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

Lloyd's E419 Handheld Electronic Calculator

This handheld electronic calculator has a worn gray plastic case and twenty-four square plastic keys. In addition to ten digit keys, a decimal point key, and a total key; it has a change sign key, four arithmetic function keys, a percentage key, and four memory keys.
Description
This handheld electronic calculator has a worn gray plastic case and twenty-four square plastic keys. In addition to ten digit keys, a decimal point key, and a total key; it has a change sign key, four arithmetic function keys, a percentage key, and four memory keys. The power switch is above this. Text behind this reads LLOYD’S. Behind this is the eight-digit vacuum fluorescent display. A power jack is on the back edge.
A compartment at the base of the back would hold four batteries. A sticker above this reads in part: LLOYD’S 6V D.C. 300mW (/) MODEL E419 SERIES 255A. It then gives several examples for operating the calculator. Text below this reads: SERIAL NO. 5F-117623 (/) MADE IN JAPAN.
The calculator has a black carrying case.
For further information about Lloyd’s Electronics, Inc., see 1986.0988.218.
References:
[Advertisement], Albuquerque Journal, July 22, 1976, p. 25. Lloyd’s E419 advertised as on sale for $12.99.
[Advertisement], San Antonio Express, July 22, 1976, p. 91. Lloyd’s E419 advertised as on sale for $12.99.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1976
maker
Lloyd's Electronics
ID Number
1986.0988.217
catalog number
1986.0988.217
accession number
1986.0988

Button, Quark, Do It With Style QuarkStyle

This oval-shaped button has a gray background with green text that reads: "Do It With Style QuarkStyle.” A mark in black ink on the reverse reads: "BCS Mac Mega meeting 3/19/89.”Currently not on view
Description
This oval-shaped button has a gray background with green text that reads: "Do It With Style QuarkStyle.” A mark in black ink on the reverse reads: "BCS Mac Mega meeting 3/19/89.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1989
ID Number
2009.3071.592
catalog number
2009.3071.592
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Button, Quickeys 2

This circular button has black text on a white background that reads: This Summer's Hottest Sequel. It has the Quikeys 2 logo and text in red, blue, and yellow. A mark in black ink on the reverse reads: Mac World Boston 8/90.Currently not on view
Description
This circular button has black text on a white background that reads: This Summer's Hottest Sequel. It has the Quikeys 2 logo and text in red, blue, and yellow. A mark in black ink on the reverse reads: Mac World Boston 8/90.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1990
ID Number
2009.3071.215
catalog number
2009.3071.215
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Advertising Button, Corporate Computing

This circular button is the seventh of ten in a series of Corporate Computing campaign buttons from 1992. White, red and blue text on a red, white, and blue background reads: Cast Your Ballot for Corporate Computing. The design also includes three white stars in the blue area.
Description
This circular button is the seventh of ten in a series of Corporate Computing campaign buttons from 1992. White, red and blue text on a red, white, and blue background reads: Cast Your Ballot for Corporate Computing. The design also includes three white stars in the blue area. A mark in black ink on the reverse side of the button reads: PC Expo 6/92 NY 7/10.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1992
maker
unknown
ID Number
2009.3071.028
catalog number
2009.3071.028
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Button, Carbon Copy Mac MicroCom

This rectangular magnet has black and white text on a black and white background that reads: Carbon Copy Mac MicroCom. On the white background is a black silhouette of man with a hat. On the black background is a white silhouette of man with hat.Currently not on view
Description
This rectangular magnet has black and white text on a black and white background that reads: Carbon Copy Mac MicroCom. On the white background is a black silhouette of man with a hat. On the black background is a white silhouette of man with hat.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1990
ID Number
2009.3071.399
catalog number
2009.3071.399
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Concurrence Version 1.0 Software for the NeXT Microcomputer

A paper box includes three 4 1/2" hard discs with Concurrence outlining and presentation software, as well as one spiral-bound notebook of instructions.Currently not on view
Description
A paper box includes three 4 1/2" hard discs with Concurrence outlining and presentation software, as well as one spiral-bound notebook of instructions.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1992.
1992
maker
Lighthouse Design, Ltd.
ID Number
2016.3132.01
catalog number
2016.3132.01
nonaccession number
2016.3132

