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
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Wang LOCI-2 Electronic Calculator
- Description
- One of the first programmable electronic calculators, this instrument was announced in 1964 and sold from 1965. It was designed by An Wang (1920-1990) and his associates. Wang, a native of Shanghai, immigrated to the United States after World War II, studied computer science at Harvard University, and worked at the Harvard Computation Laboratory. He started his own business in 1951, producing magnetic core memories and other electronic equipment on order. The LOCI or “logarithmic calculating instrument” was the first product marketed by the company. Two versions of the machine were announced: the LOCI I, which was not programmable, and the LOCI II, which was.
- The desktop machine has nine digit keys arranged in an array, as well as a zero bar and a decimal point key. Depressing other keys changes the sign of the number, shifts the decimal point, shifts from the logarithmic to the work register, and shifts from the work to the logarithmic register. Further keys are for arithmetic operations, squares, square roots, inverse squares, inverse square roots, inverse logarithms, and clearance of various registers. To the right are controls for the decrement counter, the program counter, and the operation code. According to company advertising, the machine offers ten-digit precision in addition and subtraction and eight-digit precision in multiplication, division, exponentiation, root extraction, and logarithm computation. It has five storage registers of ten-digit capacity and a ten-digit display, plus a display for the sign of the answer. A cooling fan and a cord are at the back. The card reader attachment that plugs into the back holds program cards.
- A tag on the front of the machine reads: LOCI-2. A tag on the back reads: ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS AND DEVICES (/) LOCI II (/) MODEL NO. 2AB (/) SERIAL NO. 2734 (/) TEWKSBURY, MASS. U.S.A. A paper tag on the back of the machine indicates that it was serviced 4/28/68, 9/12/68, and 2/9/71.
- According to a 1964 flier, the machine was to sell for $4,750.00. Kenney says that the initial price was $6,500. Wang Laboratories would go on to sell the 300 series of calculators (from 1966) and the 700 series (from 1969), and to manufacture minicomputers and networked microcomputers.
- For related objects and documents, see 1980.0096.02 through 1980.0096.10.
- Compare 1980.0096.01 with the later 1983.0171.01 (a Wang Series 700 calculator), and the even later 2011.0022.01 (a Wang Series 600 calculator).
- References:
- There is an extensive discussion of the LOCI II at the website of the Old Calculator Museum. See:http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/wangloci.html
- Wang Laboratories, Inc., “LOCI-2 Open New Vistas to your Personal Computing . . .,” Tewksbury, Ma., 1964. This is 1980.0096.08. A similar leaflet describes the LOCI-1 and has museum number 1980.0096.07.
- Charles C. Kenney, Riding the Runaway Horse: The Rise and Decline of Wang Laboratories, Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1992.
- date made
- 1965 or later
- date received
- 1980
- maker
- Wang Laboratories
- ID Number
- 1980.0096.01
- catalog number
- 1980.0096.01
- accession number
- 1980.0096
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Philips Velo 1
- Description
- The Velo 1, made by Philips in 1997, is a personal digital assistant weighing less than a pound. The owner could use popular Microsoft programs, send faxes, surf the Web, record voice memos, and much more. It used a stylus instead of a mouse to navigate the screens. Files, e-mails, and other data could be synchronized between the Velo 1 and a desktop computer using a docking station and ActiveSync software.
- This handheld device shipped with Microsoft’s Windows CE version 1 operating system. Bundled with the operating system were Microsoft’s “Pocket” versions of Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Internet Explorer. Other applications included calculator, voice memo recording, world clock, bFAX Pro, PC Link, Remote Networking, and Solitaire.
- The overall case is dark gray. Printed in the lower right corner of the cover is the name “Philips”. The left side of the cover is a silver- colored insert with “VELO1 4MB” printed on it. (The 4MB refers to the amount of RAM.) The front edge of the device has three indicator lights (recharging, serial connection, alarm). The top edge has the spring-loaded open button on the right and the omnidirectional microphone on the left. Inside is a standard 61-key QWERTY keyboard (the ten numeric keys are preprogrammed to access the primary applications when used with the alt key). To the upper left of the keyboard is the power button, and to the upper right is the slot for storing the stylus. The LCD screen displays 480x240 pixels in grayscale. To the left of the screen is a flip door for the RJ-11 phone jack, to the upper right, the backlight button. The serial connector for the docking station, DC power adapter jack, and infared port are located on the left edge of the keyboard. The contrast dial is located on the right edge of the screen. The back houses the main battery compartment (secured with a spring-loaded slide button), backup battery compartment (secured with a miniature Phillips screw), RAM card slot (secured with a miniature Phillips screw), a flip-door covering the Type II PC Card V connector, and the Flash/ROM slot (secured with a spring-loaded slide button). The power sources for this device are a NiMH battery pack (rated to last 8-10 hours), or two AA batteries (rated to last 8-12 hours), or AC power.
