Computers & Business Machines

Apple II Personal Computer

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

Place: United States

Documentation - Hewlett-Packard HP-28C Getting Started Manual

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1987
maker
Hewlett-Packard Company
ID Number
1999.0291.02
catalog number
1999.0291.02
accession number
1999.0291

Book, 101 BASIC Computer Games

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

Samuel W. Francis Writing Machine

This is a typewriter patented by Dr. Samuel Ward Francis of Newport, Rhode Island in 1857.
Description
This is a typewriter patented by Dr. Samuel Ward Francis of Newport, Rhode Island in 1857. The patent received number 18,504 and claimed the principal improvements of arranging the hammers in a circle, a common printing center, with a key operation similar in manner to that of a piano. The typewriter consists of a wooden box with attached mechanism for typing. The ivory keyboard is similar to a piano's and extends the length of the front, earning the writing machine the “Literary Piano” nickname.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1857
maker
Francis, Dr. Samuel Ward
ID Number
ME.180060
catalog number
180060
accession number
21102

Software, Video Speed-Reading Trainer

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1979
ID Number
2012.3098.100
catalog number
2012.3098.100
nonaccession number
2012.3098

Corona Typewriter

This is a Corona Special typewriter that was manufactured by the L. C. Smith Corona Company during the 1920s. The Corona Special came in a variety of different colors besides gold including lavender, light maroon, channel blue, mountain ash scarlet, cream, and bruce green.
Description
This is a Corona Special typewriter that was manufactured by the L. C. Smith Corona Company during the 1920s. The Corona Special came in a variety of different colors besides gold including lavender, light maroon, channel blue, mountain ash scarlet, cream, and bruce green. The typewriter had a three-row QWERTY keyboard, and the typewriter’s carriage could fold down onto the keyboard making it compact and portable.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1920 - 1941
maker
L. C. Smith & Corona Typewriters Inc.
ID Number
ME.334780
catalog number
334780
accession number
314637
serial number
x646413

Hewlett-Packard HP-35 Handheld Electronic Calculator

The HP-35 was the first handheld electronic calculator to display all the functions represented on a slide rule. It has a black plastic case and a total of thirty-five square or rectangular plastic keys.
Description
The HP-35 was the first handheld electronic calculator to display all the functions represented on a slide rule. It has a black plastic case and a total of thirty-five square or rectangular plastic keys. These include ten digit keys, a decimal point key, and a pi key, all colored tan. In addition there are four arithmetic function keys left of the digit keys, a relatively long enter key, a change sign key, an enter exponent key, a clear x key, and a clear key, all in blue. Additional black keys are for powers, logs to base ten, natural logs, exponents, square roots, trigonometric functions (sine, cosine, tangent and the inverses of these), simple inverses, exchange, roll down, store, and recall. Above the keys is an on/off switch. There is no hole next to the switch to indicate that the display is on, as there was in the very first HP-35 calculators. Behind the switch is a red light emitting diode display that shows results. Numbers with absolute value between one hundredth and 10 billion are given in decimal form. Smaller or larger ones appear in scientific notation, with the appropriate power of ten occupying the three rightmost digit places (two for digits, one for a sign). The negative sign for the result, if needed, is at the far left. A mark on the front edge of the calculator reads: hp HEWLETT•PACKARD.
The back of the calculator has a plug for a three-prong power adapter (this example has no adapter), a compartment for a battery pack, four rubber feet, and a sticker entitled: HP-35 INSTRUCTIONS. Text below the sticker reads: HEWLETT-PACKARD (/) 3.75V SER. 1143A 25578 500mw (/) MADE IN U.S.A. PATENT PENDING. The first part of the serial number is printed, the last five digits are stamped with unit numbers 2 mm. high. A red sticker inside the battery pack reads: CAUTION (/) USE ONLY H. P. BATTERY PACK (/) MODEL NO 82001A (/) OTHER BATTERIES MAY DAMAGE CIRCUITS.
This calculator was part of the collection of John R. Priser. Who purchased it initially is not known.
References:
W.A.C. Mier-Jedrzejowicz, A Guide to HP Handheld Calculators and Computers , Tustin, California: Wilson/Burnett Publishing, 1997, pp. 36–39, 132.
David G. Hicks, The Museum of HP Calculators, http://www.hpmuseum.org/, accessed July, 2014.
Thomas M. Whitney, France Rodé, and Chung C. Tung, “The ‘Powerful Pocketful’: an Electronic Calculator Challenges the Slide Rule,” Hewlett-Packard Journal, June 1972, pp. 2–9.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1972
maker
Hewlett-Packard Company
ID Number
1986.0988.258
catalog number
1986.0988.258
accession number
1986.0988

