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Mystery Of Vintage Computers Stacked To Ceiling In 3 Houses

cj7hawk said:
Aligators? In Australia?

Surely you mean a clusterpuck of Dropbears in the surrounding trees and residing in the roof?

I'm wondering if you're mentioning gaters under the floorboards so people will look down and never see the real threat coming?
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I just like gators.... the Aussie dropbears are too violent, nobody has ever survived.
 
I appreciate it.

Staying away presents its own challenges, but people I need to stay away  from make my self imposed exile a requirement.
 
hunterjwizzard said:
So what's destined to happen to all these unusual machines?
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At the moment they're being sorted through. I'm just waiting to hear back from the owner re: next steps. I've proposed to go back there and film some unboxing of items and to get info for people who have had questions. Its really up to the owners as to what they decide to do. They are not listed anywhere yet. I suspect the entire process will take several months; they dont seem to be in a rush.
 
But the owners are keen to sell off the equipment to the retro enthusiast community? They aren't looking to just ewaste the lot and be done with it?
 
In Part 2 of your video you seem a bit surprised at the Apple ][ Europlus, but that was the standard Apple ][ sold in Australia at the time, being monochrome PAL.
 
1944GPW said:
In Part 2 of your video you seem a bit surprised at the Apple ][ Europlus, but that was the standard Apple ][ sold in Australia at the time, being monochrome PAL.
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I was because it depends - my Europlus is NTSC with a pal card. Aside from that, they are getting harder to find.
 
hunterjwizzard said:
But the owners are keen to sell off the equipment to the retro enthusiast community? They aren't looking to just ewaste the lot and be done with it?
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It's been a learning curve for them. I hope to back in a few weeks and meet with them and discuss a way forward. Due to their remote location it would be hard to get multiple skip bins there. It would cost them several thousand. I've offered to buy the entire collection, clean it, put it in storage and sell it off to the community, but they didn't want to do that. It would have taken me several weeks to do that, and a massive operation with multiple trucks.

So I think they need to have a think about "life" and the practicalities of things. They are nowhere near a post office, so sending stuff via mail is almost cost prohibitive. People also don't want to drive 2 days to get to them.... also no accommodation nearby either... When I cost it all out, it really doesn't make economic sense.

I'm doing what I can to ensure the collection is preserved. Who knows... at the end of the day, you can only do so much.

Part 3 will be out next week. Just in the middle of editing.
 
I mean, selling it to you nets them more money than paying to have it hauled away as junk. Seems like a win win to me. Given the situation, letting you haul it away for free still sounds like a better option if the owners just want it gone.
 
It would be a labor of love. But if I were presented with the same opportunity I would take it. You might not make any money at it but preserving that stuff can be its own reward. Personally I'd haul it all to a storage and jsut try to move enough units to cover the rental costs. That doesn't actually sound that difficult, especially if you've got a network.

Heh - I wonder what it would cost to have a shipping container packed full and sent to the states? A lot, obviously. I'm just curious.
 
Unknown_K said:
Selling would take ages.
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Yes it would. Over a year I reckon. Which is why I was prepared to put it all in storage and have it cleaned and tested etc.. But its up to them. Just moving it would take several weeks given the location, and come at significant cost that would take a very long time to make back.
 
hunterjwizzard said:
It would be a labor of love. But if I were presented with the same opportunity I would take it. You might not make any money at it but preserving that stuff can be its own reward. Personally I'd haul it all to a storage and jsut try to move enough units to cover the rental costs. That doesn't actually sound that difficult, especially if you've got a network.

Heh - I wonder what it would cost to have a shipping container packed full and sent to the states? A lot, obviously. I'm just curious.
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Not sure about the shipping container. Probably tens of thousands. Just to get a container there would cost a truckload of cash. I did think about that and it would need to be multiple containers... the issue would also be trucks and the roads coming into it... I've given it a lot of thought and there is really no good solution. Its just a grind.
 
Simon Johnson said:
Not sure about the shipping container. Probably tens of thousands. Just to get a container there would cost a truckload of cash. I did think about that and it would need to be multiple containers... the issue would also be trucks and the roads coming into it... I've given it a lot of thought and there is really no good solution. Its just a grind.
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Any chance you can rally some local(ish) volunteers? If I lived in Australia this is absolutely the sort of thing Id take a few days off work to help with.
 
hunterjwizzard said:
Any chance you can rally some local(ish) volunteers? If I lived in Australia this is absolutely the sort of thing Id take a few days off work to help with.
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We might be able to. The problem is that its 2 days travel, there's no local accommodation, no post office, nothing. So its quite an effort and cost to get there and to stay there. I'm looking to go back in a few weeks and unbox some things and talk to the owner. They need to have a serious think about what they're going to do. I can only help guide them. I'd like to see it preserved and will do everything possible to ensure that. I'm probably one of very few people in Australia who can take on large collections like this, but its up to the owners. Its their stuff. I just want to see it preserved and go to good people who appreciate it.
 
I'd happily sleep in my car to help with this. But I am on the other side of the planet. And my ausie friends do not share my love for retro electronics.
 
hunterjwizzard said:
I'd happily sleep in my car to help with this. But I am on the other side of the planet. And my ausie friends do not share my love for retro electronics.
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Yeah I know the feeling. Will see if I can document what ends up happening. I've just finished editing Part 3 of the series and its near midnight on Sat night. So I've scheduled it to come out in about 20 hours from now. Will post the link when it's live.
 
Just remind the owners - they're probably gonna have to pay to have the stuff hauled away. Getting paid by you but it taking a bit longer is a pretty swell proposition.
 
The old printing stuff might be taken by a museum if you clean, catalog, box and ship it on your dime.

Most of that stuff is going to get landfilled because of location, condition and quantity. Your best bet is to find any rarities and sell them off.
 
Unknown_K said:
The old printing stuff might be taken by a museum if you clean, catalog, box and ship it on your dime.

Most of that stuff is going to get landfilled because of location, condition and quantity. Your best bet is to find any rarities and sell them off.
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Unfortunately museums in Australia aren’t interested in this kind of stuff. They have hardly any vintage computer stuff of significance.
 
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