Wouldn't the authors or publishers have the original copies somewhere?
In many cases the original publishers are defunct or have eliminated their physical archives.
I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals
51–60 of 227 posts
Re: I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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.
You'd be surprised how little of the niche pre-internet stuff is digitized. There are some exceptions (national-circulation newspapers, some English-language books), but it's a minority of what's been published.
Re: I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals
#53Wouldn't the authors or publishers have the original copies somewhere?
Years ago, I tried to retrieve a webpage link[1] that had an important article to encryption and the website had a redesign and all of their articles were removed.
I reached out to them later and asked if they had a copy of the article, or knew where I could get one, but they reported that they no longer have any of that. The same for a commercial that my father was in for a local mall, the mall was purchased by another company and lost ties with the media company that shot the commercial-- this media company is no longer around and thus no more archives.
[1] it would be nice if anyone could recover this text https://www.100tb.com/blog/security-performance-serpent-ciph...
Re: I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals
#54There are certain expectations if you brand yourself as preservation organization. At least shop around when you are going to destroy what appears to be significant collection. You should have some connections and channels for this.
This tells me that this organization is likely to toss just about anything straight to recycling. If someone at lead just doesn't care about it at the moment...
Re: I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals
#55Earlier 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…
What are some examples?
I've gotten rid of almost everything I own twice by moving 7000 miles twice. I regret it.
Books, toys, trinkets, etc. I saw these, thought "I haven't opened these or touched them since I bought them". Turns out, there were memories associated with each one. Just seeing them would remind me of a time and a place. What I was doing, who my friends were, where I was, then I bought that thing. They all sat on bookshelves and I threw them away. I suppose I can go look at a picture of the shelves but it's not the same as glancing at them and having them trigger memories.
Tools, and supplies. I recently moved to a smaller apartment. I had a few boxes of things like left over parts from assembling furniture from 2 apartments previous. The day after I threw them out I needed them. All this stuff I have, 3 kinds of hole punchers, 4 kinds of tape (electrical, duct, masking, cellophane), a rarely need any of them except for maybe the cellophane. If I went by when "have I used it in the last 3 years I'd have thrown the first 3 away. But, that one day when I need it I'll be glad to have it. Same goes for various kinds of bandages, cooking utensils, boardgames, stationary supplies, gift wrapping supplies, ....
Another good example might be clothing. Yes, I do throw things away. But, there are various items I haven't used in years, long jeans for snow, high top hiking boots, thick socks, rash guards, etc.. that if I go by "have I used it recently" then I'd throw them out.
I'm not saying keep everything and no, no one will want this stuff. But, seeing both grandfathers basically have a maker-space full of stuff, and use it, makes me jealous that I didn't stick in one place and slowly build up my dragon horde of stuff too :P
Re: I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals
#56Wouldn't the authors or publishers have the original copies somewhere?
Not necessarily and it depends a lot on what the materials were. IEEE publications were mentioned, it was founded in 1963 and there's a good chance that anything from the first 10 years may no longer be in archives unless donated back by a recipient.
Re: I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
[flagged]
In the original post he mentions that he purchased the containers specifically for the purpose of the donation, so it's likely that the containers sat full for years after being donated and were only incidentally re-used. He also mentions that the person who originally accepted the donation was pushed out of the VCF organization, and did not have a say in the material being disposed of. There is a possibility here th…
I believe the person quit the organization, wasn't pushed out.
At one point in time there was problems with the storage space that VCF has. I believe it was fixed. VCF is not a wealthy organization, and is hosted by another underfunded organization. Needs capital to renovate for expansion but it's slow going.
Re: I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
You'd be surprised how little of the niche pre-internet stuff is digitized. There are some exceptions (national-circulation newspapers, some English-language books), but it's a minority of what's been published.
Also a question of how long stuff will really stay around on the internet.
Re: I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals
#59Why 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.
I mean, OK, sure, but if you're the museum that discards this material as a matter of course, well, now you know why Jason Scott is going to spend the next several years shredding your reputation online, right? It's not the final battle between good and evil. He's clear up front what the issue is. You can care what he has to say or not.
The next museum or library will, I assume, be more careful.
Re: I continue to no longer attend vintage computer festivals
#60I 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.
> 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.
In a marketplace we might say that something has the value someone else is will pay for it. In case of donations like these it's somewhat tricky, it has the value someone is willing to take good care of it and preserve it. That's why it hurts in a way, they threw it away so it signals: that it had no value that's not even worth calling the person to pick it back up.
I've seen this happen with my own family. Some older family member thinks their collectables they have been saving are super valuable, only to find out that nobody in the family wants them. That's painful for them to accept that, understandably, so it has to be handled with care.
Another thing to think about is if it matters if it's Jason Scott. Should they have marked the boxes specially and treated the contents with a lot more care just because of who he is? That would have probably been smart from a PR standpoint. Maybe there is a chance some volunteer didn't know who Jason Scott is? But it would seem equally silly to now come out and say, sorry we didn't know it was you, Jason, we would have called back or kept them otherwise.