What computer items do you own and would not sell and why?

[Mr.Amiga500]

I'd much rather spend time with my spouse, my dogs or other people than with a bunch of boxes.

Just think of the time you wasted posting that, when you could have spent that valuable time with your dogs. :D

(...to go off on a tangent, I think dogs are an unnecessary drain on the world's food supply. It would be much more efficient if people had goats as pets. Their food would come from eating grass, which would mean lawns would be nicely trimmed without needing gas-guzzling lawn mowers. And in an emergency, you could eat them. )

 

[Chuck(G)]

Just think of the time you wasted posting that, when you could have spent that valuable time with your dogs. :D

As I type this, one is sleeping right at my feet. We'll be going out for a long walk in the woods in about an hour.

(...to go off on a tangent, I think dogs are an unnecessary drain on the world's food supply. It would be much more efficient if people had goats as pets. Their food would come from eating grass, which would mean lawns would be nicely trimmed without needing gas-guzzling lawn mowers. And in an emergency, you could eat them. )

I'll offer no argument there, just as cats, guinea pigs, and most computers, cell phones game consoles, televisions and lawns are unnecessary drains on the world's energy supply--as is driving more than 20 miles per hour

A friend keeps goats to keep the vegetation around his home down. My problem is that the things eat everything lower than about 3 feet in height, so you can't have flowers or bushes (more waste)

 

[barythrin]

Well fine then. You can find me on the vintage goat collecting forums now. The problem down here (yup.. spiraling off topic at an amazing velocity) is even the goats won't eat the stupid cedar trees that nobody wants and it grows quick to shade out it's competition. Only problem is I can never get the damn goats to stand still long enough to play space invaders or centipede with them.. so I'm forced to collect computers.

Partially back on topic part of my collecting justification is (and this is weird since I don't truly consider it this) that if feels somewhat more of a worthwhile investment than my money sitting around or getting spent on other frivolous or unnecessary things. Given I don't plan on doing this for profit, I really just consider myself a museum without the budget to be public. Ideally I'd really love to have a public interactive museum where everyone can come enjoy the memories and systems with hands-on fun. But I don't have that ability so I collect for personal amusement and historic value although I'm probably fading out of interest to some friends. I did bring a non-vintage but at least the 3 friends hadn't seen one Virtual Boy to a party. The problem now is I'm starting to wonder about collecting consoles (something I said I'd never do). But they are fun to have. While it will probably end up like Chuck indicated as seen anytime someone leaves a company and "the vultures" start pecking at their cubicle for left overs I'd like to think if I can't obtain my real goal then at least my family has some invested equipment to offload and sustain them to some degree. Probably me thinking the value is much higher but at least it would pay rent a few times while life reworks itself.

 

[brad162]

Hmm i have a few things i'll never get rid of at this point. My 5160 i got for $10 at a yardsale a few months ago (that started all of this) and my Mac IIsi (first computer, it's got a 1gig hd and a whopping 16mb memory now with system 7.5), other than that looking to aquire more, and hopefully i found some PS/2 30's and other IBM stuff, but i'll meet him later this week!

 

[creepingnet]

The only machines I would not part with are those that I've kept, my 2 8088's (the custom hot-rod XT-IDE monster, and the Tandy 1000), my "Ultimate 286" box, the CAT 486 DX4, and the Flight 386 I've had since I started in this hobby, as it was the first decent computer I owned, and the first computer that I got on the internet with. Those are some of my favorite vintage machines that I've ever owned, they are low maintenance and trouble free.

 

[rayzer]

Most of what I acquire is for my own personal use, and as long as I'm using it, it's not for sale at (almost) any price. When I do get rid of something it is usually a gift or some token amount (usually what I paid for it, I consider the use I got out of it as my profit) so someone doesn't feel like a charity case. Of course if it came down to it, I would sell everything I own, if faced with a severe enough financial crisis. One thought to keep in mind however, if you think ebay prices are ridiculous now, give it 10 or 20 years. It may turn out to be a wise long term investment. If you can wait that long, of course.