History: How did Forth get its stacks 4024

The general answer is Yes. Problems are more than 2 fold: 1) private collectors. 2) Most museums have little to no interest in computers. The mentality of most curators and staff are far more humanistically oriented to serve this community. You had best beware. It idealistically sounds OK, but the roads to hell are pave with good intentions.

On occasion I can represent the Smithsonian. In the DSN case, I can. Most of the SI has no interest. 100s and 100s of 620s and v70 were produced. There are just another 16-bit (e.g.) minicomputer to most people. If it were up solely to Gordon (not to pick on him): he would not collect them. Period. A PDP-11 is good enough. That they were part of the DSN, that's a little different. Besides we'll probably keep using them (maybe at least for spare parts until 2040).

The tough trick is the pecking order when any Museum won't take something. If you go back to the Columbia accident, I had a close friend on board. I worked years with her. I knew when she was down in the dumps. Well, when she worked at Ames, she had one of those NeXT workstations (very important type of machine, I did some consulting to Jobs and Ross on it). Normally the NASA property guys are pains in the butt. But in a rare display, they noted hey, this obsolete MeXT may be curatorial worht something. The problem is that CHM and SI both shrugged and both agree it was likely important not to scrap it. CHM has lots of NeXT boxes. It has no room to just take another (in constrast it took an Apple PB-170 which flew on Columbia for an experiment). The SI has really no charter to collect computers (but it has a few, it really directs them CHM way I know some of the exceptions). So because San Diego was where we sent it. And when they get squared away again. It can be seen. Why SD? Close, cultivate a decent relation with them, etc. Then after them Montana, etc. Similar if a Museum were to fold, I think that if you ran that Museum, best to join with CHM because it has an endowment. Curators for their quirks notwithstanding.

A lot of this stuff has to be done quietly because Museums for the most part don't have money. Many people think they are purely publically funded.

It's a lot like Indiana Jones. You can be Indy, or you can be Beloq (in this era a lot of people would be behind him).

The Digibarn is good for certain things (has to be running). Etc.

--