Yup, that's the counterfeit system that I rescued and eventually after Usagi got his first centurion system, a mutual friend of ours told him I had another. You can hear the story in his video about acquiring the counterfeit machine.
It's a story with a good ending in terms of preserving an epic past. Still, I'd really really like to know what Mr Byron's thoughts were when he, for example, bought that bulk of old IBM stock of PCjrs. Did he have a plan for re-using parts of them, like for fixing up machines that users were still using? What I'd like to know even more is, what were his thoughts on Computer Reset around 2005? Runescape 2 was in its heyday back then and I played that on a pretty basic computer for its time; there wasn't a cry for the latest thing like smartphones at that point, so maybe some people thought that old tech had a longer shelf life. But he must've been able to see much further into what the future could be holding for desktops etc; did he still have big plans even by '05?
Some questions we can only speculate about because he passed away several years ago. Other questions I know the answer to from talking with him so much over the time I knew him, or from things we've learned from people who worked closely with him. 1) PCjr's - Many schools installed PCjr's for their classrooms and computer labs, and as with all tech in schools, over the years as tech ages, it moves "downward" to lower grades. For a long time after the surplus PCjr's were purchased, he did considerable work repairing and replacing systems and parts for those machines. Additionally, believe it or not, there was still a thriving PCjr community into the 90's. He helped develop, produce, and ship upgrades for these machines as well. In the later days, the bulk of the PCjr items were only of interest to hobbyist collectors, but the massive surplus of CRTs was the main revenue stream. Many industrial machines in production use CRTs for their displays, and older ones need a CGA-style interface. As the PCjr monitor is effectively a CGA monitor, he adapted the PCjr connector and he would sell them to companies requiring replacement CRTs for their equipment. 2) The business was thriving in 2005. As always, inventory came and went, not just through repairs and sales, but also through scrap. I never fully understood Richard's reasoning on some things, but most people would think I'm lying if I told you he didn't literally keep *everything*. xD 3) Big plans... well, I know with his degrees, hobbies, and business sense, he always had big plans. He was a gentle, soft-spoken man of few words, but whether he told anyone or not, he always had big plans. For decades, it paid off. In the end, legal consulting and the U-Haul business were all that was making decent income. The bulk of the CR income was from local hobbyists willing to risk the perils to find something that inevitably Richard would say he didn't want to sell, or wouldn't come up with a price, or wouldn't accept an offer for. Sadly, he had someone "on the inside" who was telling him basically not to sell anything for less than the highest-priced listing on eBay. Some have speculated that person intended to "inherit" CR and make a fortune selling it all at eBay prices. That would have been a better option for Noelle if it didn't take a decade to accomplish, so we sold pretty much everything at less than collector's fair value.
@@TheTXDj Sir, you rock - taking the time to answer all that! It's this history of the people behind the machines that I find the most fascinating. Particularly glad to hear that all was well around '05; I had no idea about CRTs etc being desirable on that scale so late in the story. And now, everytime I hear you say PCjr in the video, I understand! : D
I'd say nearly half the people who came to buy stuff didn't live in Dallas either. We had several people come from various other countries and all over the US and Canada.
Understandably, not everyone who wanted to come could, but we had people from all over the world who came to visit and buy things: Australia, Brazil, Romania, and more.
Yes. That's the one that I picked up the same day I shot this video, and a couple years later got it to Usagi Electric so he could (hopefully) make one of the two Hawk drives work. I had known at the time this was a centurion system, but did not know about the "counterfeit" history. When he talks in his original video about that machine, that's me he was referring to. :)
This project to empty Computer Reset took right at 3 years to do. Here's a link to the recap Noelle and I did at VCF Southwest in June 2023. th-cam.com/video/yRcZOXC7NCo/w-d-xo.html
That was a trip! Thanks for posting it, and thanks to the 8-Bit Guy for downloading and copying it!
Thank you for re-posting this video. Thanks to David Murray for keeping a copy. The legend of Computer Reset lives on!
I forgot just how junked up it was until y'all did that massive cleanup and reorg.
Massive thanks to the 8-Bit Guy for saving this video - and of course, to you, DJ, and Noelle, for helping pass her father's legacy along.
Yay! It’s Dj! Good to see you, man, even if it’s 5 years ago.
Good to hear from you, Chris! Hope you're doing well!
