• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Why do you collect vintage computers?

F

frozenfire75i

Banned
Joined
Oct 21, 2007
Messages
599
Location
~I AM NO LONGER A MEMBER OF THIS FORUM~
Do you collect them because you had one when you were a young and reliving the memory?

Do you collect them for their coolness, the look of the computer, Case Design ect?

Do you collect them based upon their history/milestone and what they did?

Do you collect them for their usefulness, Playing vintage games doing 5 ¼ floppies ect?

Why do you collect vintage computers?

Feel free to add anything I might have missed, or feel should have been covered! And yes I am sure it has been covered before, so don’t bother telling me!
 
And yes I am sure it has been covered before, so don’t bother telling me!
Click to expand...

Nice.

There is no point in telling you anything because you don't listen anyway ...
 
frozenfire75i said:
Oh geez here we go again the dark nitpicking rain cloud has arrived and spoken. ;-) Lighten up a bit mike!
Click to expand...

You can spin it that you were making a joke, and maybe you were. But most people don't start off a thread by telling people not to bother telling them if the topic has been discussed already. To me, that sounds like a very specific dig where none was warranted.

If you don't want the scrutiny, I would suggest not ending a perfectly good thread like that.

Back to our normally scheduled programming ...
 
Why?

Why?

I'm mostly into collecting computers that are in superb condition, don't have to be mint, just nice looking.
 
Last edited:
Face it, you collect this crap because you're a hopelessly incorrigible GEEK! You can't help it, it's part of your genetic makeup.

(Really, it's the kewl-factor).

--T
 
I collect them because, when they came out, I couldn't come up with $5750.00 or $13,500.00 or $8,999.00. However, it was a mistake on my part to not have some kind of a goal. If I saw something I wanted to play around with and it was fairly cheap, I bought it. On and on.... Now, looking around, if I want to be fairly good at each computer I purchased, I will need to live until I am about 212 years old. Can we say "WAY OVERBOARD!!"?
 
Because there are a few platforms I didn't buy when they were new and I want to check them out now that they are free/cheap. For vintage gaming. And because I can now afford to mess with some of the video capture gear that would have cost $50,000 in the 90's to get (used to read the video magazines alot back then).

And probably one of the major reasons is because I was born to collect something or other, judging from my coin, stamp, music, chess set, and military history book collection. Computers just tend to take up alot of space. The only thing I collected and completely ditched was my baseball cards (and sports in general).

Collecting older computers and fixing them keeps your mind working.
 
I started for a number of reasons. One reason has already been mentioned. These computers were EXPENSIVE and in the days when "computing" was a hobby (sounds quaint nowdays) you could only afford one machine. And better machines were appearing weekly. So to get all those models you use to drool over in books is something.

But I'm also very interested in computer history, both the machines and the people around them. Having the machines to look at, play around with and show off to others keeps history alive.

Thirdly, I can kind of understand these old machine unlike modern ones. They are simple. I know, more or less, what goes on or if I don't I can find that information. They are just consumer items now and we take them for granted, but when you think about what is exactly going on, it's quite incredible. It's mind boggling! In vintage machines, there are not so many layers, so it's easier to grasp what's happening to the electrons

Forthly there is an unexpected pleasure. When I started collecting I was just going to get the machines and maybe boot them up now and again. I hadn't expected to get under the hood. I didn't WANT to get under the hood as I didn't know much about electronics. However, I've had to get my hands dirty both to fix and maintain them. I've learnt heaps and really enjoyed it. Nowadays I have no hesitation in cracking the case and desoldering chips. Eighteen months ago I was afraid to look inside and even if I did, what I saw meant very little.

It's a great hobby, and these forums help support it and enhance it. As to number of machines, I made up a finite list of what I considered notable models. Now and again one or two more will get added but you can't collect everything. What I've got already keeps me busy enough :)

Tez
 
[The only thing I collected and completely ditched was my baseball cards /QUOTE]

Oh man you ditched your cards :gape:

I cannot throw anything away. I have lost one relationship because of my dumpster diving addiction and trash picking in my own neighborhood. I even have this recurring nightmare of when I am old man with Alzheimer’s digging in my own trash looking for computer parts..

The reason I collect computers: Is immediately after the first one I found I was hopelessly consumed by the addiction. There is just no end in sight to completing this collection.

Moderation seems to be a word in the dictionary that describes somebody that I have never met.
Click to expand...
 
I would echo many of the other reasons here, especially Tezza's list.

I would add to it though, that I like the idea of still using or hobbying with something that society has deemed obsolete, but that is still perfectly usable, and in fact is more durable than most of the equivalent machines that are produced today. I also like the idea of taking some of these older machines and showcasing the ingenuity that went into their design, how programmers really pushed their limits (unlike today, when we don't even approach limits and the next generation is pushed on us at the local computer store), and maybe even coming up with some interesting and unique things to do with them myself.
 
