Yesterday's computers, so often dumped for the next new model, have finally come to be treasured as historical artefacts.
And techies, known more for skill than sentiment, are waxing nostalgic for vintage models from Apple to Zenith - and paying good money for them.
"Most collectors are geeks, from children to people who've retired, who share an interest in technology," said Sellam Ismail, a computer historian and consultant who owns more than 1 500 models and runs the semi-annual Vintage Computer Festival.
"Some people do collect for money. People are trading them actively worldwide."
Apple Macintoshes have an almost cult-like following
Prices are fairly low - $5 to $100 for computers that cost thousands of dollars from 1971 to the early 1990s. These include the popular Tandy Radio Shack laptops, Kaypro desktops and "transportables" - which could weigh more than 16kg - and most personal computers.
On eBay, however, a search for "vintage computers" showed up 125 items with asking prices as high as $1 999. Rare ones can be worth a fortune, especially if they are complete, working and come with related accessories and software.
For example, the Apple 1 - sold as a kit in 1976 for $666,66 - fetched $25 000 at an auction in 2000. The sale included manuals, marketing literature, BASIC computer language on cassette and other material.
Of the 200 Apple 1s made, only 31 have been identified by Ismail.
At an auction in 2000, Microsoft's chief technology officer, Nathan Myhrvold, paid $70 000 for a relay rack that belonged to one of the first digital computers, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator. The gargantuan mainframe computer, designed during World War 2 to compute bomb tables, is regarded as the great-grandfather of American computing and only remnants of it remain, scattered in different parts of the world.
Values remain high for historically significant models and soared last year when the only price guide of its kind, Collectible Microcomputers went to print.
An IBM 5100, a 20kg microcomputer released in 1975 with a proprietary operating system, sold recently for $3 000, far above the previous range of $300. Other breakthrough machines such as the Altair 8800 are worth up to $3 000 in good condition. In 1975, the computer cost $439 for a kit and $621 assembled.
Common machines are worth much less, even if they are landmarks. The first IBM personal computer, the 5150, is worth only $50 to $150 for the early 16K motherboard version. All later versions are valued at $18 to $65.
Apple Macintoshes have an almost cult-like following, and the revolutionary Apple iMac is an icon.
(China Daily January 8, 2003)