Leaflet, PDP 8 Instruction List

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

Altair 8800 Microcomputer Plug-In Cards

Seventeen computer boards for the Altair 8800 microcomputer.Not long after Intel introduced its 8080 microprocessor, a small firm in Albuquerque, New Mexico, named MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems) announced a computer kit called the Altair, which met the social
Description
Seventeen computer boards for the Altair 8800 microcomputer.
Not long after Intel introduced its 8080 microprocessor, a small firm in Albuquerque, New Mexico, named MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems) announced a computer kit called the Altair, which met the social as well as technical requirements for a small personal computer. MITS succeeded where other, more established firms had failed, and it was their machine that inaugurated the personal computer age. MITS got its start in computing in 1971, when it introduced an electronic calculator kit. Several thousand sold before 1974, when the sharp reduction in calculator prices drove the company out of that market.
H. Edward Roberts, the Florida-born former U.S. Air Force officer who headed MITS, decided to design a small, affordable computer around the Intel 8080. His daughter named the new machine after the star Altair. It was the first microcomputer to sell in large numbers. In January 1975, a photograph of the Altair appeared on the cover of the magazine Popular Electronics. The caption read “World's First Minicomputer Kit to Rival Commercial Models.” According to the magazine, the machine sold as a kit for $395, and assembled for $498. Roberts had hoped to break even by selling 200 Altairs. Within three months he had a backlog of 4,000 orders.
Enthusiasm for the Altair and other personal computers spawned computer hobbyist clubs, computer stores, newsletters, magazines, and conventions. By 1977, a host of companies, large and small, were producing microcomputers for a mass market. This phenomenon was abetted by a design decision to make the Altair an "open" machine. In other words, it passed data along a channel called a bus, whose specifications were not kept a secret. That way both MITS and other companies could add memory cards, cards to control a printer or other devices as long as they adhered to the published standards.
This particular Altair was collected by the Smithsonian because it documents how hobbyists would outfit the machine with additional parts and components. The user added his own keyboard, monitor, disk drive, and 17 plug-in boards to expand the computer’s capability. Unfortunately, the original owner of the kit is unknown. The computer was donated to the Smithsonian by a second owner, Mark Sienkiewicz, who purchased it as a collectable item and never used it.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1975
maker
Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems
ID Number
2007.0032.05
catalog number
2007.0032.05
accession number
2007.0032

Microsoft Windows NT OS/2 Design Workbook

This binder contains the original design specifications for “NT OS/2,” an operating system designed by Microsoft that developed into Windows NT.
Description
This binder contains the original design specifications for “NT OS/2,” an operating system designed by Microsoft that developed into Windows NT. In the late 1980s, Microsoft's 16-bit operating system, Windows, gained popularity, prompting IBM and Microsoft to end their OS/2 development partnership. Although Windows 3.0 proved to be successful, Microsoft wished to continue developing a 32-bit operating system completely unrelated to IBM's OS/2 architecture. To head the redesign project, Microsoft hired David Cutler and others away from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). Unlike Windows 3.x and its successor, Windows 95, NT's technology provided better network support, making it the preferred Windows environment for businesses. These two product lines continued development as separate entities until they were merged with the release of Windows XP in 2001.
Authors of sections of the design workbook include David N. Cutler, Helen Custer, Daryl E. Havens, Jim Kelly, Edwin Hoogerbeets, Gary D. Kimura, Chuck Lenzmeier, Mark Lucovsky, Tom Miller, Michael J. O'Leary, Lou Perazzoli, Steven D. Rowe, David Treadwell, and Steven R. Wood.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1989
creator
Microsoft Corporation
team leader
Cutler, David N.
maker
Microsoft Corporation
ID Number
2001.3014.01
nonaccession number
2001.3014
catalog number
2001.3014.01

Software and Documentation, FDM (Floppy Disk Maintenance) by Adventure International