I'm a vintage software junkie. A vintage computer is a must.

A nephew, age 16, drop by my basement at the last family get together and freaked seeing my stock PC with 2 FH FD's and 5151 monitor. Whipped out his cell phone and sent photo's of it to several of his friends. I think that was a compliment ;)

framer
 
computer_recovery said:
[The only thing I collected and completely ditched was my baseball cards /QUOTE]

Oh man you ditched your cards :gape:

I cannot throw anything away. I have lost one relationship because of my dumpster diving addiction and trash picking in my own neighborhood. I even have this recurring nightmare of when I am old man with Alzheimer’s digging in my own trash looking for computer parts..

The reason I collect computers: Is immediately after the first one I found I was hopelessly consumed by the addiction. There is just no end in sight to completing this collection.

Moderation seems to be a word in the dictionary that describes somebody that I have never met.
Click to expand...

I got out of watching sports all together and ditched my cards back before the market tanked. I think I have a few still around because they were not worth dragging to a shop to sell. Sooner or later they will get freecycled.

Every other hobby I had I still have my stuff from (coins, stamps, chess sets, etc) but they take up little room. I still get stamps every few years when my parents go to greece and ask me what I want when they come back. I used to get gold chains in the 80's and still have those.

This spring I need to lighten the collection a bit, so far I got rid of one Mac powerbook circuit board to somebody with a dead laptop and a powermac 6200 to somebody else who wanted one. Last christmas I rebuilt a dell p3 and gave that away. Mostly I just want to make room for more things I like more.
Click to expand...
 
frozenfire75i said:
Do you collect them because you had one when you were a young and reliving the memory?

Do you collect them for their coolness, the look of the computer, Case Design ect?

Do you collect them based upon their history/milestone and what they did?

Do you collect them for their usefulness, Playing vintage games doing 5 ¼ floppies ect?

Why do you collect vintage computers?

Feel free to add anything I might have missed, or feel should have been covered! And yes I am sure it has been covered before, so don’t bother telling me!
Click to expand...

Collecting computers which are less capable than the newer models is like the opposite of owning a monster truck. We are so sure of our abilities and the elegant ways that we go about solving problems that getting an ancient machine to do our will is an exercise that affirms our mental superiority for us.

Also, anything archaic is usually thought to connotate higher class than newer things. I don't think the people who read "The Hampton Review" will be bidding against us on eBay any time soon, but for me, it works, especially when you consider what I will write in the next paragraph.

In addition, I like the high quality that the new computers at the library just don't seem to have. I notice that just from looking at them, before they stop working correctly. Try hefting an original IBM PC keyboard. It only had 81 keys, but it was built like a tank and you could probably successfully defend yourself against an intruder with it (although the AT model would be better because it had more reach). Try that with a modern keyboard and your assailant will just laugh at you. It's the quality - I think that they thought they were building for the long haul back then, so they spent more money making computers look attractive. Today not so much.

I realize the value of modern computers, but I try to do as much as possible on the ones that I like - it's kinda like driving an antique automobile on a Sunday morning.

Sean
 
It's a bit of all the reasons mentioned for myself. Possibly partially due to an unhealthy habit of wanting to keep things (I'm not a hoarder but some of my rooms could look like they're becoming one when I have things stacked everywhere. I throw away receipts and other paper though so I'm good :)

One big goal of mine and attraction to the older machines is the way they were built. They're more repairable (no stupid surface mount resisters and all these (un-unsolderable?) micro components, they're almost understandable (way out of my league but look at several of our brilliant folks here who have built kits from existing hardware).

Beyond that it's an echo of many statements before, the cost of what they used to be and I never got to play with them, missing out on some of the technology due to my age, loving the looks and way they were built opposed to the boring uninnovative systems of today, wanting to interface with a system I can understand and expand upon, and just for historical preservation of something that made me who I am and that I appreciate and love.

My girlfriend gets on me a lot for the clutter and systems but she also gets on me for never saying anything makes me happy or never saying the words "I like x". The two things I like are vintage computers and pizza; both which make me happy. Beyond that I feel like a burned out 79 year old.

To echo another comment, my mistake was also collecting everything I could afford lol (Early on it was cheap <$20 systems which were fun to play with) but then there's that impossible completion goal (argh!). I appreciate and envy a few that found a nitch to only collect one type of system or one vendor. My problem is I didn't start out with any particular type of completable system. I guess I could collect Zenith's lol but there are so many cool systems out there, I just don't know if I can tolerate just looking and not trying to get them.
 
I guess I am bit different than the rest here, I really only focus one computer and that’s it, I have other IBM’s such as all 7 Generations of the IBM PC. From the 5150 to the IBM Lenovo Think Center, but none of them really mean that much to me, just the 5150!
 
:) That's a good problem to have ;-) Otherwise you quickly get into a housefull of computers and 230 more years of things to do and read.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top