot, thank-you). I
suspect that others have had to specialize too.
Received on Sun Sep 12 2004 - 09:59:08 BST