Vintage Technology Collector

CNN iReport: "The Macintosh desktop is turning 25 on Saturday, and we'd love to take a stroll down memory lane. Apple's tiny computer, released in 1984, was different with its uniform design, decidedly un-furry 'mouse' and innovative graphical user interface." CNN wants you to send them photos and video of you and your vintage Macs. They also want to know: What was your first Mac, and why did you get it? How are you using this device? Are the computers still as mind-blowing now, and how far have they come?

MSN Tech & Gadgets has a slide show of what they consider the most collectible computers. I would say a lot of their choices I would agree with, but I still think others are missing from the list. Here is excerpt from the article: "personal computers have been around long enough that certain models -- mostly dating from the 1970s and early 1980s -- have gone from newfangled gadget to prized relic. We compiled this list after consulting with tech historians and collectors, including Bryan Blackburn, Digibarn's Bruce Damer, the Vintage Computer Festival's Sellam Ismail and Erik Klein of Vintage-Computer.com" I am going to do my own version of this list for this blog. Hopefully I will complete it soon.

Here is a very rare computer that I would buy if I had a spare $11,000. Its an original Apple Lisa (with Twiggy drives). Definitely a prize for any collection, and as the description states there are only 50 still around. Normally if someone was asking $11,000 for a computer, I would say its way over priced. With the exception for a very few, and this is the exception. What makes it valuable and rare is that it has the 5.25" drives (known as Twiggy). This system is an excellent example of Apple Computer's Second Rarest Computer, next to the original Apple-1 (1976). Less than 50 are known to exist in the world today. The Lisa was a landmark in computing history, being the first personal computer available with a mouse & GUI (Graphical User Interface). The release of this machine and the Lisa Office System to the public pre-dates Microsoft Windows 1.0 by almost 3 years! The Apple Lisa was the programming platform for the Macintosh. Apple offered Basic Plus, Pascal, and C...

Here is a eBay auction for an Atari Stacy laptop computer that was up for sale . These are pretty rare and they are not worth much. I consider it an interesting artifact for those who like to collect these types of computers.

CIO magazine reports: "Max Burnet has turned his home in the leafy suburbs of Sydney into arguably Australia’s largest private computer museum. Since retiring as director of Digital Equipment Corporation a decade ago, Burnet has converted his interest in the computing industry into an invaluable snapshot of computer history. Every available space from his basement to the top floor of his two-storey home is covered with relics from the past. His collection is vast, from a 1920s Julius Totalisator, the first UNIX PDP-7, a classic DEC PDP-8, the original IBM PC, Apple’s Lisa, MITS Altair 8800, numerous punch cards and over 6000 computer reference books. And more. He happily opened his doors for CIO to take a look." Max Burnet has a pretty amazing collection of vintage computer artifacts you may have never seen before. There are lots DEC, IBM personal computer and mainframe parts in his collection, plus several miscellaneous items you may have never seen before.

MSN Tech & Gadgets reports: "Whatever happened to the Evolution of Dance guy or that kid who loved Britney Spears so much he cried for her under his sheet? We'll fill you in on what happened to them and other Web celebrities when their 15 minutes of fame ended." I thought this was an interesting article.

I am always watching eBay for interesting vintage technology. Here is a vintage robot that I have never seen before. Its the HeathKit Educational Systems Hero 2000 Robot. Below is an except from the auction: "The unit is in good cosmetic condition with some wear present from previous use but overall looks structurally sound. The unit is in unknown working condition as we do not have the means here to test it. Also some of the wires are cut on the top of the unit are cut." Here is some more information on this robot.