The Computer Graveyard - Computer History

The Computer Museum History Centre is a non-profit body founded in 1996. Its mission is to preserve and present for posterity the artefacts and stories of the information age. At November 2000, its holdings included more than 3,000 artefacts, 2,000 films and videotapes, 5,000 photographs and 2,000 linear feet of catalogued documentation and gigabytes of software. Documentation ranges from advertisements to programming manuals.

The Museum acknowledges itself to play a unique role in the history of the computing revolution and its worldwide impact on the human experience. The role of individuals in this process is crucial, as those who owned, or even played a role in the design of, early machines donate much of the material. As at Intel Corporation's in-house museum, the artefacts can generally be traced back to a source, and through that process the stories, retold. Technical lectures and talks are a vital part of the Museum's work.

John Toole, the Museum's CEO, tells me that for the retired tech worker, the chance of describing his role in the development of the early technology can be emotionally cathartic. One man was moved to tears, and explained that this was the first opportunity he'd had to tell his story.

It receives a range of donations - from hardware and software, to audio recordings and ephemera - and given the quantities of machines produced, particularly personal computers, the potential material base is enormous.

The Centre also specifies what it doesn't want. It's difficult for us to turn people away when they have taken the time to contact us about a particular item. Sadly, we must do this when the item in question is something the History Centre already has or has decided does not meet the Collections criteria.

Courtesy Intel Corporation Artifacts, Intel Museum, Santa Clara

As at November 2000, some of the items no longer accepted included the following: IBM PC, IBM PC Jr, Commodore PET, Commodore 64, Commodore VIC-20, Apple II (+/c/e) TI 99/4, Times Sinclair. These items were made in large quantities and they have enough representative samples of them already. The Centre supports the recycling of unwanted machines.

The smaller-scale Computer Museum of America, on the campus of Coleman College in La Mesa, California, accepts all donations of computer-related materials except for defective monitors. Working computers not used by the museum are refurbished and donated to schools ands other non-profit organisations. The CMA also has archive and research materials, and established a Hall of Fame to honour those making major achievements in the computer history field.