Us vs. Museums

One thing that should be remembered is that a great many museums are run by fairly small staffs, often volenteers who may not even be all that familiar with the operation/repair of the exhibits. Couple this with the beating any hands-on machine would receive over time and it should be easy to see just how difficult it may be to keep even the most common machine functional and available for hands-on time. A better idea might be to have the historical machine on display and a kiosk next to it running more modern hardware with an emulator of that machine on display. There are plenty of excellent emulators for various 'classic' platforms out there, including the SOL, Altair, SWTPc 6800/6809 series machines, etc. This would provide the feel of the classic machine while preserving the actual hardware/software without the high maintainance associated with keeping it running constantly. I myself am most interested in functional machines but over time, even the simplest and/or the most common of the older platforms are going to become difficult to repair and keep functional. A machine in the open available for constant use would just compound this problem. Hands-on museums are nice, but not the most practical of things and most involved with them find them difficult to maintain and keep open. Jeff -- Collector of Classic Microcomputers and Video Game Systems: Home of the TRS-80 Model 2000 FAQ File http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757