Computers & Business Machines

Imagine the loss, 100 years from now, if museums hadn't begun preserving the artifacts of the computer age. The last few decades offer proof positive of why museums must collect continuously—to document technological and social transformations already underway.

The museum's collections contain mainframes, minicomputers, microcomputers, and handheld devices. Computers range from the pioneering ENIAC to microcomputers like the Altair and the Apple I. A Cray2 supercomputer is part of the collections, along with one of the towers of IBM's Deep Blue, the computer that defeated reigning champion Garry Kasparov in a chess match in 1997. Computer components and peripherals, games, software, manuals, and other documents are part of the collections. Some of the instruments of business include adding machines, calculators, typewriters, dictating machines, fax machines, cash registers, and photocopiers

Data General was primarily a mini-computer company. But in 1984, it introduced the Data General/One (DG-1), a breakthrough personal computer laptop.
Description
Data General was primarily a mini-computer company. But in 1984, it introduced the Data General/One (DG-1), a breakthrough personal computer laptop. The Data General/One weighed nine pounds, ran MS-DOS, had dual 3 ½" diskettes, a 79-key full stroke keyboard, 128 KB to 512 KB of RAM, and a monochrome LCD screen. It ran on a CMOS 80C88 processor. Unlike other "luggable" computers of the era, the DG-1 was light enough to carry on travel, but also powerful enough to emulate a desktop.
The DG-1 enjoyed only mediocre success. Its 3 ½" diskettes were slightly ahead of their time, and much popular software was not available in 3 ½" format. Adding to the problem, software copyright protection made copying into the 3 ½" format difficult. In addition, the DG-1 base price was relatively high at $2,895, and the real cost tended to be even higher, because users generally needed both more RAM and an external 5 ¼" drive to run disks from their desktop machines.
This example is a Model No. 2203 with serial number Q0026418.
The carrying case for the Data General/One (1995.0069.02) is divided into two sections. One contains the laptop-sized computer and a part for the floppy drive. the other contains:
1. two power cords
2. a modem cable
3. three 3 1/2" diskettes in a plastic fox. The diskettes all have a paper label that reads: Data General. One has no further marks. A second is marked: DATA GENERAL/ONE PERSONAL SYSTEM (/) MS-DOS REV 2.11 (/) DATA GENERAL CORPORATION (/) 1984 (/) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED (/) MICROSOFT CORPORATION (/) 1981 1982 1983 (/) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. A third is marked: DATA GENERAL / ONE PERSONAL SYSTEM (/) HOW TO USE YOUR DATA GENERAL/ONE. It is copyrighted 1984
4. a spiral-bound Data General One Owner's Manual, Dated September, 1984. The manual contains a loose sheet and a sheet and an owner's manual for the carrying case.
5. six miscellaneous documents on the computer in an envelope marked: Limited Warranty and Service Booklet
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1984
maker
Data General Corporation
ID Number
1995.0069.01
accession number
1995.0069
catalog number
1995.0069.01
This portable microcomputer, named Commuter, has an off-white case with a fixed black handle. To raise the lid, latches on each side of the case are released simultaneously.
Description
This portable microcomputer, named Commuter, has an off-white case with a fixed black handle. To raise the lid, latches on each side of the case are released simultaneously. Inside the lid, the 80 x 16 liquid crystal display (LCD) plugs in via a RJ11 cable to a connector just above the keyboard. The keyboard has 83 keys with a numeric pad to the right and a 10 function key pad to the left. Behind the keyboard, built into the case are two 360K 5¼” floppy disk drives. Above the keyboard on the left is the Commuter logo. A handwritten sticker on the outside rear of the computer notes that the memory was upgraded to 512K, the maximum amount allowed. The LCD display could be removed entirely and replaced by a larger external monitor for office or home use.
