Mac Software on Original Floppies - Any value above value of the floppy itself?

[MrImprovement]

I have various commercial Mac software on floppy, such as various Adobe Photoshop 2.5.1 and later versions, Deneba Canvas, Aldus PageMaker, WriteNow, American Heritage Dictionary, MS Works, Lotus 1-2-3 for Macintosh, Helix, Norton Utilities for Mac, plus a great many other, less well-known pieces of software, along with some versions of the MacOS on floppy also.

Do these 400K/800K DSDD and 1.44MB floppies have any value over and above their value as floppies that can be used in vintage Macs?

 

[krebizfan]

Some of the disks might have value if those happen have a specific version of the software that one of the collectors does not have. You may need to list all the software with the listed version to find if anyone chooses to request a disk. I know that a few betas of OS 8 and 9 have been desired. Beyond that, my knowledge is limited.

 

[olePigeon]

Even though we have things like FloppyEmu, I think the demand for retail floppy versions of MacOS is still there. Even the OEM model-specific version can be coveted for popular models like the Macintosh TV, Color Classic, IIfx, IIci, SE/30, etc.

As for other software, it depends. Having the boxes and manuals is always preferable, of course. I think production software is less desirable, if not like you said, just worth their weight in floppies.

Which, by the way, is not necessarily a bad thing. Vintage floppies reused from commercially released software is probably a safer bet than NOS 1990s floppies when they began mass recycling of used disks with terrible reliability and poor quality. Especially for high density floppies. Also can't go wrong with reusing 800K and especially 400K disks.

 

[Timo W.]

Do these 400K/800K DSDD and 1.44MB floppies have any value over and above their value as floppies that can be used in vintage Macs?

Yes, they have. For me, any original disk is worth keeping. Not only because using real disks is just a more authentic experience, but also because while you can find pretty much anything for download, you wouldn't believe how much of that stuff is modified. Untouched disk images of such old software is almost impossible to find. So it is important to preserve the disks.

 

[MrImprovement]

Thanks for your answers! I will put together a list once I have everything sorted out and will post in the for sale forum...

 

[manuyt]

Yes, your collection of commercial Mac software on floppy disks does have value beyond their functionality as storage media for vintage Macs. These software titles ike mac os iso file and versions hold historical significance and can be of interest to collectors, enthusiasts, and museums.

 

[ajacocks]

Welcome to the forum @manuyt !

- Alex

 

[manuyt]

Thanks Alex!