Value of a PDP/8?

[Jules Richardson]

John Foust wrote:
> At 05:18 PM 3/9/2007, Jules Richardson wrote:
>> I'm not quite sure how to get the message out there that 
 >> this stuff's of potential interest
 >
> I think the most effective method is to create a web page
> stating that you're eager to preserve (and pay shipping to get)
> those items.  Many people who are about to throw away something
> that was once valuable will Google and/or search eBay to see
> if anyone is selling or preserving the stuff.

The problem though is that the real gems tend to be left with people who 
assume (rightly) that they have little monetary value, but who also think 
(often wrongly) that they have no historical value.

e.g. given an old piece of furniture, upon unearthing it someone's elderly 
widow might make a few inquiries to see what it is or whether it's useful to 
anyone. I don't forsee them doing the same for a bunch of floppy disks, 
because it simply wouldn't occur to them that they might be important to someone.

I'm not sure how anyone can tackle that; it needs a raising of general 
awareness amongst the public that old computer paraphernalia can be just as 
useful as other old "junk". In particular, I'm not sure how anyone can tackle 
the problem *soon* - because unlike a lot of things, computer-related material 
(at least on the software side) probably has a shelf life of a few decades 
rather than a few hundred years.

Maybe I just think too much :)

cheers

J.