This software program, FDM (Floppy Disk Maintenance), was developed by All Systems Go for Adventure International, a division of Scott Adams, Inc. It was released in 1981 for the TRS-80 Model I.
Description
This software program, FDM (Floppy Disk Maintenance), was developed by All Systems Go for Adventure International, a division of Scott Adams, Inc. It was released in 1981 for the TRS-80 Model I. The software is contained on a 5.25” floppy disk and includes an instruction card and manual. The manual states that the program was “designed to enable novice users to maintain and align disk drives."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1981
maker
Adventure International
ID Number
2012.3098.004
catalog number
2012.3098.004
nonaccession number
2012.3098

Sheet, Correspondence of Jim Reeds

In February of 2006, computer scientist Jim Reeds of Princeton, New Jersey, sent Stanford professor emeritus of computer science Donald Knuth two electronic messages pointing out flaws in the third edition of the second volume Knuth's book The Art of Computer Programming.
Description
In February of 2006, computer scientist Jim Reeds of Princeton, New Jersey, sent Stanford professor emeritus of computer science Donald Knuth two electronic messages pointing out flaws in the third edition of the second volume Knuth's book The Art of Computer Programming. As was his custom, Knuth printed out the messages and penciled in his comments. Knuth found one error sufficiently significant to award Reeds a check for 32 cents. He mailed the printouts of the messages with the check to Reeds in Princeton. These materials constitute object 2012.0251.01. Reeds drafted a reply to Knuth on another printout of one of his messages. This consitutes 2012.0251.02. According to Reeds, this message was not sent.
For related materials, see 2012.0251.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2006
ID Number
2012.0251.02
catalog number
2012.0251.02
accession number
2012.0251

JC Penney MM3R Handheld Electronic Calculator

This four-function calculator has a tan plastic case, an array of ten oval digit keys, and a decimal point key. It also has four blue arithmetic function keys to the right of these and has clear entry and clear keys to the left. A constant switch is above the clear keys.
Description
This four-function calculator has a tan plastic case, an array of ten oval digit keys, and a decimal point key. It also has four blue arithmetic function keys to the right of these and has clear entry and clear keys to the left. A constant switch is above the clear keys. The on/off switch is on the right above the keyboard. A mark to the left of it reads: JCPenney. The eight-digit LED display is at the back. The back edge has a socket for a power adapter.
A sticker on the back reads: JCPenney (/) Electronic Calculator (/) VOLTAGE 6V CURRENT 0.2A (/) MODEL MM3R SERIAL No. 126131 (/) Made in U.S. A.
This model is similar to the Commodore MM3R and probably was made by Commodore.
J. C. Penney is a chain of American department stores.
Reference:
Guy Ball and Bruce Flamm, The Complete Collector’s Guide to Pocket Calculators, Tustin, CA: Wilson/Barnett, 1997, pp. 81–82.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1975
maker
J.C. Penney Company
ID Number
1986.0988.271
catalog number
1986.0988.271
accession number
1986.0988

Mainframe Computer Component, Capacitor Bank Delay Line

This metal frame contains a cylindrical metal rod with nineteen red and orange tiles soldered to it. The tiles each have an array of six colored circles on them.The object is associated with Margaret Fox. May come from the SEAC computer.Currently not on view
Description
This metal frame contains a cylindrical metal rod with nineteen red and orange tiles soldered to it. The tiles each have an array of six colored circles on them.
The object is associated with Margaret Fox. May come from the SEAC computer.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1955
ID Number
2013.3034.08
catalog number
2013.3034.08
nonaccession number
2013.3034

Mainframe Computer Component, Vacuum Tube Support with Grounding Legs

This small device has holes for nine pins at one end. A metal ring around this end has six metal connecting pieces. There are three metal connectors below this and six further ones toward the other end.
Description
This small device has holes for nine pins at one end. A metal ring around this end has six metal connecting pieces. There are three metal connectors below this and six further ones toward the other end. A further small metal piece is attached at the other end.
The object is associated with Margaret Fox and may come from the SEAC computer.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2013.3034.07
catalog number
2013.3034.07
nonaccession number
2013.3034

Corona No. 3 Typewriter

This is a Corona Three folding typewriter that was manufactured by the Corona Typewriter Company of Groton, New York around 1930. The Corona Three was an extremely popular typewriter, produced from 1912 until 1941. This model has serial number 650136, dating it to 1930.
Description
This is a Corona Three folding typewriter that was manufactured by the Corona Typewriter Company of Groton, New York around 1930. The Corona Three was an extremely popular typewriter, produced from 1912 until 1941. This model has serial number 650136, dating it to 1930. This typewriter’s platen and carriage can fold down to rest on the keyboard, allowing it to become compact and portable.
The success of the Standard Typewriter Company’s Corona Three model typewriter prompted the company to change its name to the Corona Typewriting Company in 1914. In 1926 the company joined with the L. C. Smith & Brothers Typewriting company in to become Smith-Corona. Smith-Corona manufactured typewriters and typewriter accessories throughout the 20th century, becoming Smith Corona Marchant in 1958. After two bankruptcies, Smith Corona returned to operation in 2010 as a thermal paper manufacturing company.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1924 - 1926
maker
L. C. Smith & Corona Typewriters Inc.
ID Number
ME.330702
catalog number
330702
accession number
296465
serial number
x650136

National Semiconductor Novus 4520 Handheld Electronic Calculator, the Scientist

In 1975 Novus, the Consumer Products branch of National Semiconductor Corporation, introduced a series of handheld electronic calculators known as the “Professionals.” As a June, 1975, advertisement in the Chicago Tribune put it, these were designed to fill the gap between “very
Description
In 1975 Novus, the Consumer Products branch of National Semiconductor Corporation, introduced a series of handheld electronic calculators known as the “Professionals.” As a June, 1975, advertisement in the Chicago Tribune put it, these were designed to fill the gap between “very expensive calculators offering every feature in the book” and “‘Mickey Mouse’ models which were much less costly, but which just didn’t have what it takes to do the job.” The least expensive of these calculators was The Mathematician, which initially sold for $69.95. Others in the series included the Programmable Mathematician, The Financier, The Programmable Financier, The Statistician, The Programmable Statistician, and The International Computer (later sold as The International Converter). By 1976, Novus had also introduced The Scientist and The Programmable Scientist.
This is an example of the Novus Scientist. The calculator has a black plastic case, thirty-five rectangular plastic keys, and a plastic display cover. At the bottom of the keyboard are ten digit keys, a decimal point key, and a clear key. To the right of these is a column of four arithmetic function keys. The function of these keys is marked on the keys themselves. Also included among the marked keys is an enter key—the calculator used reverse Polish notation.
To the right and above these keys are a variety of function keys. The function of the keys is indicated on the keyboard. A mark above the keyboard reads: Scientist. Behind the keyboard is an eight-digit red LED display. A mark above this reads: NOVUS. The jack for a power adapter is along the back edge and a power switch is on the left edge.
The calculator has no separate battery compartment. A sticker with instructions on the back (upside down in this case) reads in part: NOVUS 4520. It also reads at the bottom: NOVUS – Consumer Products from National Semiconductor Corp. (/) Made in U.S.A. It also reads: Serial No. (/) 126956. Text on the bottom of the case reads: MADE IN USA (/) U609.
Compare the National Semiconductor Scientist (1986.0988.063).
References:
[Advertisement], Chicago Tribune, June 1, 1975, p. A16. Novus Scientist not mentioned.
[Advertisement], Los Angeles Times, April 17, 1976, p. C5. Novus Scientist selling for $39.95.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1976
maker
National Semiconductor Corporation
ID Number
1986.0988.228
accession number
1986.0988
catalog number
1986.0988.228

Hall Index Typewriter

Thomas Hall was awarded patent number 238,387 on March 1, 1881 for his “Type-Writer” design represented in this typewriter. The Hall Typewriter was manufactured by the Hall Typewriter Company of New York, New York, beginning in 1881.
Description
Thomas Hall was awarded patent number 238,387 on March 1, 1881 for his “Type-Writer” design represented in this typewriter. The Hall Typewriter was manufactured by the Hall Typewriter Company of New York, New York, beginning in 1881. The company moved from New York to Salem in 1887, then Boston in 1889, producing a similar model typewriter in all three locations. This Salem variant of the Hall index typewriter began to be produced in 1887. Index typewriters have no keyboard—the characters are selected by a pointer system. In the Hall index typewriter each hole on the grid corresponds to a character, pushing the key through the hole imprints the letter on the page and shifts the page over one space. This typewriter is contained in a wooden carrying case, with a metal handle and a metal plaque that bears the image of a feather with the inscription “HALL TYPE WRITER Co./TRADEMARK/SALEM, MASS.”
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Hall Typewriter Co.
ID Number
ME.314603
catalog number
314603
accession number
205421

