Re: Cost Whiners

["Chris" <cchiesa1@rochester.rr.com>]

On Apr 2, 11:15 am, "Payton Byrd" <plb...@bellsouth.no.spam.net>
wrote:
> One thing I've noticed is the large amount of whining going on in these groups about the cost of classic computer items.  I don't know what people expect, but I expect that the majority of people have no clue how much old stuff is worth, don't want to be bothered with figuring it out, and definitely don't want to be bothered with selling it in any way more complex than a yard sale.  So, I would say 95% (or more) of the classic computers sitting in closes the last 20 years have made their way to the local landfill.  

Funny you should say that.  I just threw out a *HUGE* number of items
in the last two weeks since I am forced by circumstances to relocate a
4-bedroom household into a 2-bedroom apartment.  Given more time, I
*might* have gone to the trouble of offering various items for sale,
but my experience on that point over the last ten years has been
firmly that "it's not worth the effort."  People mock me for even
*having* this stuff, let alone for actually *using* it, heaven forbid
*enjoying* it.  I know I'm not the only Atari/Amiga/VAX/VMS diehard
out here, but it sure seems like it sometimes, and that's
discouraging.

> Given that some things like Atari 1200XL and Commodore Plus/4 systems didn't exactly set sales records, I find it amusing (and a little annoying) when people complain about the prices these now rare items fetch on eBay.

Do I even want to *know* what an Atari 800XL or a 1050 disk drive is
selling for, these days? :-(  I haven't QUITE gotten to the point of
throwing those away -- I have a 130 XE with Black Box that I need to
make sure I have a backup for, for a while yet -- but the last *I*
heard, about eight years ago, was that Atari computers were going for
a quarter -- yes, twenty-five CENTS -- at thrift stores.  Since then,
even the thrift stores, VOA, and Salvation Army have been refusing to
take computer items more than just a few years old; the only things
they'll take, apparently, are those that can be sold as "relatively
modern" Windows PeeCees.

So has that turned around?  If so, when did it happen?  I don't have
the time, myself, to hang around eBay (or here, usually, for that
matter) to keep tabs on the industry.

C.