Are people on CL really this dense?

[Mirage]

So, I put an ad on CraigsList looking for old videogames and computers, etc. You never know what people will dig up. I specifically stated "NOT interested in any old or newer MS-DOS/Windows based computers ("PC"'s)!" on a separate (easy to see) line.

 

In about 12 hours so far, what have I received? One reply about an Intellivision and a bunch of games (going to check that one out), 3 replies about old 2600's and about 4 games each (one guy went from wanting $180+ to $20 in 2 emails, but I just don't need another 2600 and 4 commons at any price), but surprisingly, about 30 replies so far with people with old PC's and older PC laptops!!!! Grrrrr!

 

My guess is these are younger people who aren't even aware that computers existed before DOS or even before Windows. So, I guess that's to be expected.

 

One reply was simply "I have an old computer". I replied that I needed to know what kind, or I couldn't tell anything. Almost all the responses were full of misspellings and some were nearly unintelligible also.

 

Wow.

[monzamess]

Yes.

 

Local guy keeps posting this over and over and over. FIRM! Yeah, good luck. I'm sure it would be worth double that if he still had the cartridge door!

http://macon.craigslist.org/for/948301893.html

[AtariLeaf]

Craigslist/Kijiji is a wasteland of low IQ troglodytes.

 

So to answer your question, yes.

[godslabrat]

One reply was simply "I have an old computer". I replied that I needed to know what kind, or I couldn't tell anything. Almost all the responses were full of misspellings and some were nearly unintelligible also.

 

It amazes me how people seem to think that being on the internet somehow means they don't need to put forth any effort into being understood. Between redneck gibberish and leetspeak, there's some assumption that the internet carries its own set of (very low) standards. I mean, I understand being a little more relaxed in terms of spelling or punctuation, but why INTENTIONALLY make yourself sound like a moron?

[BassGuitari]

So, I put an ad on CraigsList looking for old videogames and computers, etc. You never know what people will dig up. I specifically stated "NOT interested in any old or newer MS-DOS/Windows based computers ("PC"'s)!" on a separate (easy to see) line.

 

In about 12 hours so far, what have I received? One reply about an Intellivision and a bunch of games (going to check that one out), 3 replies about old 2600's and about 4 games each (one guy went from wanting $180+ to $20 in 2 emails, but I just don't need another 2600 and 4 commons at any price), but surprisingly, about 30 replies so far with people with old PC's and older PC laptops!!!! Grrrrr!

 

My guess is these are younger people who aren't even aware that computers existed before DOS or even before Windows. So, I guess that's to be expected.

 

One reply was simply "I have an old computer". I replied that I needed to know what kind, or I couldn't tell anything. Almost all the responses were full of misspellings and some were nearly unintelligible also.

 

Wow.

 

I think I found your ad. Are you in Waukesha?

 

I wish I'd known last week that you were looking for old games/consoles. I just got rid of a shitload of extra NES, 2600, and Odyssey 2 stuff. A few Channel F, Intellivision, Colecovision, and Atari 8-Bit cartridges too. 4 or 5 boxes of stuff I let go for probably much less than I should have. It was all mostly dirt common though (I think the rarest game was Pitfall II), so it wasn't a huge loss...and you can't even give away Odyssey 2 stuff.

 

I agree though, Craigslist is pretty retarded. And in case you're looking for a job, it's hardly even worth it to check CL...95% of it are either scams or just bullshit.

[Albert]

I've had great luck with Craigslist, both buying and selling. Yes, there are plenty of morons out there (as well as outright scammers), but they are easily avoided and/or ignored. There are morons in every aspect of life, Craigslist is not alone in harboring them.

 

..Al

[Reaperman]

So, I put an ad on CraigsList looking for old videogames and computers, etc. You never know what people will dig up. I specifically stated "NOT interested in any old or newer MS-DOS/Windows based computers ("PC"'s)!" on a separate (easy to see) line.

I got old 'puter. Winders 3 and everthing. $750.

wuz $3,995 new

[Royalshin]

Well the problem with your post is that you put DOS programs into two catergories ( old and new ) and then you mention ( PC ).

 

DOS is DOS. There is also BASIC and it's variants. You can't say old or new. Most people can't even tell the diffrence between DOS and other operating systems that is not GUI.

 

A PC just means "personal computer" and the only person who thinks a PC means "Windows Operating system" is a computer illiterate person or a "OS X user".

[BigO]

It was all mostly dirt common though (I think the rarest game was Pitfall II), so it wasn't a huge loss...and you can't even give away Odyssey 2 stuff.