Portable Computer, Apple iPod

Originally sold in 2001 by Apple Inc. as a portable music player exclusively for Macintosh’s operating system, the iPod’s market share began to grow as it included Windows operability in 2002 and introduced its iTunes Store in 2003.
Description
Originally sold in 2001 by Apple Inc. as a portable music player exclusively for Macintosh’s operating system, the iPod’s market share began to grow as it included Windows operability in 2002 and introduced its iTunes Store in 2003. This15 GB iPod could operate using either Mac or Windows software. It has serial number JQ41344SQQF and model number A1040. With the object is the original box. Also in the box are a User's Guide, a Quick Reference chart, a warranty, a software license agreement, a sheet describing Apple Store, a CD entitled “iPod”, and a connector cable. There is space for earphones, but they were not included the donation because the original earphones died.
The donor, Elizabeth Gresk, was an intern in the computer collections at the National Museum of American History in the fall of 2009.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2003-2004
maker
Apple Computer, Inc.
ID Number
2010.0022.1
accession number
2010.0022
catalog number
2010.0022.1

Altair 8800 Microcomputer Plug-In Card

A computer board for the Altair 8800 microcomputer.Not long after Intel introduced its 8080 microprocessor, a small firm in Albuquerque, New Mexico, named MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems) announced a computer kit called the Altair, which met the social as well a
Description
A computer board for the Altair 8800 microcomputer.
Not long after Intel introduced its 8080 microprocessor, a small firm in Albuquerque, New Mexico, named MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems) announced a computer kit called the Altair, which met the social as well as technical requirements for a small personal computer. MITS succeeded where other, more established firms had failed, and it was their machine that inaugurated the personal computer age. MITS got its start in computing in 1971, when it introduced an electronic calculator kit. Several thousand sold before 1974, when the sharp reduction in calculator prices drove the company out of that market.
H. Edward Roberts, the Florida-born former U.S. Air Force officer who headed MITS, decided to design a small, affordable computer around the Intel 8080. His daughter named the new machine after the star Altair. It was the first microcomputer to sell in large numbers. In January 1975, a photograph of the Altair appeared on the cover of the magazine Popular Electronics. The caption read “World's First Minicomputer Kit to Rival Commercial Models.” According to the magazine, the machine sold as a kit for $395, and assembled for $498. Roberts had hoped to break even by selling 200 Altairs. Within three months he had a backlog of 4,000 orders.
Enthusiasm for the Altair and other personal computers spawned computer hobbyist clubs, computer stores, newsletters, magazines, and conventions. By 1977, a host of companies, large and small, were producing microcomputers for a mass market. This phenomenon was abetted by a design decision to make the Altair an "open" machine. In other words, it passed data along a channel called a bus, whose specifications were not kept a secret. That way both MITS and other companies could add memory cards, cards to control a printer or other devices as long as they adhered to the published standards.
This particular Altair was collected by the Smithsonian because it documents how hobbyists would outfit the machine with additional parts and components. The user added his own keyboard, monitor, disk drive, and 17 plug-in boards to expand the computer’s capability. Unfortunately, the original owner of the kit is unknown. The computer was donated to the Smithsonian by a second owner, Mark Sienkiewicz, who purchased it as a collectable item and never used it.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1975
maker
Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems
ID Number
2007.0032.05.13
catalog number
2007.0032.05.13
accession number
2007.0032

First Draft of the Programming Language COBOL

During 1959 the first plans for the computer language COBOL emerged as a result of meetings of several committees and subcommittees of programmers from American business and government.
Description
During 1959 the first plans for the computer language COBOL emerged as a result of meetings of several committees and subcommittees of programmers from American business and government. This heavily annotated typescript was prepared during a special meeting of the language subcommittee of the Short-Range Committee held in New York City in November. COBOL programs would actually run the following summer, and the same program was successfully tested on computers of two different manufacturers in December 1960.
Reference: Jean E. Sammet, "The Early History of COBOL," History of Programming Languages, ed. Richard L. Wexelblat, New York: Academic Press, 1981, 199-277.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1959
maker
Conference on Data Systems Languages. Language Subcommittee of the Short-Range Committee
ID Number
2010.3050.4
catalog number
2010.3050.4
nonaccession number
2010.3050