OTC Button

This circular button has a blue OTC logo in the center with red stars around the border.Currently not on view
Description
This circular button has a blue OTC logo in the center with red stars around the border.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1990s
ID Number
2009.3071.224
catalog number
2009.3071.224
nonaccession number
2009.3071

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
2007.0032.05.02
catalog number
2007.0032.05.02
accession number
2007.0032

Computer Game on Cartridge, Pinball Spectacular

"Pinball Spectacular," this computer game on cartridge for the VIC-20 microcomputer, is in its original box.Currently not on view
Description
"Pinball Spectacular," this computer game on cartridge for the VIC-20 microcomputer, is in its original box.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1982
maker
Commodore Business Machines, Inc.
ID Number
1987.0249.47
accession number
1987.0249
catalog number
1987.0249.47

Graphc Artists Guild Button

This circular button has white text in a black circle that reads: Graphic Artists Guild. In the center is a black and white guild logo. A mark in black ink on the reverse reads: SigGroup '87.Currently not on view
Description
This circular button has white text in a black circle that reads: Graphic Artists Guild. In the center is a black and white guild logo. A mark in black ink on the reverse reads: SigGroup '87.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1987
ID Number
2009.3071.517
catalog number
2009.3071.517
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Victor 95 Handheld Electronic Calculator

This handheld electronic calculator has an orange and brown plastic case with an array of seventeen large plastic keys, most of them square. These include ten digit keys, a decimal point key, a total key, four arithmetic function keys, a constant key, and a clear key.
Description
This handheld electronic calculator has an orange and brown plastic case with an array of seventeen large plastic keys, most of them square. These include ten digit keys, a decimal point key, a total key, four arithmetic function keys, a constant key, and a clear key. The on/off switch is above these on the left. A mark right of this reads: VICTOR. Behind these is an eight-digit red LED display. A power jack is on the back edge.
Extensive operating instructions are molded into the plastic of the back of the case. These read in part: Made in Canada For (/) VICTOR COMPTOMETER CORPORATION (/) Model No. 95 (/) Current 6 Volts D.C. Further text reads: Date Mfd. ELG41.
A hard plastic lid fits over the calculator and also can be used to rest it at an angle.
Victor Comptometer Corporation traced its roots to Dorr E. Felt’s invention of a key-driven mechanical adding machine called the Comptometer in the 1880s.
Compare Radio Shack EC225 (1986.0988.039). Both devices were made in Canada by General Instrument.
References:
[Advertisement], Los Angeles Times, August 9, 1975, p. C4. Special price $23.95.
Guy Ball and Bruce Flamm, The Complete Collector’s Guide to Pocket Calculators, Tustin, CA: Wilson/Barnett, 1997, p. 176.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1974
maker
Victor Comptometer Corporation
General Instruments
ID Number
1986.0988.247
catalog number
1986.0988.247
accession number
1986.0988

Photograph of Ralph Slutz in His Office at the National Bureau of Standards

In this small color image a message on the blackboard behind Slutz reads: DEAR (/) RALPH (/) I'm going away to Calif. (/) Pleas don't neglect (/) the plants until I come back. (/) Love ISR. This may be a message from collegue Ida S.
Description
In this small color image a message on the blackboard behind Slutz reads: DEAR (/) RALPH (/) I'm going away to Calif. (/) Pleas don't neglect (/) the plants until I come back. (/) Love ISR. This may be a message from collegue Ida S. Rhodes.
The photograph is laminated with plastic on front and back. It may have a paper core.
The object is associated with Margaret Fox.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 1950s
maker
National Bureau of Standards
ID Number
2013.3034.23
nonaccession number
2013.3034
catalog number
2013.3034.23

Madge Networks Button, Ring Leader

This circular button has red text on a white background that reads: Ring Leader. Madge Networks. It has a red arrow that encircles the text.Currently not on view
Description
This circular button has red text on a white background that reads: Ring Leader. Madge Networks. It has a red arrow that encircles the text.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1990s
ID Number
2009.3071.236
catalog number
2009.3071.236
nonaccession number
2009.3071

InfoWorld Button, I've Evolved

This circular button has blue text on a red background that reads: I've Evolved. It has a white and black InfoWorld logo. A mark in black ink on the reverse reads: Comdex Spring '89.Currently not on view
Description
This circular button has blue text on a red background that reads: I've Evolved. It has a white and black InfoWorld logo. A mark in black ink on the reverse reads: Comdex Spring '89.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1990
c 1989
ID Number
2009.3071.457
catalog number
2009.3071.457
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Traveling Software Button, WHAT Party?

