Those who have an interest in vintage HP computing will most likely know of
the HP Computer Museum (
www.hpmuseum.net). The HP Computer Museum is the
result of over 30 years of work by Jon Johnston who collected HP equipment
and documentation and systematically catalogued, photographed and commented
on almost all of the over 7,000 items in the collection.
After Jon's death in 2016, I kept the museum website going and worked on
restoring many of the more notable items in the collection to working order,
but the museum has largely been static for the last six years.
Jon's wish was that the collection would eventually find its way either to
HP or to one of the major computer museums, and I'm pleased to advise that
the Hewlett Packard Company Archives (HPCA) has agreed to take over the
entire collection and website.
With only a few exceptions, the museum's entire collection of HP hardware,
software and manuals has now been shipped from Melbourne, Australia, to
HPCA's archival company - Heritage Werks Inc, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The
equipment will be catalogued and preserved as a record of HP's early years
in computing, with the ability for HP offices to borrow equipment for
display purposes.
The HP Computer Museum website (
www.hpmuseum.net <http://www.hpmuseum.net>
), which has long been a popular reference resource for enthusiasts and
industry on HP's computing history, will continue and be maintained by the
HPCA, through Heritage Werks, with the intent of ensuring ongoing access to
the wealth of information collected by Jon and many other HP enthusiasts
over the last 30 years.
Over the coming weeks and months, the website will be relocated to new
hosting platforms and the curatorship will transfer to Heritage Werks.
This will bring to a close my role in maintaining Jon's legacy in HP
computing. It's been a privilege to be responsible for the collection and
the website and to see the value they bring to the vintage computing
community.
David Collins