10 year rule

[Computer Collector E-Mail Newsletter]

>>>> The 10-year rule, as I understand it, is intended to prevent the list from

degenerating into a WinTel support group.

LOL, well isn't that exactly the same conclusion we reached a couple weeks ago
(and a year ago, and the year before that, indefinitely)...?

Let's change the topic.  I HEARD A RUMOR THAT SELLAM IS PUTTING HIS WHOLE
COLLECTION ON EBAY.

that oughta be fun :)

--- Bob Shannon <bshannon at tiac.net> wrote:

> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Doc Shipley" <doc at mdrconsult.com>
> To: <news at computercollector.com>; <General at mdrconsult.com>; 
> "Discussion at mdrconsult.com :On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" 
> <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 12:31 PM
> Subject: Re: 10 year rule
> 
> 
> > Computer Collector E-Mail Newsletter wrote:
> >> The terms are too similar, people will just get more confused.
> >>
> >> All I intended to do when I started this discussion topic was to point 
> >> out the
> >> obsurdity of considering things like the Web and Pentiums as "vintage" 
> >> (or any
> >> other synonym).  But then others observed back that I was being 
> >> short-sighted
> >> -- if you ignore that actual age, "vintage" just means "anything 
> >> considered
> >> obsolete by the mainstream," and that's a good enough answer for me.  But 
> >> I do
> >> think that 15 years, not 10, is a better divider between what's just 
> >> "old" and
> >> what's truly vintage.
> >
> >   I think you're all looking at this completely backwards.
> >
> >   The rate of electronic evolution (OK, change) has *accelerated* over 
> > time, meaning that computers are obsoleted much more quickly than their 
> > older counterparts.  Therefore the age limit for this list should be 
> > *lowered* to about 8 years now.
> >
> >   Sometime in about 12 years a computer that's two weeks old will qualify 
> > as a classic.
> >
> >   I'll be grabbing my hat....
> >
> >
> > Doc
> 
> I think the problem with this discussion is partly that age does not equal 
> collectability.
> 
> Lets not even discuss the concept of 'value' and really muddy the waters. 
> But in any
> type of 'collectable' items, mass-production, commodity products are not as 
> desirable
> as a rare or hand-made version.
> 
> Think of nails here, a hand-wrought vintage nail is a lot more interesting 
> than one you
> might find in a modern hardware store.
> 
> Along the same lines, a production PC will probably never be a desirable 
> 'vintage' computer
> however old it becomes.  But 50 years from now, one of today's 'hot-rod' 
> case-modder PC
> with neon tubing and a solid aluminum chassis might become an important 
> cultural artifact.
> A lot of this has to do with the 'production value' of the collectable in 
> question.
> 
> The 10-year rule, as I understand it, is intended to prevent the list from 
> degenerating into
> a WinTel support group.
> 
> 
> 
> 


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