Living Computer Museum

[Tony Aiuto]

On Thu, May 28, 2020 at 4:36 PM William Donzelli via cctalk <
cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:

> > This is one of the things that disappointed me most about the Computer
> History Museum in Mountain View, CA. Sure you can’t let the public interact
> with *everything*, but since so much of computing since its inception has
> been about interaction with active systems, just displaying them is leaving
> out a large amount of what really makes them interesting. The CHM does a
> lot of great preservation, archival, and curatorial work, but this really
> feels like a glaring omission.
>
> The problem is that the public wrecks stuff. Big time. And they steal
> stuff. Just for the thrill. Even just the stupidest little thing, like
> a keycap.
>

So depressingly true. I run the little museum in Google's NYC office.
I've had a bunch of working 80's-90's era machines and workstations on
display, but they require constant repair because people are too lazy or
entitled to treat them with care
- people erase boot disks
- they bring in children as visitors and let them pound the keys until they
break
- the open cabinets and pull out trays marked "DO NOT OPEN. IT WILL GET
STUCK".
Do you know what? Once a week I have to go and close chassis that is stuck
open.
- They drop and crack any artifacts in a glass display case (I now encase
boards in plexiglass frames) and then stick them out of sight - despite our
blameless "if you see something, report it" policy.
- They drop broken old hardware off - anonymously.
- They want me to take the stuff from their basement and do the work to
make it displayable - while promising that people won't break it.

When colleagues ask about setting up displays in their offices I tell them
not to. It is 10x more work than they think, and frustrating to receive
rare and interesting items that you know will be ruined.


A long time ago, I volunteered on BB-59 (battleship MASSACHUSETTS),
> and dealt with the radars. I was warned about people stealing stuff.
> One night I was in the ET shack (radar technician compartment) - a
> small room maybe 15 by 5 feet. Normally locked with a USN padlock, I
> was at the bench with a radar scope, door unlocked so visitors could
> come in and ask questions. I left the padlock open and hanging from
> the latch. Yup, some kid stile the lock.
>

It might not have been a kid. Adults are often class one miscreants.


> So yes, every museum must weigh public interaction against artifact
> damage, and what is the mission of the museum. CHM is more
> conservative, LCM more liberal*. I think it is good to have both
> sides.
>

There was a great bit in a "Most Interesting Man in the World" commercial
"When he goes to museums, he is allowed to touch the art."


>
> --
> Will
>
> * 100 percent not political, but in the more classic sense. If you
> bring this up politically, I will shit down your throat.
>