The IBM compatible unit uses the MS-DOS 2.1 operating system and an Intel 8088 processor. Although it has no internal expansion slots, it has 6 ports on the rear for cables that would connect to other devises. These ports include: 63 pin expansion, 24 pin asynchronous, 25 pin asynchronous/synchronous, parallel printer, RGB monochrome video (for an external monitor), and a composite video (for a color monitor).
Visual Computer Incorporated introduced the “Commuter” model in November 1983. Advertised as “Portable, IBM Compatible, Powerful, Affordable,” it weighed 16 pounds and sold for $1995. Visual ran ads in PC Magazine, Computerworld, and the American Bar Association Journal appealing to business executives who needed a computer when they traveled--the Commuter was a briefcase-sized portable computer with a handle.
The objects in accession 2017.0321, non-accessions 2017.3153 and 2018.3076 are related.
References:
PC Magazine, April 17, 1984. Advertisement pages 110-111.
Computerworld, June 11, 1984. Advertisement pages 68-69.
American Bar Association Journal, September 1984, Volume 70. Advertisement pages 22-23.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1983
ID Number
2017.0321.01
accession number
2017.0321
catalog number
2017.0321.01
This illustrated manual describes the basic operation of the PDP-8 minicomputer. It has DEC form number F-85.Currently not on view
Description
This illustrated manual describes the basic operation of the PDP-8 minicomputer. It has DEC form number F-85.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966
maker
Digital Equipment Corporation
ID Number
1994.3128.16
catalog number
1994.3128.16
nonaccession number
1994.3128
This illustrated paperback book is the second printing (April, 1974) of a compilation of computer games written in the programming language BASIC. David H. Ahl, an electrical engineer and educator working in the R & D division of Digital Equipment Company compiled it.
Description
This illustrated paperback book is the second printing (April, 1974) of a compilation of computer games written in the programming language BASIC. David H. Ahl, an electrical engineer and educator working in the R & D division of Digital Equipment Company compiled it. The book is arranged alphabetically by name of game. For each game, the book gives a general description, the name and address of the author, a printout of a program listing, and a printout of a sample run. Ahl also commented on computer systems suited to running some games - these usually were DEC systems.
This version of 101 Basic Computer Cames was published by DEC. Ahl left the company in late 1974 to join A. T. & T. as education marketing director. At the same time, he launched the magazine Creative Computing. A later edition of the book, designed for microcomputer users, would sell widely.
Reference: John J. Anderson, "Dave Tells Ahl - The History of Creative Computing," Creative Computing, 10 #11, November, 1984, pp. 67-68, 70, 72, 74.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1974
maker
Digital Equipment Corporation
ID Number
2014.3067.01
nonaccession number
2014.3067
catalog number
2014.3067.01
This small leaflet gives a list of operations performed by the PDP 8 minicomputer with corresponding mneumonics, codes, and cycles. It has DEC form number 5372.Currently not on view
Description
This small leaflet gives a list of operations performed by the PDP 8 minicomputer with corresponding mneumonics, codes, and cycles. It has DEC form number 5372.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965
maker
Digital Equipment Corporation
ID Number
1994.3128.14
catalog number
1994.3128.14
nonaccession number
1994.3128
This software program, Pizazz Plus, was developed for IBM personal computers and was published by Application Technique, Inc. in 1988-1989. The software, designed to improve your printed images, is contained on two 5.25” floppy disks and on one 3.5" floppy disk.
Description
This software program, Pizazz Plus, was developed for IBM personal computers and was published by Application Technique, Inc. in 1988-1989. The software, designed to improve your printed images, is contained on two 5.25” floppy disks and on one 3.5" floppy disk. Included in the original box are the software disks, a user’s guide update sheet, a user’s guide readme update sheet, an envelope with the licensing agreement, and an advertisement for HP color printers. The promotional material on the box states that the software gives you a rainbow of colors, 256 shaded of gray, and that it is "The Ultimate Screen Print And Capture Software."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1988-1989
ID Number
2012.3098.007
catalog number
2012.3098.007
nonaccession number
2012.3098
Steve Jobs preparing presentation at MacWorld Expo, Boston, Massachusetts, August 1997. (Jobs with laptop.)Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Steve Jobs preparing presentation at MacWorld Expo, Boston, Massachusetts, August 1997. (Jobs with laptop.)
