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Living Computers Museum to permanently close, auction vintage items

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Re: Living Computers Museum to permanently close, auction vintage items

#261

Post by georgeecollins »

fl7305 wrote: post #186
ChuckMcM wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Dad collected antique cap guns. By the "collector's bible" its "worth" $40 - $50 grand. He got zero offers for it when it became clear he needed to liquidate some of his "stuff" to pay for health care. So yeah, I don't think my collection of "classic" computers will return anything to my heirs sadly.

Well, I see classic 1970s-80s computers that I'm interested in selling for hundreds or even thousands of dollars on eBay etc. Gen-Xers who grew up with them are getting nostalgic, and many of them have a lot of disposable income and plenty of space to house them. But it is a lot of work to get that kind of money for each individual machine. And I suspect it will be a passing fad. In some decades when the Gen-Xers sta…

That's like collector cars that peak in value for the generation after they were made. If it was a poster on your wall growing up, you want it when you are old and wealthy. The generation after is less interested.

Re: Living Computers Museum to permanently close, auction vintage items

#262

Post by kragen »

xeonmc wrote: post #249
kragen wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if the building is unguarded and full of valuable items, someone will loot it. if you're the one that loots it, you get to decide what happens to them. if you don't, someone else will

National Treasure 3: Relics of the Silicon Valley

in this case it's a relic of boston tho

Re: Living Computers Museum to permanently close, auction vintage items

#263

Post by filoleg »

kragen wrote: post #99
lilyball wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So, out of concern for the condition of any items that may still be inside, I snooped around the perimeter looking for a way in How does concern for the items inside lead you to looking for a way to break in?

if the building is unguarded and full of valuable items, someone will loot it. if you're the one that loots it, you get to decide what happens to them. if you don't, someone else will

Eeeeh, I think there is a more good-faith take on the events. My personal take is that they were just trying to do the meatspace equivalent of a bug bounty, without even attempting to touch or take any items.

Kinda like how, typically, you would be incliner to file user bugs and report any vulnerabilities you find in a product you care about. Despite having zero monetary incentive to do so (more often than not).

Re: Living Computers Museum to permanently close, auction vintage items

#264

Post by rjsw »

kps wrote: post #260
fl7305 wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Looking at the asking prices on eBay, a VT100 terminal seems to go for many hundreds of dollars even in poor condition? You wouldn't happen to have SUN 3 workstations?

VT100 has some demand; not later less iconic terminals. (Personally, I think I still have a few V2xx and a Wyse or two.) Many of these eBay listings are effectively permanent, from commercial resellers who are waiting for the rare case that some business somewhere really wants an exact replacement for an old system component that no one wants to risk changing. I may still have a Sun 3/60 pizza box (as well as a Sparc…

I had not done an eBay search for "sold" items until now, some people seem to be paying high prices for Atari Falcon systems.

I have a SPARC Station 2, Ultra 1, Ultra 2 and a Macintosh Quadra 950 that all work and would maybe have resale value if I wanted to get rid of them.

Re: Living Computers Museum to permanently close, auction vintage items

#265

Post by smegger001 »

ZaoLahma wrote: post #189
jl6 wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue with estate sales is that they are usually estate disposals . People inheriting their parents’ stuff are usually themselves grown adults with their own busy lives, and the average estate consists of immense amounts of clutter that the inheritor has approximately zero interest in. They’re grieving, they’re seeking closure. Not looking to spend years sifting through hundreds of thousands of items of household…

This is all sadly too true, which is why I think we should do our best to declutter as we age. Ideally when our time comes, we should only have things of immediate use and value to us left, and pretty much none of "might be good to have one day". I've seen instances where people couldn't get rid of things due to grief and decided to keep it all tucked away for several decades, leaving the decluttering to the followin…

My grandmother long ago made up her will of who got what, and then when she was through with it she told all of her children and grand children to write in her notebook which items not already spoken for they wanted when she no longer needed them. When was ready to move into her assisted living facility she got out her will and notebook and distributed everything she wasn't taking there with her and got rid of the rest. Compared to my other grandparents where it was a giant fiasco and almost nothing documentedas to how it was to be distributed and accusations and mistrust it sowed amongst my father and his siblings, I can say for certain its far better to be organized.

Re: Living Computers Museum to permanently close, auction vintage items

#266

Post by cableshaft »

georgeecollins wrote: post #261
fl7305 wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I see classic 1970s-80s computers that I'm interested in selling for hundreds or even thousands of dollars on eBay etc. Gen-Xers who grew up with them are getting nostalgic, and many of them have a lot of disposable income and plenty of space to house them. But it is a lot of work to get that kind of money for each individual machine. And I suspect it will be a passing fad. In some decades when the Gen-Xers sta…

That's like collector cars that peak in value for the generation after they were made. If it was a poster on your wall growing up, you want it when you are old and wealthy. The generation after is less interested.

With cars specifically it doesn't help that they tend to be a lot less safe to drive the older they are (as health standards have increased a lot over the years), also they just become harder and harder to keep in good shape as the parts become rarer and rarer. Also they had terrible emissions and low gas mileage, so they suck for the environment.

Like I still think some 60s muscle cars look pretty cool, despite being born a couple decades later, but there's no way in hell I'd ever want to own one, for the above reasons. Instead I'll just drive them in video games.

Meanwhile I think it's cool to own a painting brought home from World War II, or a metal cup souvenir from the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.

Re: Living Computers Museum to permanently close, auction vintage items

#267

Post by fulladder »

Fatnino wrote: post #221
BobAliceInATree wrote: post #86

The sad reality is that you can spend a lifetime collecting something, the but likelihood that any of your potential heirs is also interested in it, is pretty close to zero. That's true of multi-million dollar vintage computers, or your childhood stamp collection that's mostly worthless. Paul's mistake was not properly establishing a foundation & endowment to maintain this musuem, which almost certainly leaks lots of…

There was a private tank collection in Portola Valley. There was a way to arrange tours but it didn't have anything like regular hours. It was just a guy with lots of money spending it on buying and restoring tanks. Most of them could run under their own power. Stuff like a German Tiger parked facing an American Sherman and a Russian T34. 2 huge garage fulls of these things. And visitors were allowed to climb onto an…

I remember that guy, but can't think of his name now. A VC told me about the tanks back in the mid-2000s. Thanks for bringing to mind a good memory from back in the day.

Re: Living Computers Museum to permanently close, auction vintage items

#268

Post by [deleted] »

imperfect_light wrote: post #183
armadsen wrote: post #6

I adored the Living Computers Museum. Being able to just sit down and use an Apple 1, Xerox Alto, Altair 8800, and so many more in the same place was incredible. And then, a friendly museum employee being there to show you how to use it, tell you about what made it unique, etc. was even better. It was so much better than most look-but-don’t-touch museums. It’s really a travesty that Paul Allen’s sister seems bent on…

The dude was sick on and off for years, could have had an army of lawyers setting up these places to continue after him, and didn't bother. Don't blame his sister who was left this mess.

[deleted]
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