It's crazy. I can't believe what they are paying on EBay for less than *incomplete* systems. I could see $1400 with drives, running, tested, manuals, etc... but a shell??????This is a subject that's been bothering me for a while, so I posted the following reply:
<rant>
That's because eBay is where "collectors" hang out. Not people like us,
for whom collector is an insufficient/inaccurate term.
It's like the difference between coin or stamp collectors and classic car enthusiasts. A coin or stamp collector gets the coin or stamp he's been drooling over, puts it in a book or in a display on his wall, checks it off a list, and he's done. Since coins and stamps don't "do" anything, that's fine.
But a classic car enthusiast maintains classic cars in working order (or at least attempts to do so), and drives them now and then. They're not just a checklist item.
A seemingly large percentage of the computer "collectors" on eBay are just people who see collecting computers exactly like collecting coins. They don't give a shit whether the thing works, as long as it looks cool and will impress their friends. Hell, if they got a PDP-8 that did work, they wouldn't know what to do with it aside from destroying the core planes to make wall hangings.
That's why I personally will try never to sell any truly rare items on
eBay. I'd rather make sure that they go to a good home, rather than be
obligated to sell to one of these collector" assholes, just because he
had deep pockets.
</rant>
Last updated October 13, 1999
Copyright 1999 Eric Smith.