RetroPCCupboard wrote on Yesterday, 06:18:How exactly does a private collection help society though? At least Phil's collection was put to good use for producing educati […]
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wierd_w wrote on 2026-09-08, 20:53:Given how the scalpers are these days, I am saddened to see 'museum pieces' sold this way. […]
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Given how the scalpers are these days, I am saddened to see 'museum pieces' sold this way.
Our society does not value 'contemporary artifacts', even though the rapid pace of obsolecense of these devices means many historically relavent devices may only exist as pictures at this point.
The importance of well preserved private collections in the face of that should be immediate and clear, but sadly is not.
You can easily count the number of bonafide computing museums, and their difficulties staying in operation are well documented, due to this lack of consideration.
I hope the pieces went to good conservators.
How exactly does a private collection help society though? At least Phil's collection was put to good use for producing educational and informative content that will now hopefully be around forever. Many private collectors hoard far more than they need and do nothing with it (or at least they don't publish their findings). Which effectively is a waste of their potential, and also drives up the prices for those that do want to use these items.
Whilst my collection is nothing compared to Phil's, there is certainly more there than I can use day-to-day. For the most part, I only have one of each type of thing though (Unless I plan to SLI it).
I do have the desire to start publishing stuff on my YouTube channel but there is little point in doing that until I am in a place where I can post consistently, and with quality content. Because the algorithm will simply not show it to people.
Mainly, it's about them being 'well kept', and safe, while society at large comes to appreciate the value of 'things that were', or 'which shaped the world for awhile.'
That only needs to happen for about 50 to 60 years, generally.
For a poignant example, consider how the BBC did not respect or care about old Doctor Who episodes, with a great many studio original reels rotting from improper storage, or even having the media bulk-erased, and overwritten 'for cost savings'.
see vintage reporting about it here.
https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-w … -lost-episodes/
In the intervening years, PRIVATE COLLECTORS have supplied the missing episodes, with nearly the entire series now being properly preserved.
They were the ONLY surviving copies, because society at large did not properly value the cultural contribution the series had made, until it was much too late.
Computing tech has an even worse obstacle; the creators of tech devices and software *want* the old items destroyed (so that people HAVE to buy new. It's literally called 'product lifecycle management'.) In the face of such active destruction, the only bullwark is private collection.
By the time 70 years rolls around, and people understand the value of an early model Altair, only a handfull in the whole world will remain in existence. Rarer still, are complete kits with documentation, fit for museum curation.
Since we DONT value contemporary artifacts, DONT fund professional preservation and curation (because we dont value contemporary artifacts), we LOSE those artifacts, if not for 'weirdos and hoarders' who keep them safe and well conserved.
The value of good, independent conservators in the face of this, cannot be understated.
