I agree on the importance of items having local relevance.
(whoops think I forgot that item on the list of items I mentioned before)
For example, there is a picture of the "young" CEO Ed Sharpe standing
next to the hp-2000 time share system on the front page of www.smecc.org.
many people remember this computer from Maricopa Community College district
before Computer Exchange inc. acquired it as surplus.
also click on the black and white picture below it to see a view of it in
the computer room. ( from the Computer Exchange Inc. days..)
Then there is a secondary group of people that remember using it to buy time
on when it was at Computer Exchange inc.
Then of course a dear thing to me as it was our very first computer that
launched our efforts in the world of HP, so has lots of memories for me as
well.
Another interesting part of another timeshare system got saved also. It was
an HP 2116 that was the heart of the old Phoenix Union High School timeshare
system, of note was that Phoenix Union High School District was the first
High School to have such a time share system in the state of Arizona.
This processor later became the I/O processor when PUHSD upgraded the system
to eventually a 2000/F Hp time share system. Glad it was saved as it gets
admiration from many of it's old student friends that later went out into
industry and accomplished things of note.
The big horror story though is that the washing machine sized disk drive of
the MCCD 2000/F system some how became lost when the computer business
closed operations eons ago... anyone have a HP 2883 500 lb> disk drive in
the basement? <grin>
Of course there are many things we are looking to add to the computer
displays here and would always love to hear about any one else's surplus
items they need to clear out of storage.
Thanks Ed Sharpe archivist for SMECC
Please check our web site at
http://www.smecc.org
to see other engineering fields, communications and computation stuff we
buy, and by all means when in Arizona drop in and see us.
address:
coury house / smecc
5802 w palmaire ave
glendale az 85301
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nicholson/Salzberg" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2003 8:45 PM
Subject: Re: Question re. computers & contemporary collecting
> The fact of the matter is that the rate at which technology is changing is
> precisely the thing you should be considering as you decide what to
collect.
>
> I was curator responsible for technology collections at two museums, and
in
> the end, I settled on the idea that I would document the technology that
was
> important to MY geographic area. If there were hardware businesses in my
> state, then we would look at collecting significant pieces. I know that
> there are museums that are making it their business to deal with
technology.
> They are better equipped to do it than most run-of-the-mill museums.
>
> I also question the value of static technology pieces. I'm not sure that,
> with the possible exception of the gigantic room-size and supercomputers
of
> the past, a single pc sitting silently in a museum exhibit says much. And
> I'm not sure the extent to which we can fire up all of these babies in a
> gallery space.
>
> Go back to your mission, and then collect accordingly.
>
> Good luck!
>
> Claudia Nicholson
> former Curator-of-Everything-Else
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Kevin MacLean" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2003 5:33 PM
> Subject: Question re. computers & contemporary collecting
>
>
> > Our institution is soliciting advice in order to decide what course of
> > action it should take with regard to accessioning future technology
> > collections.
> >
> > Past (pre- '97) curatorial thinking was that the our facility should
limit
> > technology collecting due to the rate at which it evolves and its
> potential
> > to dominate shrinking storage space. Existing thought, however, is that
> > technology, predominately computers, have an important place in our
> cultural
> > collections. In addition, technologies are valued only as long as they
> > cutting edge, which was yesterday, with the result that objects (eg.
game
> > systems) are quickly disposed of in favour of the faster, more
impressive
> > ones. The question is where do we draw the line?
> >
> > What is the viewpoint of your facility re. contemporary collecting? Do
> you
> > have a cut-off date re. contemporary collecting and how would you
approach
> > the processing of a large computer collection? Do you have a policy
> solely
> > related to collecting the technologies which have dominated the last 25
> > years.
> >
> > Good luck answering. Kevin
> >
> > =========================================================
> > Important Subscriber Information:
> >
> > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
> http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
> information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail
message
> to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read
"help"
> (without the quotes).
> >
> > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message
to
> [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read
"Signoff
> Museum-L" (without the quotes).
>
> =========================================================
> Important Subscriber Information:
>
> The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message
to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help"
(without the quotes).
>
> If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
[log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff
Museum-L" (without the quotes).
>
>
=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:
The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).
If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
|
