A fantastic collection and restoration effort. I highly encourage a visit. I was in Seattle last year and had recently joined and pinged about maybe getting a tour. It was right before a vintage computer festival and despite being busy getting ready, Stephen, the director, encouraged me to drop in.
I would've been happy just looking (and not even touching) by myself for 15 or 20 minutes given the circumstances, but Stephen spent 1.5 hours with me in a hands-on tour, including playing Spacewar. He genuinely cares about these machines, their preservation, and spreading enthusiasm about them. I only wish I was a little closer (3 hours away in Portland) or I'd spend more time on-site helping with the effort.
Yes, I’m surprised it has not been discussed more.
I submitted this because it appears to be something of a successor to Paul Allen’s Living Computers museum which I occasionally see mentioned in comments. I think we were all disappointed at how that ended so I was relieved to see this project is carrying the torch.
ICM on a Saturday and Connections Museum on a Sunday is a delightful pairing! Close to the airport too if your just popping by on a layover, though plan on 2 to 4 hours for each
It's awesome seeing physical computing history preserved like this, especially the lesser-known enterprise machines that usually just get scrapped when a company shuts down.
That looks like a very useful way to convert one's obsession with holding on to old computers and tinkering with them to a socially-education experience.
But who will keep the keyboards clean from all of the crud that collects over the years? :-P
A fantastic collection and restoration effort. I highly encourage a visit. I was in Seattle last year and had recently joined and pinged about maybe getting a tour. It was right before a vintage computer festival and despite being busy getting ready, Stephen, the director, encouraged me to drop in.
I would've been happy just looking (and not even touching) by myself for 15 or 20 minutes given the circumstances, but Stephen spent 1.5 hours with me in a hands-on tour, including playing Spacewar. He genuinely cares about these machines, their preservation, and spreading enthusiasm about them. I only wish I was a little closer (3 hours away in Portland) or I'd spend more time on-site helping with the effort.
If you’re in the area, check out the Connections Museum too! https://www.telcomhistory.org/ConnectionsSeattle.html
Its YouTube channel has some nice video, including footage of the KL-10: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZSXexPtkcnmJ59mPoeZyGDWQ... .
Discussed (only?) once before:
The Interim Computer Museum - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37304983 - Aug 2023 (15 comments)
Yes, I’m surprised it has not been discussed more.
I submitted this because it appears to be something of a successor to Paul Allen’s Living Computers museum which I occasionally see mentioned in comments. I think we were all disappointed at how that ended so I was relieved to see this project is carrying the torch.
Somewhat related discussion about developments with the Living Computer Museum, whose collection is connected to this:
Living Computers Museum to permanently close, auction vintage items
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40789179
ICM on a Saturday and Connections Museum on a Sunday is a delightful pairing! Close to the airport too if your just popping by on a layover, though plan on 2 to 4 hours for each
It's awesome seeing physical computing history preserved like this, especially the lesser-known enterprise machines that usually just get scrapped when a company shuts down.
Hi that's fantastic collection, I love it. It actually kind of pair with a project about source code, no hardware: https://www.programmingmuseum.com/
I want to see models of Vannevar Bush's rapid analytical machine computers supplied to the proto-NSA.
See Colin Burke and Pieces of the Action
In the same vein if you're in Sydney check out the Australian Computer Museum https://acms.org.au/ https://maps.app.goo.gl/UKtUrrDpDnfAWn6d6
That looks like a very useful way to convert one's obsession with holding on to old computers and tinkering with them to a socially-education experience.
But who will keep the keyboards clean from all of the crud that collects over the years? :-P
hey great work !