Rare Private Tour of Seattle's long-closed Living Computer Museum

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Twitter: @davepl1968 davepl1968

Thanks to the Facebook PDP-11 group for the PDP-11 footage/images!

Sample items from the collection:
Apple-1 Personal Computer (1976) - Estimated at $500,000-800,000 
Xerox Alto (1973) - Estimated at $5,000-8,000 
DEC PDP-10 KI-10 Mainframe Computer (1974) - Estimated at $30,000-50,000 
MITS Altair 8800 Microcomputer (1976) - Estimated at $3,000-5,000 
CDC 6500 Supercomputer - Featured as one of the iconic supercomputers
Cray-2 Supercomputer - Another supercomputer milestone included in the collection
IBM 1401 Mainframe Computer - Part of a large IBM system included in the auction

[williamsteele]

I was on the team that decommissioned the CDC 6500 at Purdue University back in 1989. We didn't care about that old machine, since we were getting our own Cray to replace it. If we had only known that it would have been preserved by Cray and displayed at this Museum later, we would have done things a little differently. I did get to help on the restoration because I wrote the two dead start routines to boot it. If you look at the Dead Start panel, you'll see white and yellow tags that indicate the two different dead start configurations, which selected the boot devices.

[raygunsforronnie]

Kind of heartbreaking that Mr Allen didn't make provisions to set up a museum endowment sufficient to keep it running (or hire a team to fund it) before his demise. So much labor and love were put into the restorations, it's sad to see it all up for auction like a sheriff's sale.

[nufosmatic]

17:59 - If you or your family "donated" to the museum, then dig up the old paperwork and make certain that you are not due a refund of the donation. Note a family donated the Carderock facility to the US Navy with the proviso that their son's name would not be removed from the facility. The Navy attempted to put a new name on it, and the family sued. Navy backed down in about a half second...

[chironbramberger]

Also thanks for not moving the camera constantly when you're showing these. Some people will go to a thing and try and film all the things... but they never stop moving the camera. They move it just like they are looking at it at the time. But you took the time to slowly and carefully show the shelves so we can actually take a moment and get a good look. Thanks!

[dhillaz]

The museum staff did an excellent job of cleaning and detailing this stuff, the condition of everything is stunning.

[tpcdude]

I can''t imagine how all the volunteers feel about the hours they put in restoring those computers.

[MoneySavingVideos]

I started computing in high school in 1967 with a teletype computer terminal connected by phone line to a mainframe computer.

[jackdaniels]

I visited the museum a few years back. It was so amazing to see all these machines that I read about working and available to actually sit down and use. This brought back so many memories from my childhood. It is very sad to hear that the machines are being sold off and not kept as a collection.

[Brian-L]

Wow, what a shame this collection is being dismantled. I was a few years post big iron and my entry point started on an Atari 800.
I had no idea this was a place, and now I wished I had. Thanks for the tour and good memories Dave.

[SteichenFamily]

I'm stunned that no one has stepped up to keep this collection together and open to the public. 😢

[lwilton]

Well, as someone that helped donate a working computer to the museum, one where I'd been one of the main OS developers for the prior 20 years, I can say fairly authoritatively that there is considerable sadness at the collection being parted out. I'd hoped to see the system again one last time in your short tour, but I'm not really surprised I didn't.

[cspargoyt]

I was today years old that I learned this place is closed. I visited here before my cruise to Alaska in summer of 2017 and had such a great time!

[XY_Dude]

Thank heavens at least you captured footage of that great place. I'm an old fogey that worked on the CDC 3100 many years ago as a technician. Saw all the generations of computers come and go through the ages. What a travesty that this treasure will be lost forever. So sad.

[e.oconnell]

I took my very young son there when I moved back to the Seattle area back in 2016. We've been waiting for it to open again to go back and view everything. Heartbreaking to see the museum being terminated.

[DigiDoggiVOD]

This museum was one of the most important places in Seattle to me. I took many friends here when they visited from out of town, and I'm genuinely so distressed at the loss of this incredible resource.

I was completely fascinated by the PLATO system they had there, and was delighted to use their Apple Lisa.

I hate Jody Allen more than a little for liquidating this museum's collection and selling it for tens of thousands of dollars on the Christie's auction site.

Word to the buyer of the Lisa: Its CRT is on its last legs. It's going to die. It's not worth $35, 000.

[jebug]

I was very fortunate to be able to visit the museum for my first and only time back in July of 2018. It is genuinely one of the most artful, soulful computing spaces ever composed, and it's devastating that it's shut down for good and being liquidated. I do hope that whoever ends up acquiring these machines -- especially the CDC 6500 -- have the skills, knowledge, and space needed to bring them back online and make them accessible to the public again. These computers deserve to sing their song for as long as they possibly can. The spirit of the machine meets you in the room where these are alive. Humanity is forever changed by the impact these machines had on our world, and I hope they can continue to bring people joy for decades and centuries to come.

[quesonegro]

I had no idea this place closed down. I visited before COVID during my birthday and had a blast. It was so incredible to see all those vintage computers in working order and actually being able to play around with them. I enjoyed the recreation of what was like an 80s living room with a bunch of old Magazines with BASIC programs. Also, the super computer section at the top and the guy who gave the tours was really awesome. Such a shame that I will never be able to visit it again, but I am glad I got the opportunity. A truly unique place.

[nickkinnan]

I'm glad I got to visit the museum before he passed. So cool to see all that computer history. A shame it can't continue to be shared.

[tombax]

I also went there in Feb 2020, the wood paneled "basement" was great, and I sat at the Apple II you showed in the computer lab to do the demo they had on the overhead projector. There was also a machine for making punched cards. I was with a group of friends, and we all took the time to make some punched cards. Another really fun area was off to the side of the first floor where they had a Connection Machine, I think it was a CM-2 with the front panel LEDs set up to be a digital clock. Purely eye candy. Very fun place and a long-time bucket list item. I'm really sad that this is how it ended. I wish it were still there so I could take more people with me to visit it.

[texperry]

I live in Portland, Oregon and got to visit the museum twice before it closed. The last time I was there I was chatting with one of the engineers maintaining the KL-10 and got invited to GO INTO THE BASEMENT ! This was where the stockpile of computer projects not yet started were stored. I thought I was in Disneyland. Row upon row of PDP-11's (11/70 included), IBM System 360's and 370's, IBM 1130, Univac systems, a Sequent Computer Systems system, disk drives, line printers, Datapoint systems... the list is endless. I don't know if these non-functional systems are included in the auction as I don't know where to get an auction listing. Just as Dave is lusting after an 11/70, I am lusting after the PDP-12 (functional) complete with dual DecTapes and A/D panel and their PDP-7 which was running BSD Unix last time I visited. I am just heartbroken the place is shut down forever. A LOT of nostalgia there ...