Transparent Mac SE
Maybe it's the quality of the photos, but this one looks a little beat-up. Not all the inserts are clear either, like the one on this site: http://www.regnirps.com/SEF/seitem.htm
Were there any other clear compacts made? I could see a clear Classic looking pretty sharp.
Were there any other clear compacts made? I could see a clear Classic looking pretty sharp.
There were transparent CCs. I've seen pictures of them in green.
EDIT: Here it is: http://myoldmac.net/cgi-data/gal/thumbnails.php?album=69
EDIT: Here it is: http://myoldmac.net/cgi-data/gal/thumbnails.php?album=69
I kind of don't buy the whole "transparent for fit-check" explanation. A lot of times molds are designed for one specific polymer type, and there are other ways of ensuring proper clearances, such as doing partial cross-sections. When designing a prototype mold, you would want to shoot parts with the exact polymer since there could be defects that you may not catch such as shrinkage, sink marks, stress cracks, etc. It seems like it would take more time to shoot transparent parts, then texture the mold and shoot more of them with the real polymer for final confirmation. They may have been looking into developing a transparent case concept at that time since clear cases for electronics was a fad in the 80's.
Butt ugly. However, if it sells at that price point, then it becomes a different matter altogether.
It's possible to get a plastic mold of this size made in Taiwan for about US$12,000, perhaps a bit less at a factory in mainland China. And with such a mold mold, you could inject any kind of plastic you want, whether clear, semi-clear or colored. A nice way to get a ROI and turn a respectable profit too. Sell only a couple of these a year at $25k, pump the word "rare," and no one will be the wiser on EBAY. Apple logos are easy to scavenge from cheap Apple equipment on EBAY.
That doesn't mean this particular auction is a SCAM. But anyone wanting to make a buck could create such a scam rather easily, especially if they are already in the Asian manufacturing industry.
All said, I would advise my wealthy friends here on the 68kMLA to never bid on something like this. Save up for an original Apple I instead. Or better, if you have that much disposable income, buy an original Apple I for a poor Apple lover like me instead.
It's possible to get a plastic mold of this size made in Taiwan for about US$12,000, perhaps a bit less at a factory in mainland China. And with such a mold mold, you could inject any kind of plastic you want, whether clear, semi-clear or colored. A nice way to get a ROI and turn a respectable profit too. Sell only a couple of these a year at $25k, pump the word "rare," and no one will be the wiser on EBAY. Apple logos are easy to scavenge from cheap Apple equipment on EBAY.
That doesn't mean this particular auction is a SCAM. But anyone wanting to make a buck could create such a scam rather easily, especially if they are already in the Asian manufacturing industry.
All said, I would advise my wealthy friends here on the 68kMLA to never bid on something like this. Save up for an original Apple I instead. Or better, if you have that much disposable income, buy an original Apple I for a poor Apple lover like me instead.
Bidding $25K for a Mac SE has nothing to do with balls.I wonder who has the balls enough here to place a bid for that.
I would suggest that bidding $25K for an SE, regardless of history and a transparent case, is a matter of marbles.
Confusing balls, marbles, and $25K is reason enough for at least 48 hours of psych evaluation in a respectable facility.
$25K is a bit high IMO, especially since there are approximately 20 of these out there.
I did contact the seller in regards to my prototype, which is, to date, the only known example of a non-translucent SE prototype (with an untexturized case, no port marks, no Apple logo, a Mac 128K/512K/Plus brightness knob, and a manufacture date of November 1986 written on a yellow label, not Apple's standard serial label system). Given that he worked in Apple R&D, I am hoping he will have the details we have all been waiting for about this machine. (I have had this prototype for nearly three years but as of today have no real leads about its origins or the number of surviving machines like it in the wild today).
If this translucent computer, of which many are known, is worth $25K, consider me a millionaire. However, I seriously doubt any Mac is really worth that much, and still feel the winner of the recent Apple I auction got robbed.
Those of you using inappropriate terms need to remember to keep things civil and suitable for all ages on this board.
I did contact the seller in regards to my prototype, which is, to date, the only known example of a non-translucent SE prototype (with an untexturized case, no port marks, no Apple logo, a Mac 128K/512K/Plus brightness knob, and a manufacture date of November 1986 written on a yellow label, not Apple's standard serial label system). Given that he worked in Apple R&D, I am hoping he will have the details we have all been waiting for about this machine. (I have had this prototype for nearly three years but as of today have no real leads about its origins or the number of surviving machines like it in the wild today).