Centurion at 28:41 !!
Yup, that's the counterfeit system that I rescued and eventually after Usagi got his first centurion system, a mutual friend of ours told him I had another. You can hear the story in his video about acquiring the counterfeit machine.
Workbenches at 10:09 live in my office and greenhouse now teehee
It's a story with a good ending in terms of preserving an epic past. Still, I'd really really like to know what Mr Byron's thoughts were when he, for example, bought that bulk of old IBM stock of PCjrs. Did he have a plan for re-using parts of them, like for fixing up machines that users were still using? What I'd like to know even more is, what were his thoughts on Computer Reset around 2005? Runescape 2 was in its heyday back then and I played that on a pretty basic computer for its time; there wasn't a cry for the latest thing like smartphones at that point, so maybe some people thought that old tech had a longer shelf life. But he must've been able to see much further into what the future could be holding for desktops etc; did he still have big plans even by '05?
Some questions we can only speculate about because he passed away several years ago. Other questions I know the answer to from talking with him so much over the time I knew him, or from things we've learned from people who worked closely with him.
1) PCjr's - Many schools installed PCjr's for their classrooms and computer labs, and as with all tech in schools, over the years as tech ages, it moves "downward" to lower grades. For a long time after the surplus PCjr's were purchased, he did considerable work repairing and replacing systems and parts for those machines. Additionally, believe it or not, there was still a thriving PCjr community into the 90's. He helped develop, produce, and ship upgrades for these machines as well. In the later days, the bulk of the PCjr items were only of interest to hobbyist collectors, but the massive surplus of CRTs was the main revenue stream. Many industrial machines in production use CRTs for their displays, and older ones need a CGA-style interface. As the PCjr monitor is effectively a CGA monitor, he adapted the PCjr connector and he would sell them to companies requiring replacement CRTs for their equipment.
2) The business was thriving in 2005. As always, inventory came and went, not just through repairs and sales, but also through scrap. I never fully understood Richard's reasoning on some things, but most people would think I'm lying if I told you he didn't literally keep *everything*. xD
3) Big plans... well, I know with his degrees, hobbies, and business sense, he always had big plans. He was a gentle, soft-spoken man of few words, but whether he told anyone or not, he always had big plans. For decades, it paid off. In the end, legal consulting and the U-Haul business were all that was making decent income. The bulk of the CR income was from local hobbyists willing to risk the perils to find something that inevitably Richard would say he didn't want to sell, or wouldn't come up with a price, or wouldn't accept an offer for.
Sadly, he had someone "on the inside" who was telling him basically not to sell anything for less than the highest-priced listing on eBay. Some have speculated that person intended to "inherit" CR and make a fortune selling it all at eBay prices. That would have been a better option for Noelle if it didn't take a decade to accomplish, so we sold pretty much everything at less than collector's fair value.
@@TheTXDj Sir, you rock - taking the time to answer all that! It's this history of the people behind the machines that I find the most fascinating. Particularly glad to hear that all was well around '05; I had no idea about CRTs etc being desirable on that scale so late in the story. And now, everytime I hear you say PCjr in the video, I understand! : D
How I wished I was there with a U-Haul truck, but... I don't live in Dallas. 😢
I'd say nearly half the people who came to buy stuff didn't live in Dallas either. We had several people come from various other countries and all over the US and Canada.
i live in Maine so it was just wishful thinking for me. i saw lots of videos from ppl.
Understandably, not everyone who wanted to come could, but we had people from all over the world who came to visit and buy things: Australia, Brazil, Romania, and more.
28:41 is this the one usagi has now?
Yes. That's the one that I picked up the same day I shot this video, and a couple years later got it to Usagi Electric so he could (hopefully) make one of the two Hawk drives work. I had known at the time this was a centurion system, but did not know about the "counterfeit" history. When he talks in his original video about that machine, that's me he was referring to. :)
@@TheTXDj awesome! thanks for saving it as a piece of history and not just scrap gold
@@sneedsfeedandseed7777 If I was looking for gold, I have about 40 lbs of CPUs that I would have scrapped instead. LOL
HEY! You’ve uploaded!
ayy! my man!
This project to empty Computer Reset took right at 3 years to do. Here's a link to the recap Noelle and I did at VCF Southwest in June 2023. th-cam.com/video/yRcZOXC7NCo/w-d-xo.html