[HN Gopher] Retro Computer Museum
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Retro Computer Museum
Author : thorin
Score : 234 points
Date : 2023-05-17 12:02 UTC (10 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (retrocomputermuseum.co.uk)
(TXT) w3m dump (retrocomputermuseum.co.uk)
| Torwald wrote:
| Regarding the cover image on that webpage...
|
| ...you put a Commodore sign on top of an Atari monitor? You want
| to provoke a bar fight, don't you?
| samwillis wrote:
| Oh nice, I didn't know that existed and it's under a hour from
| me. Will have to visit.
|
| Another in this part of the world is the Centre for Computing
| History in Cambridge: https://www.computinghistory.org.uk
| callumprentice wrote:
| I grew up in Leicester and then later moved to Silicon Valley. I
| had several old computers in a cupboard at my parents' home for
| years - Acorn Atom, Atari 800, Video Genie, Elan Enterprise - and
| was never able to muster enough energy to schlep them out to San
| Jose to the museum there. I'd only I'd known there was somewhere
| I could've donated them to so close by.
| mrsaint wrote:
| Another one, close to Frankfurt, Germany:
| https://www.digitalretropark.net/blog/
| pechay wrote:
| The RCM is fantastic, definitely worth a visit, and Andy who runs
| the place is a legend.
| colinthompson wrote:
| It's so great to see the many places listed here. It compels me
| to mention The Museum of Arts and Digital Entertainment, based in
| Oakland CA, in case any Bay Area folks are interested in such
| places: https://www.themade.org/
| AlbertCory wrote:
| I was about to post this, but I see you already did.
|
| I've been there in person. The Google Patent Litigation group
| used them as a source of prior art, since many technologies
| were developed first for games, before "regular" users got
| them. No, I can't give any details.
| wkat4242 wrote:
| There's also the Computer & Communication Museum in Galway,
| Ireland for those who happen to be in the area. Only open upon
| request though!
|
| https://ccmireland.com/collections/
|
| The city has a rich history of computer manufacturing in the 80s
| and 90s, with DEC and later Compaq, and APC. They have a PDP-11
| (sadly not working), many DEC terminals and a whole range of home
| computers, among others.
| RadiozRadioz wrote:
| The Krakow Pinball Museum in Poland is a good one - pay a small
| fee to enter and their whole collection of pinball machines are
| on free play mode. Lots of arcade machines too, and beer of
| course.
| kitd wrote:
| I had this one:
|
| https://retrocomputermuseum.co.uk/systems/binatone-tv-master...
|
| Saved up PS15 pocket money and bought it myself in WH Smiths. One
| of my proudest moments.
| baz4096 wrote:
| https://www.computermuseum.org.uk/ - Visits by appointment only,
| but looks incredible.
| glapworth wrote:
| Thanks for positing this - it's a wonderful place and I haven't
| been for a while. I live in Leicester and I've been here a number
| of times with the family - it's a great activity. One of my
| favourite things to do here is browse the old manuals in the back
| room and tinker with the BBC Micro or the Acorn whilst My
| children love playing all the old and classic games. Wonderful!
| nickt wrote:
| Looks like a decent list of places is developing in this this
| thread.
|
| If you like a bit of retro computing, checkout the
| http://retro.directory/ lots of places - museums, arcades and
| events, etc.
| pigcat wrote:
| My dad recently donated an old ITT2020 he bought 45 years ago in
| Hong Kong to this one in Germany: http://blog.computeum.de/blog/
| antcore wrote:
| Zoetermeer, the Netherlands has the Nationaal Videogame Museum
| (https://www.nationaalvideogamemuseum.nl/). Hundreds of machines,
| consoles and arcades, free to play. You buy a two- or four-hour
| slot to get in.
| lalalandland wrote:
| Museums like this can be a little overwhelming. There is so much
| to take in. I often lose focus and just skim over to see it all.
| But I know the most interesting bits are in the details. Do any
| of you have a nice strategy for getting the most out of a visit ?
| kator wrote:
| While this looks nice, I really loved
| https://livingcomputers.org/ when it was alive. Sadly it's in
| stasis now, I was lucky enough to visit while it was still open
| and I ran around to all these old machines punching in code and
| showing my wife all the old machines I've worked on in my 40yr+
| career.
| AStellersSeaCow wrote:
| Came here to post about LCM too, amazing place.
|
| Sadly "in stasis" is pretty generous. I know several people who
| were in that win of the Allen org and they've all said that
| Jody Allen viewed it as a waste of time and money and was
| delighted at the opportunity to close it and never reopen
| courtesy of the pandemic.
| mustacheemperor wrote:
| After who knows how many people donated the hardware they'd
| carefully preserved for years with the expectation it would
| be preserved at the museum as part of Paul Allen's legacy.
| kator wrote:
| I would gladly donate on a monthly basis to a patreon or
| something to keep it going. Wonder what the monthly costs
| were to operate it.
| mjhay wrote:
| It's sad. The LCM was magical. It's weird Jody Allen couldn't
| have just shoved off the LCM onto some other staffers or
| something if she was bored of it.
| bombolo wrote:
| There is this one in italy: https://museo.freaknet.org/it/
| mrjh wrote:
| A bit tangential, but 'Leicester' is one of those wonderful
| British place-names that doesn't really follow any English
| pronunciation rules and you just have to know the right one...
|
| In this case 'Leicester' is pronounced 'Lester'.
| vincent-manis wrote:
| I was born in England, but we emigrated to Canada when I was 5.
| A few years later, we returned for a visit. My mother and I
| were on the Tube when I announced loudly `Ooh look, Mummy, the
| next stop is Lye-ces-ter Square!'. She shushed me and said she
| didn't want the other passengers to think we were Canadians.
| JdeBP wrote:
| All of the recent fuss about Welsh placenames only serves to
| highlight that places in England, in contrast, are usually
| named in languages that _no-one speaks any more_. At least
| Welsh is still spoken.
|
| Latin gives us, via Old English, the "-cester" in all of the
| placenames mentioned elsethread, as well as "-chester" and
| "-caster". Old English gives us all of the "ton"s, "hamp"s, and
| whatnot. The "win-" in "Winchester" is Celtic, as are the
| "dor-" in "Dorchester" and the "man-" in "Manchester". The
| "lei-" in "Leicester" means an unploughed meadow, a.k.a. a lay
| or lea.
|
| * https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lay#Etymology_6
|
| When one isn't a native Latin or Old English or Celtic speaker
| and cannot even understand placenames in England, it does seem
| a little silly, and missing a huge elephant in the room, to be
| worrying about Welsh placenames. (-:
|
| This is why the names don't follow Modern English pronunciation
| rules. They aren't actually Modern English.
| russdill wrote:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOd3lwluQIw "it just might be
| a shibboleth"
| meekaaku wrote:
| Gloucester Southwark (pronounced sutherk) Warwick (pronounced
| wo-rik)
| technothrasher wrote:
| We've got a Leicester here in Massachusetts which is also
| pronounced 'Lester'. It is just West of Worcester, which is
| pronounced 'Wuster'. But they become 'Lestah' and 'Wustah' with
| a Boston accent.
| kinbiko wrote:
| In the UK instead of "booster shot" they say "borcester
| shot".
| weevil wrote:
| True to their namesakes then; Leicester is pronouned by the
| locals as 'Lestah' or 'Lestoh'.
| [deleted]
| laputan_machine wrote:
| Towcester (Toaster) , Gloucester (Gloh-ster), Worcester (Wuh-
| ster)...
|
| cester -> ster (or 'ste:' round my end)
| jjgreen wrote:
| Locals call it "Lesstaaah"
| gokhan wrote:
| Bournemouth Worchester Southwark ...
| throwaway426079 wrote:
| Marylebone...
|
| Mornington Crescent!
|
| (No pronunciation trickery on that last one, it is just the
| name of an absurdist parlor game)
| timthorn wrote:
| ...Happisburgh
| UncleSlacky wrote:
| Woolfardisworthy.
| benjamta wrote:
| Ha! Norfolk's a treasure trove of interesting place names.
| Wymondham also trips outsiders up.
|
| I was here for almost 20 years before I learnt that
| Heighham is pronounced as just "Ham".
| [deleted]
| wdfx wrote:
| If you're in the UK, see also
|
| https://www.tnmoc.org/
|
| https://this-museum-is-not-obsolete.com/
| https://www.themicromuseum.org/
| acqbu wrote:
| As well as: https://www.derbycomputermuseum.co.uk/
| frakt0x90 wrote:
| The guy behind This Museum is (Not) Obsolete has a youtube
| channel Look Mum No Computer where he creates massive, insane
| musical instruments out of furbies, hand-made syths, etc. Truly
| impressive and very entertaining and educational.
| SteveMoody73 wrote:
| Another one for the UK as well https://www.rmcretro.com/visit-
| the-cave
| nikdoof wrote:
| Also a general computer museum in the north-west (Leigh,
| Greater Manchester) as well:
|
| https://www.nwcomputermuseum.org.uk/ - with quite a nice
| looking but frustrating website...
| aardvark179 wrote:
| There's also https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/ in Cambridge
| stdgy wrote:
| I was able to visit this place last year, it was great! I
| spent all day wandering around and playing. I would have
| stayed even longer if they weren't closing, hah.
| desas wrote:
| And the National Videogame Museum in Sheffield -
| https://thenvm.org/
| shrikant wrote:
| There's also the Museum of Computing in Swindon.
|
| https://www.museumofcomputing.org.uk/
|
| I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to visit it, but if
| you find yourself in Swindon for some reason, then it's worth a
| peep.
| ben_ wrote:
| I suppose if someone was en route to visit Stonehenge or
| Avebury it could be tied in!
| throwaway426079 wrote:
| "when a man is tired of Swindon, he is tired of life"
| _a_a_a_ wrote:
| "When a man is tired of life he goes to Swindon to discover
| real fear and that life may not be so bad after all"
|
| Yes, I've been on the Magic Roundabout, nearly shat myself
| and I wasn't even driving.
| TNorthover wrote:
| I'm imagining you tackling it on foot now.
| mumblingdrunk wrote:
| I can also highly recommend a visit to The National Museum of
| Computing.
|
| https://www.tnmoc.org/
|
| While you're there, take a stroll around Bletchley Park as
| well. Last time I checked, you get a discount when visiting
| both, and they're right next to each other.
| basementcat wrote:
| This weekend (5/20-21) they're hosting an Acorn Econet LAN
| party!
|
| https://www.tnmoc.org/events/2023/5/20/econet-lan-party
| bluescrn wrote:
| Also https://www.arcadeclub.co.uk
|
| (While they don't brand themselves as a museum and it's very
| much about playing the games, they have an incredible
| collection of arcade gaming history)
| pmontra wrote:
| Ctrl+Alt Museum in Pavia, south of Milan
| https://www.ctrlalt.museum/
|
| Visit by reservation only.
| skrebbel wrote:
| Near my hometown in NL there's a similar place, the Home Computer
| Museum and just like the one on Leicester they turn the computers
| on with games and BASIC and foxpro and protracker running and
| it's just a delight. The collection is _huge_ , I was pretty
| impressed. Went there with my kids the other day and it was just
| great. Worth a detour!
|
| https://www.homecomputermuseum.nl/en/
| herio wrote:
| Absolutely fantastic place that I also recommend to anybody
| interested.
|
| So nice that the machines are out, powered on and ready to be
| tinkered with. Sit down and relive the old days by hammering
| out some 6502 assembly or something :)
| Pycses wrote:
| Oh wow, my partner and I are planning a trip to the Netherlands
| for later this summer and this was one of the top places we
| wanted to visit. I'm glad to hear it comes so highly
| recommended from someone local!
| skrebbel wrote:
| I mean it's a nerdy dusty place. Definitely not a regular
| polished museum experience! But the part that matters, the
| computers & what they can do, is very well done IMO
| ndsipa_pomu wrote:
| Lei-ces-ter
| omneity wrote:
| If you're in Berlin, you can visit this one [0]. Has some rare
| historical gems including an original arcade cabinet for space
| invaders, as well as some experimental stuff like the famed
| PainStation. [1]
|
| [0]: https://www.computerspielemuseum.de/
|
| [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PainStation
| pantalaimon wrote:
| There is also the vintage computing festival [0] which is
| absolutely great! You have people showing their homebrew
| computers (some even with completely homebrew CPUs!), old
| homecommputers from east and west, mainframes, workstations and
| game consoles of the past.
|
| And the people who bring those machines are always quite eager
| to answer all questions you might have. It's a lovely event
| really.
|
| [0] https://vcfb.de/
| syx wrote:
| I've been twice to the one in Berlin, and it's absolutely
| gorgeous. It's such a great place full of machines and arcades
| you can actually play with.
| pantalaimon wrote:
| Not computers, but for arcade flippers there is also
| Flipperhalle [0]
|
| [0] https://www.flipperhalle.de/
| wdfx wrote:
| On a game/arcade/Europe tangent also check out flippermuseum in
| Budapest if you love pinball. I chanced across it when I was
| there a few years ago and it is awesome
|
| https://flippermuzeum.hu/en/main-page/
| giobox wrote:
| Seattle residents, is this ever coming back?
|
| > https://livingcomputers.org/
|
| I only found out about this museum during the pandemic sadly,
| never visited when it was open.
| davidpronk wrote:
| Utrecht (NL) based Awesome space is currently looking for a new
| location but it always used to be an awesome space.
| https://awesomespace.nl/
| accrual wrote:
| If you're in Georgia, USA, the Computer Museum of America is an
| excellent museum. I had a blast visiting and would love to go
| back. Lots of high quality exhibits and they're always rotating.
|
| https://www.computermuseumofamerica.org
| ulkesh wrote:
| Well I know where I'm visiting soon! I used to see movies in
| that complex when I lived in Roswell. I'm still relatively
| close. Thanks for this information, had no idea!
| yeti-peti wrote:
| [flagged]
| virtualritz wrote:
| There is small but nice one in Rieka, Croatia.
|
| https://www.peekpoke.hr/
| phkahler wrote:
| Been looking for a place to donate my Interact. It was produced
| in Michigan and didn't go far, but I hear a slightly better
| version appeared in France and had a small following. Not sure
| the UK is the right place for this thing.
| konradkpl wrote:
| Games & computers of the past era, Wroclaw, Poland:
| https://gikme.pl/en/ Many great retro consoles, computers. I am
| most happy with the opportunity to play on a real asteroid with a
| vector display.
| qunabu wrote:
| There is a nice one in Cambridge as well
| https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/
| danybittel wrote:
| Another one in Lausanne (Switzerland): https://www.museebolo.ch/
| pcardoso wrote:
| Also one for the ZX Spectrum in Portugal https://loadzx.com/en/
| KingOfCoders wrote:
| I love Retro from the UK. As a German, it much better reflects my
| childhood in the 80s with CPCs, Sinclairs, Archimedes' and Atari
| STs - computers that to me feel forgotten by US Retroism.
| teh_klev wrote:
| And also not forgetting Acorns, Dragons, Orics and a bunch of
| other almost cottage industry manufacturers that you could go
| into John Menzies, Debenhams or WH Smiths and buy straight from
| store stock. I think we had quite a rich selection of machines
| to choose from back then.
| oldnetguy wrote:
| Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA USA
| https://computerhistory.org
|
| Kennett Classic in Kennett Square, PA USA
| https://www.kennettclassic.com
|
| Large Scale Systems Museum in New Kensington, PA USA
| https://www.mact.io
|
| System Source Computer Museum in Hunt Valley, MD USA
| https://museum.syssrc.com/
|
| Vintage Computer Federation Museum at Infoage in Wall NJ USA
| https://vcfed.org/museum-info/
| psyklic wrote:
| Connections Museum in Seattle, WA (telecom focus)
| https://www.telcomhistory.org/connections-museum-seattle/
| simmons wrote:
| Media Archaeology Lab in Boulder, CO USA
| https://www.mediaarchaeologylab.com/
| nickt wrote:
| Thank you, that one's local and I had no idea about it.
| systems_glitch wrote:
| We must go nearly all the same places :P
| ollien wrote:
| I've been to System Source and I can highly reccomend it. The
| curator, @inversephase is awesome and super knowledgeable. Tons
| of fun to talk to.
| v37p wrote:
| American Computer and Robotics Museum in Bozeman, MT USA
| https://acrmuseum.org/
| btgeekboy wrote:
| Hopefully someday we can re-add Living Computers in Seattle, WA
| USA to the list. https://www.livingcomputers.org
|
| Paul Allen's death, and then the COVID pandemic, effectively
| put the museum in stasis. At least two of Allen's former
| museum-ish places are getting to reopen soon - both the
| downtown Cinerama and the Flying Heritage and Combat Armor
| museum in Mukilteo have been sold by his estate and are
| reopening this year. Hopefully Living Computers is next.
| K7PJP wrote:
| If the Cinerama can be saved, so then can the LCM, one should
| hope. The LCM isn't in the same kind of prime location the
| Cinerama is. I picture the terms to be different, no pre-
| existing 3rd party to hand things off to, and getting some of
| the key people back is going to be a challenge.
| da-bacon wrote:
| I really hope so, does anyone know if there are any
| grassroots efforts to help lobby for this?
| bnycum wrote:
| National Videogame Museum in Frisco, TX https://nvmusa.org/
| kefka42 wrote:
| I went there in September of last year and really enjoyed it.
| If anyone wants to see some of it, I posted my pics in a blog
| post. Unfortunately it doesn't have many pictures of the
| computers that were hands on there, but more of the video
| game consoles. https://gglas.ninja/blog/2022/09/national-
| videogame-museum-t...
| RebootStr wrote:
| There is also a great Computer Museum in Oldenburg Germany:
| https://computermuseum-oldenburg.de/
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(page generated 2023-05-17 23:00 UTC)