Collecting Classic Computers

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."

Comments

TRS80 Model 100

[jridley]

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.

Re:How true...

[ShadowDrake]

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?)