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1997-08
depicted (sitter)
Jobs, Steve
maker
Walker, Diana
ID Number
2003.0250.127
accession number
2003.0250
catalog number
2003.0250.127
Steve Jobs preparing presentation at MacWorld Expo, Boston, Massachusetts, August 1997. (close-up face)Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Steve Jobs preparing presentation at MacWorld Expo, Boston, Massachusetts, August 1997. (close-up face)
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1997-08
depicted (sitter)
Jobs, Steve
maker
Walker, Diana
ID Number
2003.0250.125
accession number
2003.0250
catalog number
2003.0250.125
This is a component of BM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) Mark I computer. It has a black bakelite frame with metal interior and side. There is a single coil in the frame. A single plug and sixteen prongs extend from one side.
Description
This is a component of BM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) Mark I computer. It has a black bakelite frame with metal interior and side. There is a single coil in the frame. A single plug and sixteen prongs extend from one side. The coil is wrapped with a white covering.
Compare 324282.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
1983.3006.02
nonaccession number
1983.3006
catalog number
1983.3006.02
This booklet describes the development of the 3M Company Merchandise Data Recorder (see 1984.0932.01 for an example).
Description
This booklet describes the development of the 3M Company Merchandise Data Recorder (see 1984.0932.01 for an example). In a plastic pocket at the back of the binder is an advertising leaflet discussing EMC (Electronic Merchandise Control) and showing the system in use.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965
ID Number
1984.0932.02
accession number
1984.0932
catalog number
1984.0932.02
In the late 19th century, as American shopkeepers hired strangers to work in their stores, they showed a new concern for keeping track of retail transactions.
Description
In the late 19th century, as American shopkeepers hired strangers to work in their stores, they showed a new concern for keeping track of retail transactions. Azel Clarence Hough (1859-1946), the son of a creamery owner in South Butler, New York, took out a range of patents for the design and improvement of cash drawers between 1892 and 1899 (U.S. patents 484501, 486107, D22024, 534795 and 618034). His ideas served as the basis of the products of the Hough Cash Recorder Company of Indian Orchard, Massachusetts.
This example of Hough’s Security Cash Recorder is a large oak box with an oak lid. At the front on the right is a lock for the cash drawer; the drawer is on the lower left front. On top is an opening that shows a roll of paper. Salesclerks were required to enter a total on this paper roll and advance it in order to open the cash drawer.
This model is quite similar to the Hough Security Cash Register No. 70 shown in an advertisement reproduced in Crandall and Robins, p. 318. This machine sold for $15. Hough Cash Recorder Company advertised in Hardware Dealer’s magazine as late as June, 1906. However, its products were soon outpaced by the autographic registers sold by NCR.
In the early 20th century, Hough became interested in the manufacture of wooden blinds, and took out several related patents. He first manufactured shades in South Butler, then in Worcester, Massachusetts, and then in Janesville, Wisconsin. The Hough Shade Corporation he formed survives under the name of Hufcor.
References:
Dorothy Wiggins, “Town of Butler Agricultural & Comprehensive Plan," South Butler Public Forum – September 15, 2008, pp. 1–2.
American Lumberman, vol. 1, 1940, p. 58.
Richard R. Crandall and Sam Robins, The Incorruptible Cashier, vol. 2, Vestal, N.Y.: Vestal Press, 1990, pp. 316–318.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1895
maker
Hough Cash Recorder Company
ID Number
1983.0881.01
accession number
1983.0881
catalog number
1983.0881.01
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The double coil is black.Currently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The double coil is black.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324283
accession number
248831
catalog number
324283
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The single coil is silver-colored.Currently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The single coil is silver-colored.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324282
accession number
248831
catalog number
324282
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. This twelve-pole double throw relay has a white double coil and two plugs.Currently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. This twelve-pole double throw relay has a white double coil and two plugs.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324286
accession number
248831
catalog number
324286
This is the control panel and tape transport for the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The Mark I was one of the first machines that could be programmed to carry out calculations automatically.
