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I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals

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Re: I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals

#41

Post by coldtea »

underlogic wrote: post #11
chris_wot wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So why did they take the material? If you don’t want it, then don’t take it.

[flagged]

>The reason why people don't cherish these types of things is they are rational. Technology is about tomorrow. It's not about yesterday

You can't built tomorrow if you don't understand and appreciate yesterday.

Without knowing the past you can and will be taken for a ride by any con man selling you old bullshit as fancy new stuff of tomorrow.

Without knowing the past they can and will sell you crappy stupid stuff which you'll gulp down just because its new and shiny, because you don't know that better stuff already existed.

If someone is not passionate about the history and development of their field, I seriously doubt they're a good fit for it.

Re: I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals

#42

Post by wmf »

accrual wrote: post #28
AlbertCory wrote: post #3

I was in Google Patent Litigation, and we actively collected old stuff, for possible use as prior art. I even went to Beryl Nelson's house before she died to collect her old Bell System Technical Journals. A lot of old stuff has no value to anyone. That can be hard to accept, but it's true. Even old wood furniture -- no one wants it. Old PC or Byte Magazines? Forget it; they're all over.

> Even old wood furniture -- no one wants it. Old PC or Byte Magazines? Forget it; they're all over. I think the former is pretty true, but old PC magazines are still important to keep around. For one, they can be digitized to take up virtually no physical space (unlike furniture). Secondly, once digitized and OCR'd to make searchable, they're a valuable resource for finding out when certain products or technologies…

I think the point is that it's already been digitized. All of it. The stuff in your attic isn't a valuable historic artifact; it's deep in the trough of no value.

Re: I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals

#43

Post by telmnstr »

skissane wrote: post #38
shrubble wrote: post #15

The real question is whether these journals were already scanned and archived or not.

We shouldn't throw away the physical paper copies just because something has been scanned. In any large collection of scanned documents, you are going to get scanning errors/etc – you can catch a lot of these with quality control, but some will always slip through the cracks. (And, volunteer efforts to scan old computer documentation often don't have the time and resources for the best quality control.) If the origin…

For many people there is a cost associated to storing items, be it old furniture or paperwork.

Re: I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals

#44

Post by cortesoft »

skissane wrote: post #38
shrubble wrote: post #15

The real question is whether these journals were already scanned and archived or not.

We shouldn't throw away the physical paper copies just because something has been scanned. In any large collection of scanned documents, you are going to get scanning errors/etc – you can catch a lot of these with quality control, but some will always slip through the cracks. (And, volunteer efforts to scan old computer documentation often don't have the time and resources for the best quality control.) If the origin…

Where are you going to store the paper? And keep it from degrading?

Re: I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals

#45

Post by postmodest »

ip26 wrote: post #32
AlbertCory wrote: post #3

I was in Google Patent Litigation, and we actively collected old stuff, for possible use as prior art. I even went to Beryl Nelson's house before she died to collect her old Bell System Technical Journals. A lot of old stuff has no value to anyone. That can be hard to accept, but it's true. Even old wood furniture -- no one wants it. Old PC or Byte Magazines? Forget it; they're all over.

It’s a new phenomenon that culture is still absorbing, a result of abundance and progress. Old furniture used to be handed down and treasured for generations. Suddenly, not anymore.

In my life, it's that the only people with room to have large wooden furniture were the Boomers and their parents who could afford to live in 2.5k+sq foot houses. My whole apartment couldn't hold the furniture from my parents living room.

Re: I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals

#46

Post by rnewme »

tdeck wrote: post #36
Aeolun wrote: post #4

Why would you take all this stuff only to toss it all out? Though to he fair, it seems the person that took it was pushed out and replaced? In which case, why, if you do not take this stuff, would you work for a VCF?

Getting rid of books is part of running a library, I wouldn't be surprised if this kind of thing is part of running a museum or similar organization. That said, there are so many collectors out there I feel it would be better to at least try to find a home, even if it means selling them. It's easy for me to say that because I don't have to actually do it.

There's difference between archive and a library. Also, why didn't they process in the first place then? And for it being "hard to pass over" - it wasn't hard for them to have him drive 70 miles and pack all on his budget??

Re: I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals

#47

Post by [deleted] »

AlbertCory wrote: post #3

I was in Google Patent Litigation, and we actively collected old stuff, for possible use as prior art. I even went to Beryl Nelson's house before she died to collect her old Bell System Technical Journals. A lot of old stuff has no value to anyone. That can be hard to accept, but it's true. Even old wood furniture -- no one wants it. Old PC or Byte Magazines? Forget it; they're all over.

[deleted]

Re: I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals

#48

Post by [deleted] »

cortesoft wrote: post #44
skissane wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We shouldn't throw away the physical paper copies just because something has been scanned. In any large collection of scanned documents, you are going to get scanning errors/etc – you can catch a lot of these with quality control, but some will always slip through the cracks. (And, volunteer efforts to scan old computer documentation often don't have the time and resources for the best quality control.) If the origin…

Where are you going to store the paper? And keep it from degrading?

[deleted]

Re: I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals

#49

Post by fencepost »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #26
knighthack wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's an Art of Manliness podcast that talks about this: https://www.artofmanliness.com/lifestyle/homeownership/declu... It really opened my eyes to the fact that most of what you value or hold dear will have no value to others, especially if it can't be resold. As a practical minimalist (rather than a strict one) it's informed my personal practices a fair bit.

I like going to estate sales. Sometimes you find interesting things. But mostly, it's just piles of, frankly, crap. And in a weird way, it's sort of helping me deal with some of my tendencies to collect crap. Once I'm dead, 75% of it will be thrown away by someone hired to deal with the estate, maybe 50% of the rest will be sold, and the rest will once again go in the garbage. That screwdriver I'm keeping even though…

I was surprised at how low some things were at my parents' estate sale, though they're still alive and kept some things downsizing to assisted living. I also did keep some things of value (or that I could see immediate use for, like replacing my dishes with my mom's massive amount of Corelle including discontinued items).

Also if you know people starting out suggest that they visit an estate sale or two for dishes, pans, silverware, etc.

And anyone who wants fine china should just go buy people's complete sets on the last day for $15 or less.

Re: I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals

#50

Post by rig666 »

AlbertCory wrote: post #3

I was in Google Patent Litigation, and we actively collected old stuff, for possible use as prior art. I even went to Beryl Nelson's house before she died to collect her old Bell System Technical Journals. A lot of old stuff has no value to anyone. That can be hard to accept, but it's true. Even old wood furniture -- no one wants it. Old PC or Byte Magazines? Forget it; they're all over.

I relate with this sentiment. Part of me is happy that my whole house is filled with solid wood furniture for cheep, but I'm deeply saddened by people's lack of value for real things as well as I fell alone in my system of values. It feels like we're living in a Huxley dystopia sometimes.
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