If this translucent computer, of which many are known, is worth $25K, consider me a millionaire. However, I seriously doubt any Mac is really worth that much, and still feel the winner of the recent Apple I auction got robbed.
Those of you using inappropriate terms need to remember to keep things civil and suitable for all ages on this board.
Really? Balls, inappropriate? What are we, kindergarten students? :beige:
I'm perfectly well-minded, thank you very much. Perhaps it is you who should clear the crap out of your head.
Btw, $25 000 is clearly not worth it for this machine. If I had the proper capital, I would rather invest in this:
Not sure if this is still being advertised, btw, but it's still a pretty sight (and it would sure complete anyone's collection).
Well, I doubt that every computer is in non-working condition. There must be about a couple of dozen that truly work (I'm only counting the compacts here), which is probably more than anyone will ever need.
In addition, I think the objective here would be to create a museum, and not sell everything back on eBay, etc (unless the computer was in really bad condition, but then again, the parts for it may still be useful for another identical computer).
Bottom line- there's a monsoon of possibilities with such a purchase, and I would doubt it would strictly be for "hoarding" purposes.
Why would a museum want 30 copies of the same model SE for example? Who is going to caugh up the $10K to buy it and store it?
I would rather snag a collection with multiple machines but not all the same model then a hoard of many multiples of the same model. I just don't see the economics of buying that hoard. For example lets say you had 100 stock SE/30's and they all worked. You could probably average $50 each by selling 8 a month (2 per week) for about a year hauling in $5000. That average is because the first few will sell for more but sooner or later everyone who wants a SE/30 will have one and others will put it off since there are allwasy at least 2 for sale any given week). This means you have to clean and prep for shipping 2 units a week for a year and all those packing materials come out of your cashflow. You also would need to stack those machines somewhere dry and cool for that time period. Now if many of those compacts are plain SE's expect to get quite a bit less, a few might be CC's so you get a bunch more, and some might have CPU or network upgrades you can sell seperate. Then you have broken machines needing work or ones that look like hell so wont sell and they need recycled. What is your time worth?
The present owner probably has an idea how hard it would be to sell that stuff individually and how much effort it would take which is why he is throwing the $10K price out there to see if anyone is interested before it gets recycled. Anyone here who has/had a nice collection without too many duplicates and had to ditch it in a hurry knows how hard that is and how you probably don't get what you think it is worth and many systems are given away free just to get them out of the way. My collection took the better part of 10 years to collect, and would probably take as long to get rid off if I ever got bored of it and wanted my money back. Hopefully selling the rare and prized material would counter what it costs to dispose of the rest (if there is still a market for old useless computers at that point).
I would rather snag a collection with multiple machines but not all the same model then a hoard of many multiples of the same model. I just don't see the economics of buying that hoard. For example lets say you had 100 stock SE/30's and they all worked. You could probably average $50 each by selling 8 a month (2 per week) for about a year hauling in $5000. That average is because the first few will sell for more but sooner or later everyone who wants a SE/30 will have one and others will put it off since there are allwasy at least 2 for sale any given week). This means you have to clean and prep for shipping 2 units a week for a year and all those packing materials come out of your cashflow. You also would need to stack those machines somewhere dry and cool for that time period. Now if many of those compacts are plain SE's expect to get quite a bit less, a few might be CC's so you get a bunch more, and some might have CPU or network upgrades you can sell seperate. Then you have broken machines needing work or ones that look like hell so wont sell and they need recycled. What is your time worth?
The present owner probably has an idea how hard it would be to sell that stuff individually and how much effort it would take which is why he is throwing the $10K price out there to see if anyone is interested before it gets recycled. Anyone here who has/had a nice collection without too many duplicates and had to ditch it in a hurry knows how hard that is and how you probably don't get what you think it is worth and many systems are given away free just to get them out of the way. My collection took the better part of 10 years to collect, and would probably take as long to get rid off if I ever got bored of it and wanted my money back. Hopefully selling the rare and prized material would counter what it costs to dispose of the rest (if there is still a market for old useless computers at that point).
Ah for Christ's sake.
Honestly Unknown_K, what's better- $25 000 on one transparent SE (which probably has a gazillion issues), or $10 000 on a whole shitload of rare & vintage computers?
