[Coco] "NEW NORMAL"

[Michael Brant]

I understand the difference in prices too.  But I guess part of it as time
goes on devices get thrown away too.  That limits the availability.  I had
CoCos at my dads while i was in the military.  Those he threw out when he
sold his house.  I think some of this happens a lot.
On Jul 15, 2015 7:02 PM, "Bill Traynor" <btraynor at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Wed, Jul 15, 2015 at 6:46 PM, Mark McDougall <msmcdoug at iinet.net.au>
> wrote:
> > On 16/07/2015 5:12 AM, Bill Loguidice wrote:
> >
> >> I think you're overreacting a bit. As an insane collector of everything
> in
> >> the computer and videogame space (and I've been that way since the 80s,
> so
> >> I've seen prices go from free to insane), I too lament the rise in
> prices
> >> across nearly every brand, but it's purely for selfish reasons. The
> >> reality
> >> is higher prices mean there's more competition for this stuff and more
> >> interest overall in using vintage equipment. While that's bad for our
> >> wallets, it's better overall for all vintage communities, getting more
> >> people involved and having a larger pool of individuals to both develop
> >> and
> >> purchase new items for our old hardware. While the cost of entry these
> >> days
> >> is indeed higher, the potential experience across all brands is better
> >> than
> >> any other time (save for when these were active on the mainstream
> market)
> >> and will clearly continue to improve for the forseeable future. So yeah,
> >> it's not all that bad.
> >
> >
> > Whilst there's definitely an element of truth to this, I don't think it's
> > the whole story.
> >
> > I too have been in the game for decades and again, I started with
> freebies
> > and 'junk' from road-side clean-ups and now can't even afford to round
> out
> > my collection. And I agree with Bill, it's for selfish reasons...
> >
> > But I do question the up-side to Bill's argument. Higher prices attracts
> the
> > profiteers and from there it's an upward spiral. I would argue it raises
> the
> > barrier to entry for newcomers to the hobby as we see more hardware
> > purchased for 'investment' and flipping rather than actually used by
> > enthusiasts. Any increase in the enthusiast base is due to other factors
> > entirely, such as the socio-economic standing of the 80's users,
> increased
> > awareness of the hobby as a whole due to social media, commericalisation
> of
> > the hobby, and podcasts etc and easier access to software.
> >
> > The improved experience comes from product development such as CocoSDC
> and
> > RGB2VGA etc etc and I don't believe that's linked to higher prices at
> all,
> > but rather more affordable and accessible technologies enabling the
> > development. Most developers aren't in it to make big $$$.
> >
> > So no, IMHO I think higher prices _is_ all bad. I don't see an up side at
> > all. And it will only continue to deteriorate.
>
> The inflation in price for vintage computers is not unlike the massive
> jump in price in vintage guitars.  It wasn't impossible to find a 1959
> Fender Stratocaster in the 1970s for reasonable price that virtually
> anyone could afford.  Now, it's impossible.  And similarly, the
> majority of good vintage guitars are hanging on the walls of the
> wealthy's home as part of collections.
>
> I really hope that doesn't end up being the case for vintage computers as
> well.
>
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > --
> > |              Mark McDougall                | "Electrical Engineers do
> it
> > |  <http://members.iinet.net.au/~msmcdoug>   |   with less resistance!"
> >
> >
> > --
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> > Coco at maltedmedia.com
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>
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