[COFF] More LCM fallout

[Chris Hanson]

On Aug 30, 2024, at 3:09 PM, John Levine <johnl at taugh.com> wrote:
> 
> It appears that Dan Halbert <halbert at halwitz.org> said:
>> Late followup in this thread: here is the Christie's auction for items 
>> being auctioned off:
>> https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/firsts-history-computing-paul-g-allen-collection/lots/3726
> 
> Many of the bids are underwhelming.  KA-10 for $300, KI-10 for $400, KS-10 for $400.

Underwhelming, or reasonable?

It’s a serious pain to get a Christie’s account, plus fees & tax add about 25% on top of a bid. The only reason eBay prices for old hardware are so high right now has been a bunch of YouTubers chasing clout and treating old hardware like a Funko Pop to put on a shelf to show how cool you are.

> Somebody wants the IBM 7090, bid $11,000 but still well below the $40-$60K estimate,
> and somebody really wants the CDC 6500, bid $160,000.
> 
> All plus packing and shipping from Seattle, of course.

It doesn’t help that the kinds of people “helping” Christie’s put together their estimates are YouTubers chasing clout.

  -- Chris