NPR Life: Computer History Museum
In one corner of a cubicle pod in the Digital Media Tech Team section, a little museum has sprung up. It’s grown in fits and starts for the past two or three years, new items just showing up without any fanfare. There’s no curator or entrance fee, but it’s managed to collect some genuine artifacts over time.
Here’s a list of the current exhibits.
Apple Macintosh SE
Circa 1987. $2900.
It has been turned on recently and is in working condition. Still shows the happy mac and plays the startup sound. I’m not sure of the complete history, but it was the museum’s first acquisition, donated by a departing NPR employee, whom I believe was the original owner.
“Mastering WordStar” Book
Circa 1984. Authored by Vincent Alfieri. $19.95
“Clear, complete coverage of the most popular word processor.”
“Inside the Apple Macintosh” Book
Circa 1989. Authored by Jim Heid and Peter Norton. $24.95.
“Behind the Macintosh’s user-friendly interface is a sophisticated machine with the computing potential — and complexity — of a mainframe.”
Commodore 128 System Diskette
Circa 1985. Two 5 1/4 disks. One contains the CP/M Plus Version 3.0 OS, and the other is a Tutorial Disk.
“Why Doesn’t My Floppy Disk Flop? And Other Kids’ Computer Questions Answered by the CompuDudes” Book
Circa 1999. Authored by Peter Cook and Scott Manning. $12.95.
For the best answers, coolest Web sites, and excellent cyber-activities…
The museum is always open for new submissions.
