First let me answer Zappman. Since we don't want the site getting over saturated with random PC parts, we should not allow OEM PC parts to be added to the database. There's literally hundred's of thousands of unmarked OEM PC parts, and the database will get out of hand quickly. Plus it just looks plain ugly.
Second, I myself always keep the boxes to my PC parts and peripherals. They look nice in the collection, and add to the value if I ever want to re-sell the parts later down the road. Older vintage boxes from things like 3Dfx Voodoo cards are highly sought-after and difficult to come by. I actually have a Creative Labs 3D Blaster Voodoo 2 box displayed proudly above my shelf
Trip,
1.) Since we do track PC-88, Amstrad, C64 etc, I think tracking Apple computers would be very possible, since they have more of a closed Eco system. IBM
could be possible as well, but with so many different manufacturers, it could get a bit out of hand. I mean there's Gateway, Compaq, HP, Dell, Toshiba, etc. What do you think?
2.) Peripherals sound good to me. I guess just place them under the IBM PC "Accessory" category? Perhaps we could break it down even further, with new sub-categories such as "Input Devices", "Video Cards", "Media Drives", or "Components".
3.) Perhaps we should draw the line at Hardware, Peripherals, and Operating Systems. I just see things like productivity software, office software and applications getting way out of hand, and not really related to video games any way. However if there's a big enough demand, the option could always be added later on. We would need to create some new categories I believe, such as "Productivity", or "Applications".
I do believe all of this could work, but it will definitely take a lot of effort to keep things highly curated.
We already have the "swag" category, which is full of random stuff. It seems this site has gone beyond just video games.
Of course all of this is just my opinion, so I could be wrong