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Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?

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Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?

#81
If I were you, I would keep a few. The ones you really feel something for and that you may want to do things with in the future.

Many of us have let gear go only to really regret it later. And we've also let gear go that needed to go and feel good about it being used by someone too. I found myself getting out of SGI, for example. That was hard, but in the end, the right thing for me to do. I will probably never get rid of my Apple //e. I did let my Color Computer 3 go, because someone else was super into it. YMMV

So, it's very likely to be a mix for you.

Split the baby!

Keep a few things, and maybe a spare or two if you have that, and unload the rest.

One thing to keep in mind is we are moving through what may be the last wave of access to original hardware at reasonable prices. It's gonna start getting really rare from here. May take another decade, but it's really going to happen.

When it does, people will have what they have and getting more, or replacing it with originals is going to be out of reach, or just not possible, depending.

Now, the good news?

We are also moving through a great time!! New stuff is being made with FPGA devices. These will look and feel like the originals and in most cases will work with original peripherals and all that too. Chances are that thing you really wanted to work with may be available in some form that is satisfying to do the work on.

A note on emulation: It's getting really good.

I have moved to developing on emulation and then running on real hardware and or gaming / having select experiences on real hardware where it counts.

An example of the former: Any kind of programming is great in an emulator. It's fast, we can use modern tools and the whole nine. You won't need new hardware for most things. People have decided they don't need real hardware too. Others have not gotten there yet. May never.

Say you want to play a game or see your creation "as it were", say on a cool CRT, or at a known clock speed, or that pushes the original in some new, or right on the edge way. You are gonna want the real deal.

And on hardware development: Now is a great time to be developing add on hardware. Some of these machines are active on that front today. It's cool, and something I want to do personally. Other machines are kind of dead, or there just aren't that many interested, whatever. Point is if you are into hardware dev, you may want an original.

Hope this helps. My comment is a combination of my own experiences along with others who enjoy old gear in various ways.

Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?

#82
> pretty sure I've developed this habit because as a child in the last 1970's and early 80's we could never afford a computer for many years, when it was something I wanted more than anything in the world.

I’m sure many of us understand this. I grew up always on the last gen console because we couldn’t afford the latest 8-bit or 16-bit machines.

As an adult, I started buying boxed versions of those consoles in large part to collect but also to get that experience I missed out on as a kid.

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