Well, you could have given away Odyssey 2 stuff if you'd told me about it.

[Ze_ro]

One reply was simply "I have an old computer". I replied that I needed to know what kind, or I couldn't tell anything. Almost all the responses were full of misspellings and some were nearly unintelligible also.

It amazes me how people seem to think that being on the internet somehow means they don't need to put forth any effort into being understood. Between redneck gibberish and leetspeak, there's some assumption that the internet carries its own set of (very low) standards. I mean, I understand being a little more relaxed in terms of spelling or punctuation, but why INTENTIONALLY make yourself sound like a moron?

I find this makes for a good way of quickly separating smart and stupid people. If I have to put effort into figuring out what someone is trying to actually say, I treat the person accordingly... and I fully expect to be discriminated against in the same fashion (though I actually put some effort into my posts, using the preview button, and re-reading what I say and such). However, I'd say text messaging is doing far more to mangle the English language than anything the internet could attempt. At least if you're on the internet, chances are you have a whole keyboard at your disposal, rather than just 8 buttons on a cell phone.

 

Then again, perhaps it's a natural evolution of language as we get more and more dependant on machines as a medium....

 

--Zero

[Mirage]

Well the problem with your post is that you put DOS programs into two catergories ( old and new ) and then you mention ( PC ).

 

DOS is DOS. There is also BASIC and it's variants. You can't say old or new. Most people can't even tell the diffrence between DOS and other operating systems that is not GUI.

 

A PC just means "personal computer" and the only person who thinks a PC means "Windows Operating system" is a computer illiterate person or a "OS X user".

 

Yes, I know the difference between a 'PC' and 'Windows" etc, and that DOS can mean any number of things. And frankly, I don't think that's what's wrong with my ad. I was trying to make it dirt simple, lowest-common-denominator for people. I think anyone who does know the difference would understand what I meant, and I think that no matter what I said, those who do not know the difference would still be confused. Most average people on CL are going to think of a "PC" as a Windows/MS-DOS machine... check the Apple ads... are you a "Mac" or are you a "PC". It's standard non-geek usage.

 

And I can say old or new. I even said pre-1990. Something was either produced before then, or it wasn't, no matter what it is... I do mention a couple systems produced after 1990, but with the 1990 I was mostly referring to computers...

 

But granted, I could have worded the whole thing better, didn't put much effort into it at all, yet it's still more coherent than 90% of the other posts I see on CL, and I think definitely good enough for an averagely-intelligent person to know what I may be interested in. It's very hard for me to communicate with people who I'm pretty sure on average aren't going to know the difference between a Sega Genesis and a generic Windows box.

 

And, I'm an "OS X user", and proud to be so, and I'm quite computer literate, thanks.

Edited December 9, 2008 by Mirage1972

[Mirage]

I think I found your ad. Are you in Waukesha?

 

Yes you did, but no, I'm not really in Waukesha. Close though. I didn't want any random CL stalkers to get even that close to me! Waukesha County though.

[Mirage]

Thanks for all the responses. Not sure if it makes me feel better or worse about the world that many of you have had similar experiences. I'm just curious if anyone pulls out something truly interesting, which so far they haven't. Oh well, it was worth a shot. I may try again sometime. I ended up ignoring most of the replies, since I really can't see putting the effort into most of the unparseable one-liners. Never heard back from the Intellivision guy, but maybe he's making a list of what he has.

[monzamess]

The fact that you got any reasonable replies (like the Intellivision one) shows your ad worked. For CL, that was highly successful. Most ads ONLY get morons and spam. Just trying giving away something for FREE to really see the dregs of society.

[Mirage]

The fact that you got any reasonable replies (like the Intellivision one) shows your ad worked. For CL, that was highly successful. Most ads ONLY get morons and spam. Just trying giving away something for FREE to really see the dregs of society.

 

You're right, that does mean it was a success, good point!

 

I know there's a lot of intelligent people out there in the real world, even on the internets. This board is solid proof of that. It's just momentarily jarring to see a slice of the idiot world condensed into a flurry of 30-40 email responses in a few hours' time, hence my original post!

[Mirage]

Well the problem with your post is that you put DOS programs into two catergories ( old and new ) and then you mention ( PC ).

 

DOS is DOS. There is also BASIC and it's variants. You can't say old or new. Most people can't even tell the diffrence between DOS and other operating systems that is not GUI.

 

A PC just means "personal computer" and the only person who thinks a PC means "Windows Operating system" is a computer illiterate person or a "OS X user".

