Living Computer Museum Opens To Public In Seattle

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Living Computer Museum Opens To Public In Seattle

Posted by Soulskill on Friday October 26, 2012 @06:46AM from the not-to-be-confused-with-a-laundromat dept.

New submitter seawall writes "Paul Allen just opened the Living Computer Museum in Seattle. The 'Living' means many of the computers are actually running. There's a Xerox Sigma 9, which was introduced in 1971 and is quite similar to the computer that sent the first signal over Arpanet. There's also Tops-10 on original DEC hardware, an operating TOAD-1 system, and a DEC PDP-7 that's one of only four in the world."

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Great.. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-26 06:52 · Score: 3, Funny

..some other idiot who refuses to upgrade his computers but will probably still want customer support.
it better be a free museum by Spy+Handler · 2012-10-26 06:54 · Score: 2, Insightful

otherwise it's gonna be like, totally empty.
1. Re:it better be a free museum by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-26 07:05 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Admissions:
  General - $5
  Student - $2
  Senior - $2
  Active Military - $2
  Child (under 12) - Free
2. Re:it better be a free museum by SB9876 · 2012-10-26 08:18 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  If you're looking for a place to visit in Seattle, I think your time would be better spent here:
  http://museumofcommunications.org/
  Their hours are really weird but it's the best museum (and one of the best kept secrets) in Seattle. They've got a gigantic collection of old (early 20th century) telephone switching gear that is operational and available for viewing. The oldest is a nearly completely mechanical computer that Babbage would have probably been at home working on.
  The best part of the MoC, though is the docents. It's staffed by a bunch of *old* school engineers in their 70-90s that were all Ma Bell lifers. I've had one of them walk me through the use and repair of an old crossbar switching system and the sheer volume of knowledge that those engineers had to have is mind-blowing. The docents are more than happy to spend a few hours one-one one with you and I guarantee you'll get far more out of your time at this place than Paul Allen's museum.
3. Re:it better be a free museum by idontgno · 2012-10-26 09:06 · Score: 2
  
  That's all very nice... but the systems in the museum in TFA are a part of my personal history, whereas what you're talking about is of merely academic interest to me.
  If I have to choose between talking to someone else about their life experiences, even if they are the coolest old-school EEs in the universe, or actually reliving my own life experiences... gosh, I guess I'm selfish, but I'll actually indulge in personal nostalgia, thanks. I enjoyed my time hacking PDPs and the like, and that takes precedence for me.
  However, I would make a point of taking up your suggestion as perhaps the second place to visit. Maybe third.
  
  --
  Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
Re:Ah! by NotQuiteReal · 2012-10-26 07:04 · Score: 2

To be fair, AC could have been talking about a primitive core-dump. All that silverware might have magnetic properties.

--
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
Museum? by mcmonkey · 2012-10-26 07:04 · Score: 3, Funny

Doesn't the "living" part of Living Computer make it a zoo?
Will they display... by e065c8515d206cb0e190 · 2012-10-26 07:11 · Score: 4, Funny

...prehistoric devices like the Zune?
Re:Cool beans. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-26 07:12 · Score: 3, Interesting

Well, the DEC-10 is mainly discrete logic chips and Transistors. Depending upon its exact vintage I expect that there would be lots of 74xxx IC's.
If they had a PDP-11 then I'd think about donating the VS-11 and VT30-D graphics cards I have in my loft.
There is even the Colour lookup unit for the VS-11. I modified the RSX-11 and VMS drivers for the CLU functionality.
I'd like to see a PDP-11/VS-11 running the Luna Lander game. That would bring back a load of memories.
Just a matter of time... by OhSoLaMeow · 2012-10-26 07:22 · Score: 3, Funny

... before a dialog box pops up on these systems and states that Adobe Flash Reader needs to install a Critical Update.

--
They can take my LifeAlert pendant when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.
Re:IT job from hell? by Sparticus789 · 2012-10-26 07:55 · Score: 5, Insightful

Good, because I would LOVE to be the IT guy who gets to fix these computers. You have to know your roots!

--
sudo make me a sandwich
Sigma gear by NikeHerc · 2012-10-26 08:13 · Score: 2

The Xerox Sigma 5 was the second machine I worked on. It was replaced by a Sigma 9. Of all the machines I've used since then, none were as elegant as the Sigma series of machines. Xerox provided the source code to the operating system, compilers, assemblers, and every other piece of software on the machine. It was an absolute treasure trove of knowledge!

I hope the museum's Sigma gear lives on for many more years.

--
Circle the wagons and fire inward. Entropy increases without bounds.
Re:Cool beans. by Guy+Harris · 2012-10-26 08:55 · Score: 2

Well, the DEC-10 is mainly discrete logic chips and Transistors. Depending upon its exact vintage I expect that there would be lots of 74xxx IC's.
There's a KI and a KL. From reading the KI10 schematics and pages such as the one for the M133 NAND gate module (the schematics referred to module names such as that), I infer the KI10 had DEC-proprietary ICs. The KL10 was ECL, so it wouldn't use 74xxx's (unless there was an ECL variant).
Re:Cool beans. by Guy+Harris · 2012-10-26 08:59 · Score: 2

There's a KI and a KL.
...and a KS, which used AMD 2901's in the data path.
"this place just looks like a junkyard to me" by Al+Kossow · 2012-10-26 10:34 · Score: 2

You and everyone else. That is why almost none of these machines still exist.