And honestly, why the hell would I invest $10 000 in computers just to become bored with them 5 years down the road? I would have to be a real asshole to commit to such capital, then drop it. It's all about commitment, and I personally doubt that anyone who would purchase this set would become "bored" by it. Would you become bored by it?
And why would I want to sell them soon after I purchase them? Obviously if I were to get this set, I would do so with a very adequate amount of income, not enough just to get by, or put me in a crap-load of debt. Even if I were to sell some off (after having gone through them, which may take a few years), the cost of these computers is only going to go up because every year people throw vintage things out (and the fact that vintage computer collecting is becoming an increasingly popular hobby. After all, this is the information age. Collecting computers is the equivalent to collecting baseball cards 50 years ago, although this is much more expensive in some cases). I figure that in the next 10 years, the Plus (which there is currently quite a few available for) will be almost impossible to find, either because those who do have one (or two, or three) will not sell them, and if they do, they will ask a big premium for them.
Bottom line- this would be something that I would devote the rest of my life to (given the opportunity). Besides, whatever I don't want, or need, I can always inform fellow 68k members about on the trading post. Our role here is to preserve, maintain, and sell vintage computers. I'm not sure what yours is, but clearly you sound like a person with dollar signs in mind when purchasing vintage computers. Get over it. Either you enjoy what you do, or you don't. To each his own.
I'll leave it at that.
Honestly Unknown_K, what's better- $25 000 on one transparent SE (which probably has a gazillion issues), or $10 000 on a whole shitload of rare & vintage computers?
And honestly, why the hell would I invest $10 000 in computers just to become bored with them 5 years down the road? I would have to be a real asshole to commit to such capital, then drop it. It's all about commitment, and I personally doubt that anyone who would purchase this set would become "bored" by it. Would you become bored by it?
And why would I want to sell them soon after I purchase them? Obviously if I were to get this set, I would do so with a very adequate amount of income, not enough just to get by, or put me in a crap-load of debt. Even if I were to sell some off (after having gone through them, which may take a few years), the cost of these computers is only going to go up because every year people throw vintage things out (and the fact that vintage computer collecting is becoming an increasingly popular hobby. After all, this is the information age. Collecting computers is the equivalent to collecting baseball cards 50 years ago, although this is much more expensive in some cases). I figure that in the next 10 years, the Plus (which there is currently quite a few available for) will be almost impossible to find, either because those who do have one (or two, or three) will not sell them, and if they do, they will ask a big premium for them.
Bottom line- this would be something that I would devote the rest of my life to (given the opportunity). Besides, whatever I don't want, or need, I can always inform fellow 68k members about on the trading post. Our role here is to preserve, maintain, and sell vintage computers. I'm not sure what yours is, but clearly you sound like a person with dollar signs in mind when purchasing vintage computers. Get over it. Either you enjoy what you do, or you don't. To each his own.
I'll leave it at that.
Hey, if you want to start an all-out thread war, be my guest. We are all entitled to our own opinions. You spend your money accordingly, and I will spend mine accordingly.
Btw, my online name "Concorde1993" refers to the 1993 Chrysler Concorde, which happens to be one of my favourite "practical" cars. Clearly you failed mathematics, because if you bothered to look at my user profile, I am 18, not 17. So I guess I will have to spoon-feed you here: 2010 - 1992 = 18, whereas 2010 - 1993 = 17.
Thanks for the tip, MacJunky.
Personal opinion (if I may)- I think this thread is done. Nobody wants to spend $25k on a transparent-case Mac (although, realistically, who would?) and the $10k "museum" only appears to draw out the worst in us (but it's probably too close to tell/judgmental). Which begs two questions: what are people willing to spend on a single/group of Macs & for how long are they going to remain committed to their hobby? And if this has been answered/discussed before, my apologizes, as I have only been a member on this forum for nearly 3 months.
I have been collecting computers since 2000/2001 or so, not sure if that would be called dedication or just crazy. Probably sunk a decent amount of cash into it also, but havn't spent more then $100 or so for any one item (and half that was shipping). Getting a few items at a time gives you some time to mess with them and enjoy them, a warehouse worth at one time is just a headache. People also evolve, I am collecting things now I would have passed up on 5 years ago. Things get boring after a while if you just have one system or even one manufacturer. You also get to appreciate the older systems more when you compare them to what else was out at the same time.