Software, KeyEdit

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1980
ID Number
2012.3098.084
catalog number
2012.3098.084
nonaccession number
2012.3098

Morse-Vail Telegraph Key

Alfred Vail made this key, believed to be from the first Baltimore-Washington telegraph line, as an improvement on Samuel Morse's original transmitter.
Description
Alfred Vail made this key, believed to be from the first Baltimore-Washington telegraph line, as an improvement on Samuel Morse's original transmitter. Vail helped Morse develop a practical system for sending and receiving coded electrical signals over a wire, which was successfully demonstrated in 1844.
Morse's telegraph marked the arrival of instant long-distance communication in America. The revolutionary technology excited the public imagination, inspiring predictions that the telegraph would bring about economic prosperity, national unity, and even world peace.
Date made
1844
used date
1844
demonstrator
Morse, Samuel Finley Breese
Vail, Alfred
maker
Vail, Alfred
Morse, Samuel Finley Breese
ID Number
EM.181411
catalog number
181411
accession number
31652

Hewlett-Packard HP-25 Handheld Electronic Calculator

This handheld electronic calculator, relatively small and simple for a calculator sold by Hewlett-Packard, was introduced on February 1, 1975 and sold through 1978. It was one a series of calculators of this size that also included the HP-21, HP-22, HP-25C, HP-27, and HP-29C.
Description
This handheld electronic calculator, relatively small and simple for a calculator sold by Hewlett-Packard, was introduced on February 1, 1975 and sold through 1978. It was one a series of calculators of this size that also included the HP-21, HP-22, HP-25C, HP-27, and HP-29C. The calculator has a tan plastic case with a black or dark brown keyboard and thirty rectangular plastic keys. Many keys take on different meanings if the gold "f" shift key or the blue "g" shift key is pressed. The calculator has limited programming capabilities but no device for storing instructions from one session to the next. Behind the keyboard are an on/off switch, a program/run switch, and a twelve-digit LED display (either ten digits plus sign, or eight significant digits plus two digits of an exponent plus signs for both). A mark on the front edge reads: hp HEWLETT • PACKARD 25.
The reverse side of the calculator has prongs for a power adapter/recharger as well as a battery compartment with a frame for two batteries. Stamped above the battery pack is the number: 1511A25777. The first four numbers of the serial number indicate that the calculator was made in the eleventh week of 1975. A tag at the base of the back reads: HEWLETT-PACKARD (/) MADE IN USA(/) 2.5 V 500mW.
The calculator is in a black plastic zippered carrying case marked: ti. It does not fit well.
In November, 1975, the calculator sold for $195.
References:
W.A.C. Mier-Jedrzejowicz, A Guide to HP Handheld Calculators and Computers , Tustin, California: Wilson/Burnett Publishing, 1997, pp. 46–48, 132.
David G. Hicks, The Museum of HP Calculators, http://www.hpmuseum.org/, accessed July, 2014.
Randall Neff and Lynn Tillman, “Three New Pocket Calculators: Smaller, Less Costly, More Powerful,” Hewlett-Packard Journal, November 1975, pp. 2-7, 12. Much of the issue is devoted to the HP-21, HP-22 and HP-25.
[Advertisement], Electronics, vol. 48 #23, November 13, 1975, pp. 92-93.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1975
maker
Hewlett-Packard Company
ID Number
1987.0435.09
catalog number
1987.0435.09
accession number
1987.0435

Documentation, Price List for the Altair 8800 and Related Computers and Software

This paper sheet, dated April 1, 1976, lists prices for Altair "main frames" (the 8800 A, 680F, and 680T), terminals, memory, input/output and expansion devices, software, and miscellaneious parts.
Description
This paper sheet, dated April 1, 1976, lists prices for Altair "main frames" (the 8800 A, 680F, and 680T), terminals, memory, input/output and expansion devices, software, and miscellaneious parts. For related documentation and software, see the remainder of the non-accession.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1976
maker
Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems
ID Number
2013.3016.03
nonaccession number
2013.3016
catalog number
2013.3016.03

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