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WHAT,

If Anything,

Is Your

Old Technology

WORTH?

By Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher

onsumers born after 1980 have no memory of a world
without cellphones, home computers, or personal gaming
Cdevices. The speed from introduction to mass adoption of
these now everyday products in basically a 40-year period of time is
astonishing; however, consumer demand for the latest and greatest
continues to push developers and manufacturers to constantly feed the
market with new, next-generation products and technologies offering
enhanced capabilities and increased functionality. It also renders
obsolete everything that came before, dumping millions of unused
electronics products into the resale
market and landfills across the country.
Yet, as in all things collectible,
nostalgia can breathe new interest and
value into our discarded past. It would At left: The Insanely Great History of Apple poster
appear that computers, video games, sold for $910 at Julien’s Auctions in March, 2023.
cellphones, and other hardware and
software technology are no different from and Julien’s Auctions. Vintage technology,
any other collectible, and has decades and so it would seem, is now a thing.
millions of items upon which to build a In March 2023, Julien’s Auctions in
collection and tell a story. Beverly Hills, CA, better known for their
Consider the following: 2.32 billion celebrity and Hollywood memorabilia
iPhones have been sold since Steve Jobs auctions, held “The Apples” auction of more
introduced the very first model in 2007; than 500 lots from The Hanspeter Luzi
97% of Americans own a cellphone of Vintage Apple Archive of Apple computers
some kind; 74% of Americans own a and products produced from 1977-2008.
desktop or laptop computer; and from While everything from floppy disks and
the introduction of the Nintendo Game manuals to joysticks, printers, and external
& Watch in 1980 to the Nintendo hard drives sold in the affordable range of
Switch introduced in 2021, over one $100-$500 to be able to own an early piece
billion Nintendo gaming consoles have of the Apple story, some items far exceeded
been sold in the U.S. market alone. And auction estimates.
that’s just the tip of the technology iceberg. This type of collector auction, the recent
Then consider some recent auction interest in vintage technology, and recent
prices and the number of familiar auction auction prices for vintage gaming, personal
house names now building a market in computers, and communications hardware
the video gaming, communications, and and software at sales held across the country
personal computing segments, including and around the world has the full attention
Heritage Auctions, RR Auctions, Hakes, of collectors, technology buffs, and auction
LCG Auctions, Auction Team Breker, houses hedging their bets on the next rising

24 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles