ComputerMuseum

Our Most Recent Display, Fall 2010

Our most recent display was held in the Main Library (Murray Building) of the UofS campus in the fall of 2010. It highlighted the UofS's use of "Technology Through the decades" starting with a typewriter belonging to Walter Murray (the UofS's first president) which was used in the early part of the last century. As we progressed through the decades, we showed off pictures of the UofS's first computer obtained in the 1950's (LGP-30), moved onto early computer labs and unix terminals, moved into the creation and evolution of the UofS's HUGE network, paid tribute to the first personal computers, and ended with reference to the plethora or wireless devices that are common place on the UofS network today.

Free laptop security clinic

Other events for Technology Week 2009:

Free Laptop Security Clinic for UofS Students:

October 28th: 9:30-3:30 p.m., Arts & Science Students' Lounge
October 29th: 9:30-3:30 p.m., Agriculture Atrium

Visit http://www.usask.ca/technologyweek/laptop-clinic.php for more details!

Latest Exhibit! Oct 27 - Nov 5 2009

Come and check out some old computers during our latest exhibit: Tuesday October 27 to Thursday November 5 2009. Our theme this year is Technology in Research at the UofS. The exhibit will be located in the Gordon Snelgrove Gallery. Grand opening will be Tuesday October 27th at 3:30 where we will formally launch UofS Technology Week 2009 at the same time. Please join us. Free admission.

Bring your Lunch and listen in on our first Fireside Chat!
On Friday October 30th, from 1130 to 130pm, a few UofS computing pioneers will regale us with stories and recollections from the past. Location: Gordon Snelgrove Gallery. Free Admission. Bring your lunch!

Australian Computer Musuem

Greg (one of our knowledgeable curators) has directed me to a slideshow of a magnificent private computer collection in Australia. Max Burnet (retired CEO of Digital Equipment Corporation) has converted his Sydney home into a museum showcasing his collection.

The article on CIO Australia is a little slow loading, and you'll need cookies to avoid seeing an interstitial ad before each picture, but the slideshow is well worth the wait times.

What's your favorite piece? Comment below, and let's get the discussion going!

UofS Computer Museum Upcoming Events

"That '80's Show!"
-A display of Computing products from the 80's. Snelgrove Gallery (right behind Place Riel) November 3-14th 2008.

-Kick off Technology Week at the Snelgrove - Tues November 4th @ 3:30 PM. Everyone Welcome!

-Check out the earliest UofS computer in our collection - the Digital PDP8, 1st floor College Building display case. Nov 3-14th 2008.

The Commodore 64 - Celebrating 25 years!

"For millions of kids who grew up in the 1980s, that first computer was the Commodore 64. Twenty-five years later, that first brush with computer addiction is as strong as ever" (cnn.com)

Nov. 9th Celebration Postponed...

A note from Rick Bunt, the Associate VP of Information and Communications Technology:

The birthday celebration for "50 years of computing at the U of S" that was planned for Friday, November 9, has been postponed to a later date so that all members of the University community can celebrate this event together.

So, watch this space for updates. We'll let you know when the celebration / pong tourney is on!

50 Years of Computing at the U of S

Going to the record books, it looks as if this academic year is the 50th anniversary of computing at the U of S. The University purchased its first computer back in October of 1957. This computer, an LGP-30, was purchased with the National Research Council's Prairie Research Laboratory.

So, as we are wont to do here at Computer Museum Central, we're throwing a party!

First off, we've got a some exhibits happening. First, we've got an exhibit featuring the Altair 8800. We've also gone and refreshed our Thorvaldson exhibits. Finally, we've got ourselves an exhibit at the Gordon Snelgrove Gallery, that we call Blast From the Past, from October 29th to November 9th.

And, the party that you were promised is happening Friday, November 9th, to wrap up Technology Week here. It runs from 10am to 12pm, with classic video games, prizes, and cake!

We'd be right pleased if you'd come out to the exhibits and check them out... there's plenty of interesting bits to see. And it would tickle us PINK if you'd come to our party. We hope to see you there!

Still Alive!

Yes, we're still alive, here at U of S Computer Museum Central. We had been traveling back in time to 1975 to pick up a mint-condition IBM 5100. Unfortunately, our flux capacitor short circuited and returned us to the present before we could collect the computer, so we're still on the lookout for one.

Stay tuned for more news and interesting links and articles from around the web.

Top 100 Most Influential People in IT, Part 1

Visit The Article on eweek.

E4: Radio Shack TRS-80 Pocket Computer

Rob Merritt of Saskatoon donated a Radio Shack TRS-80 Pocket Computer system to the museum. This collection of artefacts included the Pocket Computer, docking station with thermal printer, and software.

]]> The donated collection consists of the following items:
- Radio Shack TRS-80 Pockt Computer
- Docking station with thermal printer and rolls of thermal paper
- Owners manuals
- Leatherette carying case
- TRS-80 Pocket handbook
- Connector cables and adapter
- Personal Finance software on cassette
- Business Finance software on cassette
- Game software on cassette
- Pocket Organizer software on cassette

Along with the Pocket Computer system was a Sharp "ELSI MATE" EL-1630 calculator.

The museum thanks Rob for donating this collection to the museum. Future generations will enjoy this historical look at the beginning of "portable personal computing."

E3: Zenith Data Systems XT Compatible Computer System

The museum received a donation from Ken Van Rees of saskatoon consisting of a Zenith Data Systems computer system. This collection of artefacts includes the Zenith Data Systems computer, montior, keyboard, original boxes for the system, original software including WordPerfect and Quatrus, orignal manuals and paperwork, along with many 5-1/4" diskettes containing software.