This circular button has white text on a red background that reads: WHAT Party? It has white question marks on the background and a white Traveling Software logo. A mark in black ink on the reverse reads: Comdex 6/90.Currently not on view
Description
This circular button has white text on a red background that reads: WHAT Party? It has white question marks on the background and a white Traveling Software logo. A mark in black ink on the reverse reads: Comdex 6/90.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1990
ID Number
2009.3071.508
catalog number
2009.3071.508
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Magnavox Odyssey Video Game Unit, 1972

When most people think about the first video game, they think of Pong, the ping-pong arcade game released by Atari in 1972. However, months earlier, Magnavox had released its Magnavox Odyssey, a home video game system based on the “Brown Box,” a prototype invented by Ralph Baer.
Description
When most people think about the first video game, they think of Pong, the ping-pong arcade game released by Atari in 1972. However, months earlier, Magnavox had released its Magnavox Odyssey, a home video game system based on the “Brown Box,” a prototype invented by Ralph Baer. Additional games and accessories, like a lightgun, were sold in separate packages.
Since the Odyssey had limited graphic capabilities and displayed only a few small white blocks and a vertical line on the screen, Magnavox included translucent color overlays to provide settings and layouts for the games. Perhaps most surprising to modern gamers, the Odyssey also came with nonelectronic game accessories such as dice, decks of cards, play money, and poker chips. These accessories were possibly included to make the Odyssey more like the physical games that existed at the time.
With approximately 350,000 units sold, Magnavox Odyssey was not considered a commercial success, especially in comparison with Pong’s runaway popularity. Among the contributing factors, poor marketing played a large role. Many potential consumers were under the impression—sometimes encouraged by Magnavox salesmen—that Odyssey would only work on Magnavox television sets. Despite these setbacks, Magnavox Odyssey made its mark by starting the video game console industry.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1972
inventor
Baer, Ralph H.
manufacturer
Magnavox Company
ID Number
2006.0102.08
catalog number
2006.0102.08
accession number
2006.0102

Integraph Lapel Pin

This rectangular lapel pin has a spring-loaded clasp. The background is green-blue with a gold border and gold underlined text reading: INTERGRAPH. The reverse is made of gold-colored metal marked "NCGA 4/91" in red permanent ink.
Description
This rectangular lapel pin has a spring-loaded clasp. The background is green-blue with a gold border and gold underlined text reading: INTERGRAPH. The reverse is made of gold-colored metal marked "NCGA 4/91" in red permanent ink. The clasp is dull gold-colored metal.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1991
ID Number
2009.3071.681
catalog number
2009.3071.681
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Intel Inside Lapel Pin

This lapel pin is in the shape of the Intel 'swirl' logo and has a butterfly clutch clasp. It has a gold background with a blue border that follows the line of the swirl. Blue text within the swirl reads: intel inside.
Description
This lapel pin is in the shape of the Intel 'swirl' logo and has a butterfly clutch clasp. It has a gold background with a blue border that follows the line of the swirl. Blue text within the swirl reads: intel inside. The reverse is of gold-colored metal, as is the clasp.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2009.3071.735
catalog number
2009.3071.735
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Hewlett-Packard HP-28S Handheld Electronic Calculator

