Just How Important Is Your Computer

Well last night I went to go to this site and the site was down around 11pm central Canada time so I couldn't have my SCF nightly fix.
This made me think what would stamp collecting be like with out the Internet. I know many here collected before the super information highway was around but for others like me the Internet is part of there life.
A world without ebay, No online forums. No Pay pal to pay for your stamps. I can post a scan of a stamps from anywhere and anyone with Internet can look at it. Would a world with no Internet effect your interest in stamp collecting.
People know have there stamps scanned and put into a virtual album for every one to see.
It wont be long till apple has a app for the IPhone maybe there already is one.

Good topic.

I collected long before computers and it was slightly different and a bit slower, but the slowness was offset by the time spent appreciating the stamps themselves, more time with the stamps, less fiddling with quick communicating.

You had time to ponder and think again and rethink and forget and remember.

I love the computer and internet for it's knowledge capacity and access to knowledge. Once you gat used to it you can find most information (on SCF! ha) you need or a proper reference to a great book rather than muddling along in the dark ages.

The sharing is a big thing also. It brings another level of enjoyment to stamps. I and everyone are exposed to lots of different ways to look at stamps and collecting and we can pick out the best for us at the time.

Who would have thought I can help some one all the way around the other side of the world? What a great thing.

I do have a nagging worry about the reawakening from a regular hibernation of our Sun in 2013 and the solar flares predicted by NASA disrupting our power, transportation and communications abilities over a number of years. But, after pondering that issue, I feel that as humans we can muddle through whatever happens and come out the other side, probably with new insights (and stamps!).

Aren't learning experiences fun!?

I remember collecting stamps only with an album, a pair of stamp tongs, a few hinges or mounts and a magnifying glass. When I wanted to buy a new stamp or stamp packet, off to the stamp store I went, or else I handwrote an order and sent away for items and anxiously awaited their arrival. That was back in day when the internet was not even thought of yet.

I don't need the magnifying glass anymore, though. Thanks to computers and scanners, I can simply scan a stamp to a high resolution and have an instant microscopic image of even the most minute detail of virtually any stamp.

It must be pretty important...my wife and I fight over it all the time !

MY PRECIOUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Since 1998 the computer has been extremely important in enhancing my stamp and cover collections....i like to go to a few big shows a year..but its mostly for the atmosphere and to rub shoulders with fellow collectors and dealers...as far as buying I do most of it online and I manage to sell some of the stuff thats too new for my collecting interest or duplicates as well !

My computer is very important to me.
Not only because of stamps, but for all the other reasons. It is a a wonderful tool for me.

I started collecting in the Internet age, and I can't imagine collecting without my computer. I track my collection in an Access database. I design my pages with Publisher. I present my collection on my website.

And come to think of it, I've never bought a stamp in person. Every acquisition I've ever made has been over the Internet, either through Internet auctions (eBay, etc.), Internet bidding for brick-and-mortar auctionhouses, or from dealers with an Internet presence.

Hi

I started collecting stamps way before computers. In those days I think acquisition of a stamp was more appreciated. To find a stamp one needed you really had to work at it. Pore over stamp listings, try to find a dealer in your specialty, scan auction catalogs, etc.. An advantage of all this, I feel, is that in the process one saw stamps that were not in one's interest area and therefore became more familiar with world=wide stamps and rarities. Today, Google "I need this" and voila its there. No need to see material of no interest. Groups like SCF are great because a wide variation of material can be seen (also the camaraderie).

The first time I used a computer for my stamps was back in the 70's. As a consultant and systems analyst I had unlimited access to a large mainframe and in between projects had some free time. So I wrote a program to inventory my stamps. There were no word processors or spreadsheet programs available so the inventory was a plain text file. The program did have edit capabilities. Over the years I have upgraded, and added, to that same program for various machines and programming languages. Before that I had printed forms for inventory.

If I lost the computer today one thing I would miss most are the "Internet friends" I have made. As far as my stamps are concerned I still have the original "hard copy" forms to fall back on.

Jerry B

This is quickly becoming the norm.

Even though I started collecting long before the internet, I'm not certain I would have returned to philately without it ... or at least to the degree I collect now. For those who enjoy the thrill of the hunt, I contend it exists, albeit in a different medium. I also believe the internet age is responsible for the re-emergence of philately as a popular hobby.

Isn't it great being on the ground floor of something big?!?

Brian

It certainly would for me. My collecting days pre-date my internet days by 20+ years, but I have no burning nostalgia for the "old days". Certainly there is easier & better access now to buying whatever it is that I think I might need, and that has its charms, but for me the biggest advantage now is the ease with which I can learn stuff.

One day I was looking through some kiloware and a common US air mail stamp commemorating Harriet Quimby caught my eye (as it may, beautiful woman that she was). A few minutes later, I knew all kinds of stuff about Harriet Quimby, things that would have taken hours to find in a library in the past. (Spoiler alert - she fell out of her airplane.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Quimby

Whether it's an Indian stamp commemorating Ramanujan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramanujan

or an Australian stamp commemorating Skyhooks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7l8rlnMpCI

or a Malaysian stamp featuring the super stinky durian

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian

there is always something interesting to learn by simply grabbing a handful of stamps and checking for info on the internet.

Ryan

Never mind the stamps.
Where would I be and what would I do without you lot !

Alone on your computer?

I would like to build on what LondonBus has said. I could still collect stamps without the internet, but I would sorely miss the access to philatelic information and personalities that I have now.

For me, nothing can beat the ctrl+F ('Find' function) while searching for stamps in my Scott catalog in pdf form... and reading up on this forum.

Ram