]]> The donated colleciton consists of the following items:
- Zenith Data Systems XT compatible computer with dual 5-1/4" drives and add-on video card
- Zenith Data Systems amber screen monitor
- Zenith Data Systems keyboard
- Original cardboard shipping cartons for the system
- Cardboard floppy drive inserts for protection during shipping
- Zenith Data Systems software, manuals, paper inserts, and boxes
- WordPerfect software, manuals, and keyboard templates
- Lotus 1-2-3 software, manuals, and keyboard templates
- CompuServe documentation and promotional material
- Many 5-1/4" floppy diskettes containing various software

This collection of artefacts is a wonderful example of what the museum is looking for. Original software, manuals, shipping cartons, and promotional material is getting hard to locate. The museum thanks Ken for hanging on to this collection over the years and donating it so that it may be preserved for future generations to enjoy.

E2: Apple ][e Computer System

Laurie Bader of Saskatoon was kind enough to donate a complete Apple ][e computer system to the museum. This collection of objects included several pieces of hardware including a Koala pad, many 5-1/4" diskettes with software, several books and manuals, as well as original Apple posters.

]]> The donated collection consists of the following items:
- Apple ][e computer
- Apple green screen monitor
- Apple Imagewriter printer
- Apple dual 5-1/4" disk drive
- Apple 3-1/2" disk drive
- Koala touch sensitve pad
- Several peripheral card
- Many 5-1/4" diskettes with software on them including :
- Electronic Arts Music Construction Set
- Sensible Software: spelling and grammer software
- Several books including:
- 6502 assembly books
- Beagle Bros poster
- Various Apple owners/user manuals
- Various software manuals
- Nikrom Master Diagnostic and disk drive cleaning kit
- Audio cassette based instruction on how to use the Apple ][e
- Apple poster, calendar poster, and stickers
- Original registration and warranty forms.

What is really great about this collection of items are the number of items that are extremely hard to find. Usually stickers, posters and manuals are some of the first thing to be thrown away. The museum thanks Laurie for donating this fine collection so that others may enjoy it in the future.

A Consise Technical History of Apple OSes

Looking back at our previous posts, it may seem that I have a slight bias towards Apple history. This is correct. I'm completely fascinated by the creation and growth of this computer and company. As such, when I found the book A Technical History of Apple Operating Systems: Introduction, I was intrigued.

This is a very technical history lesson. If you're not particularly interested in reading about why particular chips were chosen, the specifications of ProDOS's filesystem, or other details like that, then this read isn't for you. However, if you ARE interested in knowing that Apple SOS was named for an engineer's daughter Sara, that Hypercard and Smalltalk came out of research from Palo Alto' XEROX Parc labs, and other neat details, then give it a read.

]]> This is the unabridged first chapter of Amit Singh's OS X Internals, as it appeared before it was cut. Coming in at over 140 pages, it's obvious why it was trimmed (the full book is over 1600!), but it's proving to be quite interesting.

Let the cataloguing commence!

Here at the Computer Museum we are finally starting the massive task of cataloguing the objects in our existing collection. This does not only entail the actual listing of objects in the museums posession but actually developing and implementing all the procedures, documents, and guidelines related to the proper cataloguing of collection objects.

This effort is expected to take several months to "catch-up" on all the donations that have been made to the museum over the past few years. Newly acquired items are processed as they come in so as not to fall further behind. As objects are catalogued they will be noted in the Additions sub-category of the blog.

]]> Since before its official inception members of the museum have been accepting donations of various computer equipment. Most of the time the donated objects have found a place in the members office, on shelves, in cabinets, or whereever some space could be found or made. Up until recently the museum had no official storage space so volunteers did the best they could with what space they personally had. Because of this, the museum has its collection spread out across campus has had to rely on the volunteers to maintain and track the donation information for each object they posessed. Needless to say this system is not sustainable and is unreliable at best.

Several months ago the Department of Compter Science allocated some of its storage space to the Computer Museum. Although this single storage room is small it is a beginning and allows the museum to begin the process of bringing its collection together. Also in recognizing the need to catalogue all of the collection the musuem worked with the Departement of Computer Science to design a database to hold the collection information. The database project is on going and is providing many questions that need to be answered with respect to what information needs to be collected.

To help start the cataloguing process and assist the database project museum volunteers Shane Doucette and Merlin Hansen took on the task to start cataloguing objects currently held by the museum. This process has also shown us how far we have yet to go in our collection management. Currently donations are be catalogued (where appropriate) as collections of object rather than dealing with each object individually. This is simply to help ensure that all donations are correctly identified and processed in a timely fashion. As the process continues each donation will be re-examined to catalogue each individual object.

As mentioned the cataloguing endeavour is definitely a learning process. Take for instance your typical computer system donation. What is considered an individual object as opposed to a grouped object made up of a sum of parts? Is copy of WordPerfect 5 for DOS with several disks, manuals, and case considered one object and marked as such, or is each individual item assigned an accession number? How does one attach an accession number to a book, a diskette, a leaflet, or a sheet of stickers? These are some of the questions that have come out of the cataloguing process that the museum is going through.

As donations are catalogued a blog entry will be entered so as to show off the latest and greatest acquisition received from our generous donors. Thes entries will be in the Additions sub-category of the Collection category. Also, the objects will be listed in the Collection section of our main web page.