 

Wait, I just read my own ad again. Where did I put "DOS programs" into two categories old and new?

 

And I don't think I could have been any more clear than "NOT interested in any old or newer MS-DOS/Windows based computers ("PC"'s)!". I said MS-DOS (not just DOS) and put "PC" in quotes since I agree with you that that really means anything, but that's what most people call a Windows box. I think you're looking at a completely different ad. Again, could have been written better, but it doesn't have the flaws you're suggesting it has.

 

And regarding OS X... do you really have a huge problem with UNIX? (Yes, starting with Leopard, it's actually fully UNIX-compliant). You sound like one of those people who doesn't know the first thing about the modern Mac (OS X era) and just likes to hate Macs for the sake of hating them.

 

Anyway, it's been fun, but I don't think I'll bother with CL again. The chances of a good score seem too low for the effort!

[BassGuitari]

Actually, a few weeks ago I scored a nice lot of Apple II, Commodore 64, and Atari 800XL stuff for $50. There's still hope for Craigslist, if you get lucky like I did in this case; I found the ad after it only only been up for an hour, and the person lived only 10 blocks away.

 

I think there's someone in the greater Milwaukee area selling off his collections, there might be some things there you'd be interested in.

[Mirage]

Actually, a few weeks ago I scored a nice lot of Apple II, Commodore 64, and Atari 800XL stuff for $50. There's still hope for Craigslist, if you get lucky like I did in this case; I found the ad after it only only been up for an hour, and the person lived only 10 blocks away.

 

I think there's someone in the greater Milwaukee area selling off his collections, there might be some things there you'd be interested in.

 

Sounds like a nice score you got there! I've seen the lists of the collections for sale. The only one that has anything I'm even remotely interested in, the guy will only sell it altogether, and I'm not looking to have to sell off the rest... and the guy seems to want a whole lot of dough for it anyway.

 

I love this one for the "Calico Vision 2400 fir sale". Price has gone from $200 to $60, then back up to $80, and still overpriced. Maybe $60 wasn't a horrible starting point if it's nice.

Edited December 9, 2008 by Mirage1972

[Albert]

I love this one for the "Calico Vision 2400 fir sale". Price has gone from $200 to $60, then back up to $80, and still overpriced. Maybe $60 wasn't a horrible starting point if it's nice.

Maybe it's a rare prototype? Have you asked for pictures? :D

 

..Al

[Mirage]

I love this one for the "Calico Vision 2400 fir sale". Price has gone from $200 to $60, then back up to $80, and still overpriced. Maybe $60 wasn't a horrible starting point if it's nice.

Maybe it's a rare prototype? Have you asked for pictures? :D

 

..Al

 

He has pics... it's mostly a handful of 2600 games to go with the Expansion Module #1, and a few common CV games. In fairness, he does have a CV BC's Quest For Tires, but I doubt he knows that's rarer than the rest, and still isn't worth going that far (1 hour in good weather) out of my way for in this winter devastation we have unfolding here in Wisconsin.

Edited December 9, 2008 by Mirage1972

[pinball22]

I've actually had pretty good luck with stuff on Craigslist... haven't yet tried to sell anything, but have successfully bought a modded Saturn and a bunch of games, a new TV for our gameroom, and some InterMetro-style shelves for the garage. Tried to buy a box of unspecified 2600 and NES carts from a guy, too, but he kept not being home, and I got tired of bothering what seemed to be his grandmother.

[Jimmy Yakapucci]

A few months back I picked up a great deal off of CL. It was a boxed Jaguar with 10 games, most of them complete. The only problem was that it had the red screen of death. Cost me $10 and 10 minutes of my time to clean it and get it working again. Since I was buying that from him, I also picked up his other package of 2 Genesis systems and some games for another $10.

 

JY

[thrax]

I wouldn't of been surprised in a broad ad to have people with no computer knowledge to reply to your ad. Plenty of people buy and sell things without any knowledge of said products. For example sometimes relatives sell things off on behalf of other relatives who cannot (i.e. elderly, passed away etc.).

 

Also i would expect that people requested items would get replies that are much higher than the product is worth, afterall you are requesting it impling you want it.

 

I have used CL for years and find just like in regular life you will get the broad spectrum from uneducated to PHDs.

[Lord Thag]

I know someone who got 60 or so Neo GEo AES cats *including* Metal Slug for $100 of CL. The idiocy works both ways

[yuppicide]

Some people use Craigslist to f--- with you. They make you drive about 30 minutes and sit in the parking lot probably laughing.

 

I've tried to meet up with some dude at a bowling alley, dude never showed.