Quarter classics (was: Big Iron Was:RE: Backwate - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

20 Jun 1998

...
 > You just searched a phon directory ? Didn't
you ? Or
> who told you that I live near the Deutsches Museum ?
> True, my apartment is just 100m from the (back) entrance. 
...
 > Their _very_ early collection - up to the Zuse -
ist quite
> good, but anything later is crap - or at least the display
> is crap - I left the museum society because of the computer
> displays. I'm especialy upset because they have _real_
> unique things to show in a _unique_ way, but they just build
> some junk place. 
...
  It can't be as bad as the Science Museum in
London,  surely. I was there 
 earlier this week, and what a _joke_!!! 
I never been there - hmm maybe I should tak a weekend - is
there a Website to get the opening hours ?

...
  The digital computing collection seems to consist of
the Pilot ACE (worth 
 seeing, but it's _never_ in operation), the Babbage difference engine 
 (again, well worth seeing), and a poor collection of random bits of more 
 modern machines/peripherals.  
Oh, thats also the best description for the 'modern' displays
in the Deutsches Museum: random bits. Especialy for the small
devices.

...
 > Example: they recived a _complete_ SIEMENS 2002,
the first
> fuly transistorized copmuter. Not only the main boxes -
> they got _everything_ needed to show the machine complete,
> including _all_ manuals, even spare parts. I think it would
> have been possible to rebuild this marvelous machine and
> power it up (ok, once) to show it. Maybe it is still possible,
> but it has to be done soon - right now several of the old
> tecnicans are still alive, but in ten years from now noone
> will be here to tell the story. 
...
  We've had this discussion here before. Museums are
(IMHO) too interested 
 in preserving the fabric of a device (which is important, but not the 
 most important thing) rather than the operation. My guess is that in 
 (say) 50 years time there will be machines in museums that are still in 
 exactly the same condition as when they were taken out of service, but 
 nobody knows how to get them running again, what they were really used 
 for, or how to operate them. We (as in the majority of people on this 
 list) are doing the opposite in general. We keep machines working, even 
 if it means doing some non-original repairs (but we try to keep things as 
 original as possible). I suspect our collections and those of museums 
 will both be of value in the future, but for different reasons. 
Ok, the 2002 wouldn't be exactly the machine for continous
display in action, but even if it is just as static display,
this one time running test ist the best verification that the
static display is _complete_.

(In fact, the critical part of the 2002 is the storage drum -
even back in time when it was new, every power up and down
had to be guarded by tecnicans - hmm but even here, since
the drum is a closed device, one could replace it (invisible)
by a modern electronic emulation... just thinking)

Gruss
H.

--
Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut
HRK