Walkmac

[pinto_guy]

I now have some credible information that he passed away in September 2018

 

[JDW]

@pinto_guy Were you hired, directly or indirectly, by the family of Chuck Colby to liquidate some or all of his estate?

 

[cheesestraws]

@pinto_guy Were you hired, directly or indirectly, by the family of Chuck Colby to liquidate some or all of his estate?

I'm not convinced that enquiring forcefully about someone's employment or hiring on the Internet is either polite or good behaviour.  This post comes across as aggressive, and if I were on the receiving end of it, it would make me extremely disinclined to give you any information at all.

 

[JDW]

@cheesestraws Aggressiveness is in the eye of the beholder.  For example, your own post takes a rather aggressive stance against mine, despite the fact that I have been a long term veteran of this forum (from it's very beginning, actually) and am asking a simple question.  

Asking how someone rather new to this forum came to have access to a famous-yet-deceased person's possessions is a legitimate question.  It is rather bold and direct, perhaps, but legitimate nonetheless.  

No one is suggesting the merchandise was stolen, but I am curious about the connection to the Colby family, as it would have taken their consent for the sale of these items to have happened.  

Chuck Colby was a CSU Fresno Alumni, and that is my Alma Mater too. Like Colby, I was in the engineering program.  I have followed his inventions through the years.  I am not a friend of the family, but I am interested in knowing details. It is no crime to ask.  Indeed, many questions in life remain unanswered only because we are too timid and silly to just ask.  Ask and ye shall receive.

 

[cheesestraws]

For example, your own post takes a rather aggressive stance against mine, despite the fact that I have been a long term veteran of this forum (from it's very beginning, actually) and am asking a simple question.  

Oh, I forgot that people who have been around in a group for a long time can't possibly be rude or misbehave.  How remiss of me for insufficiently respecting my elders.

 

[Daniël]

I'm not convinced that enquiring forcefully about someone's employment or hiring on the Internet is either polite or good behaviour.  This post comes across as aggressive, and if I were on the receiving end of it, it would make me extremely disinclined to give you any information at all.

I agree. It's also not the first time he's done this, either to other posters or the admins. While I'm guilty of the latter as well (which I still regret), it's even worse to do it to your fellow 68kMLA'ers, no matter how veteran or noob.

 

[JDW]

Oh, I forgot that people who have been around in a group for a long time can't possibly be rude or misbehave.  How remiss of me for insufficiently respecting my elders.

Do you honestly consider your reaction to what I wrote the very “polite and good behavior” style of writing you suggested was lacking in my own writing?

Whether someone is new or old to this forum does matter because trust is earned. That is not a new concept.

Lastly, I abide by “do unto others as you would have done unto you.” If I was rather new to a forum in the same situation, I would happily answer the question and be done with it.

If he wishes not to answer my question, he has every right not to answer.

 

[cheesestraws]

I agree. It's also not the first time he's done this, either to other posters or the admins.

No, quite.  Thanks for corroboration.

 

[JDW]

No, quite.  Thanks for corroboration.

And now we have you two gentlemen choosing to gang up on me for simply having asked a simple and quite innocent question that neither of you would have asked. Wherefore art thou, Diversity of Thought?

 

[Byrd]

Surely, as a "forum veteran", you'd understand that asking for personal, sensitive information about a deceased person in a public forum is inappropriate.

 

[cheesestraws]

Wherefore art thou, Diversity of Thought?

'Wherefore' means 'why', not 'where'.  In the famous scene in R&J, Juliet is noting with despair that if Romeo had any other name, none of the disaster would be happening, hence 'wherefore art thou Romeo' (as opposed to someone else who wouldn't matter)

 

[Cory5412]

@JDW - this line of inquiry is inappropriate and I will put a warning on your account if you continue it.

 

[JDW]

@JDW - this line of inquiry is inappropriate and I will put a warning on your account if you continue it.

Cory,

Thank you for your message. I apologize for any offense. It was not my intent to cause a problem. I am actually bewildered by all the negative responses.

With the aim of avoiding similar trouble in the future, I would greatly appreciate knowing why my simply asking about the source of vintage computing equipment sold on EBAY and announced in our forum, originally having been owned by a famous person who attended my university alma mater, is deemed “inappropriate”?

Had the question been asked of me, I would have answered it, even if I had to say, “I am not at liberty to divulge that information.”

Thank you,

James

 

[JDW]

Yes olePigeon, it was on Craigslist. I'm making progress reviving it. I'll update soon.

I sincerely apologize for my own foolishness. I reread this entire thread and saw that olePigeon asked the same question I did and got the answer! That’s all I was wondering.

Thanks, and sorry for the confusion. I’ll try harder to read all the Q&A before posting in the future!

 

[Jinnai]

I think the reaction against JDW is a little bit strong. While it is inappropriate to ask, he was just curious and asked a blunt question, so the response I see here was not in kind.

 

[CC_333]

I agree with @Jinnai.

It was perhaps a bit too blunt and personal to be appropriate for the open forum, but it was nevertheless an innocent, perfectly legitimate question, although if it were I who was asking, I probably would've done so privately to altogether avoid the risk of what happened here today.

Hopefully all who were involved learned something and can better handle this kind of situation in the future....

c

 

[pinto_guy]

How many years does it take to NOT be a newbie on this forum ? I've been posting here since 2014  :mellow:

Anyway, many thanks to everyone for their support. @JDW, I did feel that you were a bit forward and inquisitive and I much appreciate your apology. But to be fair, the drama that ensued bothered me more than your initial post.

This was never my intention to hide how I got  involved in this. A few months back, I did inquire about a sale of 400 boxes from the Colby estate, from a Craigslist ad. I met with the owner who was a friend of Chuck's, and who purchased his home on Alexis drive in Palo Alto. These boxes were found in a container at the house. Two more vintage computing enthusiasts were there, and the three of us offered to help the owner (who is not a techie) sort through all the boxes. I further offered to help clean, fix and sell some of it for him. In the process, we found hundreds of documents pertaining to Colby's businesses (he had several throughout his life), and even personal items. Our goal now is to preserve his legacy, and give him the recognition that he deserves.

I'd be happy to discuss some more privately, so please PM if you want more details.

 

[pinto_guy]

Well, the "Apple Muzeum" in Poland did not waste any time after they received the Walkmac that they bought off our eBay auction. See their blog here

Good to see that Chuck Colby's legacy is expanding overseas

 

[JDW]

Well, the "Apple Muzeum" in Poland did not waste any time after they received the Walkmac that they bought off our eBay auction. See their blog here

Wow. A great write-up and set of photos on their website.  Thanks for sharing!

 

[pinto_guy]

@JDW, as we discussed privately, I have been in touch with Karen Colby, Chuck Colby's widow. She is a great woman, and she has been very supportive of our effort to rehabilitate these rare pieces of hardware. She actually was very much hands on in the business, quite a change from her original education as a medical nurse. She confirmed the date when Chuck passed away, on Sep 22, 2018. She also indicated that he had requested privacy, which explains why the vintage computing community at large did not know that he had passed.

The last piece of Colby's hardware that was left for me to restore was a MacColby. This one took a while but I got it done (see photo). Karen actually mentioned that this very piece was her's and Chuck Colby's personal system, and this makes it very precious to us. I took some video snippets of this system, which I will put on youtube at some point.

Happy New Year to all who have been commenting on this thread. It's great to communicate with such a nice group of people who share the same passion.