Date   : Sat, 24 Apr 2004 19:20:06 +0000
From   : "W.Scholten" <whs@...>
Subject: Re: crazy bids being placed on Beeb auction

John Kortink wrote:

> AFAIC it does't represent 'value' anymore. 'Value plus insanity
> factor', more like. There's always just a few that are bidding
> these amounts for 8-bit stuff. What about that Domesday system
> that went for 770 UKP a few weeks ago.
> 
> 'Steep ? It's effing vertical !' ;-)

It depends on your point of view. Some people are 'collectors' and in
that case, the sky is the limit. What about a painting by Rembrandt or
van Gogh... Is it really worth the price they are sold for?

If a B+ was your first real computer, then 300 quid to 'buy back your
youth' (a good description by thcvh on this topic, he's one of the
bidders in that auction btw), then is it expensive? I don't think so.
For me on the other hand, it's very expenvsive because I have absolutely
no emotional attachment to any B+ (any Acorn machine after the BBC B in
fact) and it doesn't interest me much.

For me, the only value I attach to items is how useful, and interesting
they are. Nostalgia sometimes comes into it as well.

It's interesting to note that many 'collectors' in NL are complaining
about ebay prices and not willing to pay much, often stretched to the
ridiculous. If someone has a large stack of very good condition mags for
example, you won't get anything for them in NL. If they're not free,
people aren't interested. Of course, when these 'collectors' decide they
don't have any more space, or want to do something else, like focus on
specific era or quit altogether, what do they do? They put it all on
ebay...


Regards,

Wouter
-- 
BBC/atom/old magazine scans etc:
http://www.astro.livjm.ac.uk/~bbc/