Here's to the sociopaths who keep the universe running

Trailhead: Steve Kupferman. "Don't Piss Off Bradley, the Parts Seller Keeping Atari Machines Alive". Vice (2021-06-15).

This guy's business style is not my style—not someone I would want to be like, not someone I'd like to buy from. However, there is a part of me that likes his style. The subject of the article has the best—and it goes without saying, practically only—collection of unused original replacement Atari parts. And he is an absolutely weird tyrant about it. No need for me to repeat how or why—just read the story for that.

Perhaps it takes someone with strange tendencies like that to even conceive of such a market... and then to get in there and acquire the supply against any kind of common sense... and keep the demand fulfilled for decades. Something like Atari is practically ancient history. The existing supply is the supply. It is a nonrenewable resource. It is only for hobbyists and collectors. It is a fringe market. Of course it would attract a fringe character to support it.

Perhaps there is hope: there is a long tail out there somewhere waiting for you to provide what it's looking for. Maybe the thing that you're a crank about is it. The common advice is to do what you love. Maybe a twisted version would be more like: do what you love to hate other people doing wrong.

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