Description
This is the control panel and tape transport for the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The Mark I was one of the first machines that could be programmed to carry out calculations automatically. Initially designed to solve scientific problems, it was used during World War II to carry out computations for the United States Navy. It was a one-of-a-kind machine. After the war, IBM would greatly expand its activity in computing to include electronic computers. Harvard began one of the first degree programs in computer science. People who had worked on the Mark I, such as Grace Murray Hopper, also went to work for other early computer manufacturers. More generally, many scholars and ordinary people first learned about "giant brains," as early computers were called, through workshops and press releases of the Harvard Computation Laboratory.
The cast iron object has gearing drive, card holder, electrical connection, and weight. Four drums carry punched tapes with programs.
References:
I. Bernard Cohen and Gregory W. Welch with the cooperation of Robert V. D. Campbell, Makin' Numbers: Howard Aiken and the Computer, Cambridge and London: MIT Press, 1999.
I. Bernard Cohen. Howard Aiken: Portrait of a Computer Pioneer, Cambridge and London: MIT Press, 1999.
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.323581
accession number
248831
catalog number
323581
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The a four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The single coil is black.Currently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The a four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The single coil is black.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324281
accession number
248831
catalog number
324281
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. This a four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The double coil is silver-colored.Currently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. This a four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The double coil is silver-colored.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324284
accession number
248831
catalog number
324284
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The electromechanical assembly contains a commutator with two plastic pieces, numbered around a circular opening to denote contacts.
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The electromechanical assembly contains a commutator with two plastic pieces, numbered around a circular opening to denote contacts. The numbers are the integers from 0 to 9. In addition the object includes a gear, contacts, a clutch and brushes.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324287
accession number
248831
catalog number
324287
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The twelve-pole double throw relay has a single black coil and two plugs.Currently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The twelve-pole double throw relay has a single black coil and two plugs.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324285
accession number
248831
catalog number
324285
Data was entered into the ASSC Mark I on punched tapes like this one.
Description
Data was entered into the ASSC Mark I on punched tapes like this one. As many as twenty-four holes could be punched in a single row.
Reference:
Harvard Computation Laboratory, A Manual of Operation for the Automatic-Sequence Controlled Calculator, President and Fellows of Harvard College, 1946, especially chapter 2.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324289
accession number
248831
catalog number
324289
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I.
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The electromechanical assembly contains seven commutators, each with a plastic piece on top of it with a hole in it, with numbers stamped around the hole to denote contacts. It has a metal frame, gear, contacts, clutch and brushes.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324288
accession number
248831
catalog number
324288
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The cast iron object has gearing drive, card holder, electrical connection, and weight.Currently on loan
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The cast iron object has gearing drive, card holder, electrical connection, and weight.
Location
Currently on loan
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.323580
accession number
248831
catalog number
323580
This is a small part of one of the first machines that could be programmed to carry out calculations automatically. Initially designed to solve scientific problems, it was used during World War II to carry out computations for the United States Navy.
Description
This is a small part of one of the first machines that could be programmed to carry out calculations automatically. Initially designed to solve scientific problems, it was used during World War II to carry out computations for the United States Navy. It was a one-of-a-kind machine. After the war, IBM would greatly expand its activity in computing to include electronic computers. Harvard began one of the first degree programs in computer science. People who had worked on the Mark I, such as Grace Murray Hopper, also went to work for other early computer manufacturers. More generally, many scholars and ordinary people first learned about "giant brains," as early computers were called, through workshops and press releases of the Harvard Computation Laboratory.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.323579
accession number
248831
catalog number
323579
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. More specifically, it is protective housing for card feed and hopper of the MarkCurrently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. More specifically, it is protective housing for card feed and hopper of the Mark
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.323583
accession number
248831
catalog number
323583

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