[tech] [ucc] BeBoxen

[Felix von Perger]

Hi all!

The committee has discussed the issue of selling the BeBoxen, and we 
agree that it is not necessary to sell them. The club is not in any 
financial crisis and the selling these rare machines would indeed leave 
the club without some of its most unusual and interesting machines.

The focus, in my view, should be more about removing the bulk of 
relatively ordinary "junk" from the clubroom and preserving what is 
worth keeping for future generations to be able to play with.

Please keep up to date with the series /Project "What is this thing?" 
/sent to tech at ucc.asn.au if you are interested.

As for making such items of interest to current members; we can perhaps 
try to make them more easily accessible. In any case, getting them out 
on a regular-ish basis to have a play with them is a good start.

Kind regards,

Felix von Perger
UCC Secretary 2018


On 31/05/18 05:26, Mark Tearle wrote:
> I too have similar feelings about this adventure.   It does feel like this is a moment of "selling the family silver".   What is the crisis that is driving this decision?
>
> They are a unique item of hardware, unlike some of UCC's other older computers.  I still have some regrets about dragging mullet down the stairs....
>
> That said, how can we make it of interest to the current generation of members?
>
> Mark
> --
> Mark Tearle <mtearle at ucc.asn.au>
>
> On Mon, 28 May 2018, at 12:48 PM, Elliot Nunn wrote:
>> Fellow UCCans!
>>
>> I joined this club six years ago, as a very shy but time-rich fresher.
>> When I found the clubroom one of the first things I noticed near the
>> door was a blue box fronted by a Doric column. "Is that a BeBox?" I
>> enquired timidly. "Yes", came the reply. I signed up at once.
>>
>> A month later:
>>
>>> Hello fellow UCCers.
>>>
>>> I have an interest in old computers, so I was duly impressed when I saw a pair of BeBoxen stashed in the corner of the clubroom. I would like to see these up and running! Could someone please indulge this fresher with some idea of the history of the machines, and especially whether they are "broken" or not? I would be most grateful.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> elliotnunn.
>> You will understand, then, why I was disappointed to hear that these
>> irreplaceable computers are soon to be flogged off.
>>
>> Interesting people, working on interesting computers, combine to make
>> this club *work*. Each one attracts the other. Lesser societies become
>> defunct not because they are a few bucks short (we certainly are not),
>> but because they fail to offer something that their members cannot find
>> at home. If we sacrifice our unique birthright for a "mess of pottage",
>> then we take a decisive step in this direction.
>>
>> Contrary to the minuted assertion of one committee member, these
>> machines are *not* "rusting away". Members have carefully maintained
>> them in working order. Were this not true, I would probably not be an
>> UCC member.
>>
>> Kind regards to all,
>>
>> Elliot Nunn
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