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Collecting Classic Computers

Posted by timothy on from the don't-do-it-for-the-babes dept.

chriton writes "There's an interesting article at Reuters about collecting classic computers. There's mention in the story of an even more interesting website www.classiccmp.org Unfortunately, most of the website is still under construction. The mailing list has been around since Jan 1997, and they clearly have plans for more accessible resources, but that just hasn't happened yet. If you are like me and have a an old Osbourne 1 in the closet and Commodore 128D stored at your mother's house she's telling you to take home lest she chuck it, you might find the list archives none the less."

8 of 371 comments (clear)

  1. TRS80 Model 100 by jridley · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I have 3 old Model 100 laptops, but not because they're collectible (I'm the anti-collector, I like nothing better than to throw out old useless crap (hope my kids don't think the same way in 50 years!), but because they're useful and tough as nails. I use them to gather data in the field, they have 32K RAM and a text editor, plus a serial port and a terminal program, and no moving parts. They also make great terminals for hooking to router serial ports, etc. Plus they run for 18 hours on 4 AA batteries and have a full size, real keyboard.

  2. NeXT WorkStation by Raiford · · Score: 4, Insightful
    ... now that is a classic and you can find them on eBay on a fairly regular basis but probably not for long. Those were cool boxes in their day.

    --
    "player 4 hit player 1 with 0 stroms"
  3. Re:How true... by ShadowDrake · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Novelty is worth big points, so I'd expect interest in:

    1. Prototypes (reference Commodore 65)
    2. Unusual design or implementation decisions (Pen Computing devices)
    3. Firsts (Why not drop $10 on an original Palm Pilot in case it's worth something someday)
    4. Lasts, conversely (the last entries in the Amiga and ST lines, for example)
    5. Things with an undesirable reputation-- bet you wish you still had that P60 with the bad FPU!
    6. Items that were rarities due to supply or marketing decisions (I bet that 1.2GHz Hammers they sent around for demonstration will be worth something, and did anyone ever get a 160MHz Am5x86?)

    --
    It's just like a fascist dictatorship, without the punctual rail service!
  4. Use an Emulator Instead by fastdecade · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Emulator sound isn't exactly the same but there are so many advantages of emulators ...
    • It works
    • It's spec'd as fast and big as you always wanted it (or as lame if that's your preference)
    • Saves space - less atoms on your desk
    • You can save the entire memory image
    • Connects to your standard hardware (printer, modem, etc, if you can set it up)


    Yeah these things are great for a hobby hardware geek. Practical value, assuming emulator exists, is very limited though - maybe to extract data from some legacy storage media. But even people who want to just play around with an old computer are usually better off sticking with an emulator.
    1. Re:Use an Emulator Instead by t0qer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      NOOOO!

      Dude, i'm not trying to knock your logic, technically your points are good, but unless you ever heard the differences between an emulated atari (atari800win) and a real one you wouldn't know any better.

      Let me break it into musical terms. Have you ever played around with rebirth? It's a emulator for the roland 808. Sure it has all the features of an 808, but if you ever got to play with a real 808, you can very easily distinguish the difference in sound.

      I'm not a sound expert, but I know that there is a difference between sound coming out of the original machines circuitry and sound coming out of an emulation process. There's just never any chance of emulating the original hardwares sound without building it. Just ask any commodore sid chip junkie.

  5. Re:Why is old hardware a mans thing? by Chuq · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "but honey, you just got a new pair last week, surely you didnt need the other 20? i threw them out for you!"

    You must be single.. no female only has 20 pairs of shoes!

    --
    - Chuq
  6. Re:Why is old hardware a mans thing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    It isn't only a man's thing - my husband is completely uninterested in old hardware. All of my old stuff has been banished to the garage.

  7. Re:I'll tell you what funny is. by nugneant · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I must respectfully call you a fucking retard. Your argument doesn't work. Take baseball cards, for instance... that 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card really doesn't serve much of a purpose, and over the past 50 years the cardboard has probably gotten a bit weak, so it's not really useful in that game all the kids played where you throw the baseball cards at the wall... so I guess you'll let me have it for free, right?