17 May
2010
17 May
'10
10:28 a.m.
From: RodSmallwood
Sent: Sunday, May 16, 2010 11:14 PM
From: Rich Alderson
Sent: 16 May 2010 18:53
> TNMoC is indeed full of old systems, wonderfully
so. After the DEC
> Legacy event in Windermere last month, Ian King and I traveled down to
> London, then went up to BP on the Monday. (Not their usual open day,
> but they took pity on us for our traveling schedule. Barney Duffy,
> volunteer extraordinaire, was our guide.)
> For a VCF event, though, isn't much of the
point to show off one's own
> gems? TNMoC may have near as makes no difference to one of everything
> PC from the last 40 years, but they don't have the funds or volunteers
> to keep each and every one of them running, so for that kind of thing
> coals to Newcastle is a necessity, hmm?
Good point!
That I think might have been missed.
It seems to be a bit like the aircraft preservation
people. One of
everything but nothing flies. I just hate that. If something was built to
run and can run again with out damage it should.
TNMoC are very much *not* like the preservation people, aircraft or
computer or thimbles. They are, on the other hand, an entirely volunteer
organization, living on contributions and grants like most museums. Real
restoration of even a simple system requires monetary outlays, so limited
funds have to be spent as priorities dictate, and everything can't be done
all at once.
And there are probably as many aircraft restorers as there are preservers.
As to volunteering, it's clear that many of us
would spend as much time
traveling to BP as they would doing something useful whilst there. Not to
mention the cost.
I know little old ladies living on retirement pensions who travel several
hours each way to volunteer as docents or library workers at the Seattle
Art Museum. Priorities.
I do have an idea. Why not farm out some of the stuff
in storage to those of
us who have restored a similar item in the past for themselves?
I'm sure a small card saying 'Restored to working order by Joe Bloggs' would
but reward enough.
Issues of insurance, quality control, etc. etc. etc. How do they tell the
serious restorer from a well-meaning screw-up? There are good reasons,
even if they seem frustating to those on the outside.
Rich Alderson
Vintage Computing Sr. Server Engineer
Vulcan, Inc.
505 5th Avenue S, Suite 900
Seattle, WA 98104
mailto:RichA at vulcan.com
mailto:RichA at LivingComputerMuseum.org
http://www.PDPplanet.org/
http://www.LivingComputerMuseum.org/