[geeks] Princeton Surplus Haul...

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

On Thu, Nov 16, 2006 at 11:27:42PM +0000, Mark Benson wrote:
> You're kidding right? I'm falling over the damn things here, I have  
> so many that I left the one I got new in the box from a radio rallye  
> in the box, still sealed, for posterity. Admittedly a lot of mine are  
> AAUI but I have never really had an issue finding the transceivers  
> for that either (I currently have 5 and only use 2 AAUI machines at  
> most :o) ).

No I'm not kidding. 

> 
> At the time of new-ness, they were very expensive but large Mac- 
> oriented companies/orgs bought them in volume at discount so there  
> are plenty around if you turn over the right rocks (for example the  
> LowEndMac swap list).

As you said when they were new, they were expensive. Now they are cheap,
but they might as well be on the dark side of the moon. The shipping would
be far more than the cards and if you import more than two you have
to go to the customs office and show your permit and give a tax number.


> Well thats not quite the same, the SE and SE/30 use PDS (Processor  
> Direct Slot) not NuBus, and also unlike NuBus card it is custom made  
> to fit the machine it's intended for, pushing the price way up, and  
> the relative availability down. I am very fortunate to have been  
> given one for my SE/30 and cherish it like gold dust.

Actually, they were not much more, this was when the SE/30 and ethernet
were new. 

> I'd bet around half the NuBus 68k boxes I've got have had NuBus  
> ethernet cards in already.

You must get them from business. Here there were few Macs sold and the
were not networked. Around 1990 the taxes on a computer were about 140
percent. 

> Like I said above I think it's more a case of you being unlucky ;o)  
> That and you are also not exactly in a Mac hotbed where you are now.

No, Macs are rare items even today. But in the early 1990's I was
in Philly.


> 
> > I had a Franklin. :-)
> 
> ... and I was just a twinkle in my daddy's eye I'll guess... :o)

Circa 1985. Also had around that time a C64, A single board CPM system with
a hard drive (5m) and then later a Zenith PC/AT clone. 8mHz cpu, 1m RAM,
20m hard drive, EGA.

Geoff. 

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