Mac networks are very usefull for moving files around between systems and from/to a server. It just makes support easier and more centralized. I keep drivers and misc files/utils on the server and grab them as needed (serves all my systems not just macs). Who do you think network cards for SE and SE/30 are so popular (its not just for the WWW which is mostly useless on a 68000)?
Somebody who really wants a rarity will spend as much as they have too for it, collecting is not that rational to be honest. The guy who spent $200K on an Apple I probably spent very little of their net worth for it, compared to a kid who saved up for a IIfx or 840AV from ebay (its all relative). There are people here that spent a ton on making the ultimate SE/30 and then selling the parts off because of money issues a few months later.
Mac networks are very usefull for moving files around between systems and from/to a server. It just makes support easier and more centralized. I keep drivers and misc files/utils on the server and grab them as needed (serves all my systems not just macs). Who do you think network cards for SE and SE/30 are so popular (its not just for the WWW which is mostly useless on a 68000)?
Somebody who really wants a rarity will spend as much as they have too for it, collecting is not that rational to be honest. The guy who spent $200K on an Apple I probably spent very little of their net worth for it, compared to a kid who saved up for a IIfx or 840AV from ebay (its all relative). There are people here that spent a ton on making the ultimate SE/30 and then selling the parts off because of money issues a few months later.
A networked system would provide the ability to transfer documents from one Mac to the next. This is most valuable especially if a floppy drive on a Mac with an integrated HD no longer functions, and still has valuable data on it. The user could simply communicate with that Mac over a ethernet-based server, or modem, and transfer data to-and-from each Mac.
In addition, this setup would probably make the "museum" more organized & efficient.
I was looking for SE goodies and saw this auction, with 25k price. Collectible? Yes - but not that collectible.
For 25k$ I could certainly have a beautiful case fabricated for my SE. And/or buy any number of other dream computers. ISPW? Symbolics? Onyx3000? A new Buchla modular synth? >sigh<
For 25k$ I could certainly have a beautiful case fabricated for my SE. And/or buy any number of other dream computers. ISPW? Symbolics? Onyx3000? A new Buchla modular synth? >sigh<
I find some of these comments incredibly funny from a mostly "have-not" crowd.
There's a big difference between a collector who wants the authentic original of something rather than a guy who just likes "toys" with a nostalgic bent. it's the difference between a person who pays $800K for a historic Victorian which has no modern conveniences and restoring it to it original condition, vs. someone else who might spend that much to build a brand new Victorian-style home wired with the latest electronics and modern conveniences, built with modern materials requiring much less upkeep. Or the guy who buys an original 1964 1/2 Mustang and restores it vs. Some billionaire who has a brand new 1964 1/2 body custom fabricated around a modern chassis and engine with all the latest gadgets on the interior, just because he can.
It's apples and oranges. These two worlds rarely understand each other, and I see nothing is different here. :beige:
There's a big difference between a collector who wants the authentic original of something rather than a guy who just likes "toys" with a nostalgic bent. it's the difference between a person who pays $800K for a historic Victorian which has no modern conveniences and restoring it to it original condition, vs. someone else who might spend that much to build a brand new Victorian-style home wired with the latest electronics and modern conveniences, built with modern materials requiring much less upkeep. Or the guy who buys an original 1964 1/2 Mustang and restores it vs. Some billionaire who has a brand new 1964 1/2 body custom fabricated around a modern chassis and engine with all the latest gadgets on the interior, just because he can.
It's apples and oranges. These two worlds rarely understand each other, and I see nothing is different here. :beige:
I consider myself neither a collector, nor a nostalgia freak - I use many computers, many of them old. I choose to run a lot of old software, run it natively, and be productive with it.
So yes, when I could really USE a bit of old tech, versus a collector paying thousands for it to decorate their closet or a shelf somewhere, I do scoff. The have vs have-not dichotomy considers old tech as only an object to be possessed which a person may or not afford. It does not address the computer as a tool. Unfortunately since my category would be in the minority, it is unfortunate that the old tech market can be driven be those who are willing to pay big bucks for a mass-produced conversation piece - it isn't practical.
If people have thousands to spend on a cultural investment, consider spending it on independent artists instead of factory-produced electronics. I would rather spend $1k-$2k on a freaky painting or several than a PITA TAM, but YMMV.