[CUBE] [OT] Collectable computers (was: Would you believe 8fans?!)

[Joost van de Griek]

On 2003-06-09 01:30, James Rice wrote:

> Joost van de Griek wrote:
> 
>> More SGI/Sun/UNIX lovers on the Cube list? Coolness! :-)
> 
> You do have me beat on the Sgi's.  I want an Indigo2 and an Octane.  I
> know where I can get several Iris's and a couple of Crimson's in very
> good condition.  I haven't made it over there yet.

Crimsons are nice. I'd love to have one of those "Jurassic Classic" ones...
They're slower than Indies, but the sheer appearance of them is just too
cool.

> I had a lot more Sun's but I sold them on ebay. I find Sun SS2, SS4,
> SS5, SS10's around here all of the time as well as the IPC/IPX lunch
> boxes, but I've decided to limit my collection a little.  I would like
> to have an Ultra.

Suns are abundant, indeed. Especially in this age of IT companies filing for
bankruptcy left, right and centre. :-)

>> NeXT's are hard to come by in Europe. Let me rephrase that: NeXT's are NeXT
>> to impossible to come by in Europe. Damn shame. And shipping on a Cube is
>> enough to make buying one from the US a costly option, too. Damn.
> 
> I shipped a NeXT cube to Warsaw in January.  I had bought 5 the past two
> years and cherry picked the best of everything, then sold the rest on
> ebay.  It sold for $250USD  and shipping ran $165USD.

QED.

>> Hm, some old WYSE 286 that used to run Xenix in my dad's practice (he's a
>> doctor), an IBM PS/2 Model 55SX, and some old 486 clone I talked my mum into
>> buying in 1991-1992... I'm pretty much stuck with VPC for my PC duties.
> 
> Don't have any PS2's.  Just the one  IMB PC 5150.  It was given to me by
> an 80 year old doctor who retired.  He bought it new in 1981 but was
> scared to use it.  It spent the next 21 years under a vinyl cover.  It
> is in pristine condition.  Not even the power supply fan was dusty.

Wanna hear a "funny" story?

At the desk opposite mine, at work, sits a guy who has been a programmer for
25+ years (COBOL, DB2, that sort of thing). He told me the other day that
back in the early 80's, he bought himself his first "real" PC, an IBM PC
Portable (Model 5155). Description for the uninitiated:

<http://oldcomputers.net/ibm5155.html>

Anyway, he tells me about he was cleaning out his attic, and came across it.
He'd repackaged it in the original box when it was retired, with all the
manuals and disks in it. So I ask him how much he wants for it. He says he
investigated the possibilities of upgrading it to contemporary standards,
and when he found out that this would be impossible, HE PUT IT OUT IN THE
STREET WITH THE TRASH!!!

Holy sweet mother of Jesus, I thought I was going to faint.

Rest assured, after that little fit I threw over such behaviour, the poor
guy will probably never throw away even a floppy disk without consulting me,
first.

,xtG
.tsooJ
-- 
Real programmers always mix up Halloween
and Christmas, because Oct 31 == Dec 25
-- 
Joost van de Griek
<http://www.jvdg.net/>