Hewlett-Packard launched this handheld graphing calculator a year after its HP-28C and the two devices are quite similar. The HP-28S had a larger memory, operated more rapidly, and had a subdirectory structure for variables.
Description
Hewlett-Packard launched this handheld graphing calculator a year after its HP-28C and the two devices are quite similar. The HP-28S had a larger memory, operated more rapidly, and had a subdirectory structure for variables. The case, keyboards, and display are as described for 1999.0291.01. Text above the display reads: hp HEWLETT (/) PACKARD. It also reads: 28S. Further text reads: ADVANCED (/) SCIENTIFIC CALCULATOR. Molded plastic on the back reads: [copyright mark] HEWLETT-PACKARD CO. 1986 (/) MADE IN U.S.A. 2801A04666. The first four digits of the serial number indicate that the calculator was made in the first week of 1988.
Hewlett-Packard introduced the HP-28S at the January 1988, meeting of the American Mathematical Society, held in Atlanta, Georgia. This meeting began the centennial celebrations of the AMS. Members attending the banquet could purchase an HP-28S with their banquet ticket for an extra charge of $60 (the banquet itself cost $30, the calculator alone $235. A December 1988, article gives the price of the calculator as $165 to $239). Professor Andrew Gleason of Harvard University acquired this calculator at that banquet. A sticker on the cover of the calculator reads: AMERICAN MATHEMATICS (/) 100 (/) YEARS (/) 1888-1988.
A spiral-bound manual received with the calculator has title Hewlett-Packard Advanced Scientific Calculator Reference Manual HP-28S. It is dated October 1987.
The HP-28S sold into 1992.
References:
W.A.C. Mier-Jedrzejowicz, A Guide to HP Handheld Calculators and Computers , Tustin, California: Wilson/Burnett Publishing, 1997, pp. 84–85, 88, 133.
David G. Hicks, The Museum of HP Calculators, http://www.hpmuseum.org/, accessed July, 2014.
Accession file.
P. A. Kidwell, A. Ackerberg-Hastings and D. L. Roberts, Tools of American Mathematics Teaching, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008, esp. pp. 307-308.
M. Muciño, “Buyer’s Guide to Graphics Calculators,” Mathematics Teacher, vol. 81 #9, December 1988, pp. 705, 707-708.
Ivars Peterson, “Mathematics: Calculus in the Palm of Your Hand,” Science News, vol. 133 #4, January 23, 1988, p. 62.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1988
maker
Hewlett-Packard Company
ID Number
2012.0063.01
accession number
2012.0063
catalog number
2012.0063.01

OS/2 Lapel Pin

This square lapel pin has a butterfly clutch clasp. The black background has a gold border and text running diagonally; colored in segments of red, yellow and pale green and outlined in gold. It reads: OS/2.
Description
This square lapel pin has a butterfly clutch clasp. The black background has a gold border and text running diagonally; colored in segments of red, yellow and pale green and outlined in gold. It reads: OS/2. The reverse is of gold-colored metal and reads "Spring 8 9" in black permanent ink. The clasp is gold-colored metal.
Compare 2009.3071.693.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2009.3071.694
catalog number
2009.3071.694
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Mainframe Computer Component, Connector

A black wooden or plastic cylindrical rod. Near one end are two prongs. Near the other end is one prong.Compare to 2013.3034.13The object is associated with Margaret Fox and may come from the SEAC computer.Currently not on view
Description
A black wooden or plastic cylindrical rod. Near one end are two prongs. Near the other end is one prong.
Compare to 2013.3034.13
The object is associated with Margaret Fox and may come from the SEAC computer.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2013.3034.14
catalog number
2013.3034.14
nonaccession number
2013.3034

Button, Don't Think About Word Processing Just Write

This circular button has white, pink and green text on a black background that reads: Don't Think About Word Processing Just Write. A mark in black ink on the reverse reads: Comddex '85.
Currently not on view
Description
This circular button has white, pink and green text on a black background that reads: Don't Think About Word Processing Just Write. A mark in black ink on the reverse reads: Comddex '85.

Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1985
ID Number
2009.3071.424
catalog number
2009.3071.424
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Advertising Button, Apple, Laser Writer

This square button has black text on a white background that reads: The Apple Personal Laser Writer NTR. It's powerful. And well connected. At the top left is the multi-color Apple logo and at the bottom right is a black and white Postscript logo.
Description
This square button has black text on a white background that reads: The Apple Personal Laser Writer NTR. It's powerful. And well connected. At the top left is the multi-color Apple logo and at the bottom right is a black and white Postscript logo. A mark in black ink on the reverse reads: PC Expo 6/92 NY.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1992
maker
Apple Computer, Inc.
ID Number
2009.3071.153
catalog number
2009.3071.153
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Advertising Button, Logitech

This circular button has black text on a white background that reads: Logitech. In black, green and red is the Logitech logo (eye with arrow). A mark in black ink on the reverse reads: Windows Expo 8/90.
Description
This circular button has black text on a white background that reads: Logitech. In black, green and red is the Logitech logo (eye with arrow). A mark in black ink on the reverse reads: Windows Expo 8/90. The pin mechanism is a stick pin, rather than a clasp, and sticks out past edge of button.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1990
ID Number
2009.3071.090
catalog number
2009.3071.090
nonaccession number
2009.3071

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