On 10/19/18 12:18 PM, Daniel Seagraves via cctalk wrote:
On Oct 19, 2018, at 10:34 AM, Bill Degnan via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org>
wrote:
Here is a great example of why the keyboards and terminals are getting
separated
Keyboard fetishists are vermin; They are destructive and have no redeeming
qualities, and should be treated as such.
I had one of them spend the better part of an hour going on about how I had achieved
“the holy grail of collecting” by having more than one “Space Cadet” keyboard,
fawning about how superlatively perfect they’re supposed to be and everything else
pales in comparison. They’re a status symbol in keyboard fetishist circles.
According to him they auction north of $5000 for even non-working examples. I have
no idea why. GNU Emacs can't use most of the “special” keys - The Lisp Machine
itself doesn't even use most of them - and control is in the same relative place as
modern keyboards instead of being where the caps lock key is which was the
"mostest hacker-est” thing last I heard. I think it’s just conspicuous
consumption - Having one proves you’ve got the dosh to waste things other people
must work hard for a chance to get.
That's just nasty. Your invective, that is. There are idiots in any
enthusiast group, and predators. Including this group, if we're honest.
You want to talk conspicuous consumption? How many on this list,
myself included, have spent a fortune on old computer hardware, and then
another fortune housing it?
I'm one of those "fetishists" - I do love me a nice clackety
keyboard. And not for nothing, but my experience with '80s- and
'90s-era mechanical keyboards is precisely why I do. I build my
keyboards from new parts, and I think paying $5/switch for parts from
the old Apple Extended Keyboard II is just silly, but I have a hard time
blaming anybody for pursuing what's important to them.
You guys want people to stop scavenging those irreplaceable
treasures? Ante up, pure and simple. I've seen the same thing over and
over in the vintage computer circles - guys wailing and wringing their
hands about classic machines going to keyboard scavengers, or gold
recovery, or whatever the Demon du Jour happens to be. And then they
won't pay the price of shipping to keep the thing out of the scrap pile.
I have a 5140 Convertible that I tried to sell awhile back in the
vcfed community. I got a lot of lowball offers and a lot of rants
veiled as warnings about those godless scavengers. From the same
cheapskates of course. In the end, that system is worth twice as much
as desoldered parts as the best offer I got. Survey sez all that
wailing and teeth-gnashing is bullshit.
