I think Toby has a great point there. Some of the museums are much
less responsible for their collections than most of private
aficionados -- I mean, even for a museum curator, how could a 25-year-
old computer compare to other artifacts that survived centuries?
It's not only museums. Back when I lived in Poland, I talked to my
local university library and begged to give me a call, or send me an
email if they ever going to throw away any of the old computer
magazines they had. I would take care of them all, gladly arrange a
pickup, hell, I would have even *paid* them for the trouble. I
emphasized this many times back when I was visiting them regularly,
but guess what... Last year I learned that they just send most of
them to be destroyed. And these are the people who should in theory
know the value of these things. :/
As an alternative to official museums, one can also consider donating
their computers or artifacts to "homebrew" museums. I have a great
history of collaborating with Bruce Damer of California's DigiBarn
(www.digibarn.com) -- he is very enthusiastic about computers and
shares a lot of his materials online. Recently he acquired a Lisa 1
and the same day the photos were on the site!
A German Home Computer Museum (www.homecomputer.de) also looks great,
although I don't know the person running it. And I don't think it's
open for visitors.
As a side note, since I'm talking about museums, the Arts et Métiers
museum in Paris has a Lisa 2 on their display. There's not that much
information about it, but I wonder if any other museums have Lisa in
their collections?
And if you want to read a great story of computing history and
museums which still care, pick up Doron Swade's "The Difference
Engine," a book about the first computer and efforts to recreate it
in London's Science Museum.
--
Marcin Wichary >> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Graphical User Interface gallery >> www.guidebookgallery.org
Usability.pl >> www.usability.pl
--
LisaList is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and...
Shop buy.com and save. <http://lowendmac.com/ad/buy.com.html>
Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html>
LisaList info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/lisa.html>
--> AOL users, remove "mailto:";
Send list messages to: <mailto:lisalist@mail.maclaunch.com>
To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/lisalist%40mail.maclaunch.com/>
iPod Accessories for Less
at 1-800-iPOD.COM
Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal
www.1800ipod.com
