Not car-specific but I do miss the days of huge paper catalogues. The multi-volume RS ones were great, but the real joy was something arcane like an optics, RF or connector company.
I was convinced to throw away my relatively small and likely valueless but prized collection to well-intentioned "decluttering" when I moved to my own house. The thing is, they actually did spark joy, as Marie Kondo would say.
Also data books. Sure, electronic formats are objectively better in nearly every sense from weight, dead tree count and Ctrl-F-ability, but nothing says you know what you're about better than a well-thumbed Philips data book.
I remember reading the data sheets for various computers, like IBM or Sun machines. I later worked for Sun, and I think those data sheets is one reason I joined.
Surely someone must have collected scans of these data sheets somewhere? I'd love to look through some of them again. There is some on bitsavers, but I'd like to see some more.
I would absolutely love that, they'd be a proud member of my "nerd shelf"! But strictly only if I'm definitely not depriving you of something at all valued!
I was convinced to throw away my relatively small and likely valueless but prized collection to well-intentioned "decluttering" when I moved to my own house. The thing is, they actually did spark joy, as Marie Kondo would say.
Also data books. Sure, electronic formats are objectively better in nearly every sense from weight, dead tree count and Ctrl-F-ability, but nothing says you know what you're about better than a well-thumbed Philips data book.