- The objects in accession 2016.0361 and non-accession 2016.3194 are related.
- date made
- 1997
- designer
- Philips
- maker
- Philips
- ID Number
- 2016.0361.01
- accession number
- 2016.0361
- catalog number
- 2016.0361.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Texas Instruments SR-10 Handheld Electronic Calculator
- Description
- This is an example of the first model of a scientific calculator marketed by Texas Instruments. The handheld electronic calculator has a black and ivory-colored plastic case with an array of twenty-three plastic keys. Twenty-one of these are square, the 0 and the total keys are rectangular. In addition to ten digit keys, a decimal point key, a total key, and four arithmetic function keys, the calculator has a reciprocal key, a square key, a square root key, a change sign key, an enter exponent key, a clear key, and a clear display key. Text above the keyboard, just below the display and to the left, reads: SR10. Behind the keyboard is a 12-digit LED display. Numbers larger than eight digits are displayed in scientific notation. A mark behind the display reads: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS. An on/off switch is right and slightly above this.
- The back edge of the calculator has a jack for a recharger/adapter. A sticker on the back gives extensive instructions. It also gives the serial number SR10 275812.
- Unscrewing screws near the top and bottom of the back reveals the workings of the calculator. It has a total of five chips. The largest of these is marked TMS 0120 NC (/) C7333. This is a TMS0120 chip, manufactured in mid-1973. Also in the case is space for three AA nickel-cadmium batteries.
- The leather zippered case has both a loop and a hook for attaching the calculator to a belt. It also holds an instruction pamphlet entitled Texas Instruments electronic slide rule calculator SR-10, copyrighted 1973. A warranty registration on the inside of the back page indicates these instructions were originally sold with an SR-10 calculator with serial number 170334, purchased on September 27, 1973.
- Texas Instruments described the SR-10 as an “electronic slide rule calculator,” hence the “SR” in the name. The first version of the device, introduced in 1972, did not have the mark SR-10 on the keyboard. The second version (introduced 1973) and the third (introduced 1975) did. This is an example of the first version. According to Ball & Flamm, it initially sold for $149.95.
- Compare 1986.0988.351, 1986.0988.354, and 1986.0988.356.
- References:
- Guy Ball and Bruce Flamm, The Complete Collector’s Guide to Pocket Calculators, Tustin, CA: Wilson/Barnett, 1997, p. 153.
- The online Datamath Museum includes versions of the SR-10 from 1972, 1973, and 1975.
- date made
- 1972
- Date made
- 1973
- maker
- Texas Instruments
- ID Number
- 1986.0988.354
- catalog number
- 1986.0988.354
- accession number
- 1986.0988
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Personal Digital Assistant, Apple Cadillac PDA
- Description
- This portable, pen-operated personal digital assistant has a black plastic case and a clear screen. A space for an electronic pen is above the screen, although the pen presently with the device does not fit into the space. The pen can be plugged in to either the left or the right side of the Cadillac.
- Below the screen is an Apple logo. A tag on the left of the screen reads: SEUTØ13. A tag on the back reads: SEUTØ13 (/) IC.
- The Cadillac is a manufacturer’s prototype of the Newton personal digital assistant – Apple would sell the Newton from 1993 until 1998. This example of the Cadillac was owned by Rodney Sol Furmanski (1963-2009), a mechanical engineer by training who worked at Claris as a test engineer. He used the object to test the Newton operating system.
- Source:
- Accession file.
- date made
- ca1990
- maker
- Apple Computer, Inc.
- ID Number
- 2010.0023.1
- accession number
- 2010.0023
- catalog number
- 2010.0023.1
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Handheld Electronic Calculator Prototype - Texas Instruments Cal Tech
- Description
- This prototype handheld electronic calculator was built in the Semiconductor Research and Development Laboratory at Texas Instruments in Dallas, Texas, by a team led by Jack Kilby (1923–2005), co-inventor of the integrated circuit. By the mid-1960s, TI was building microchips for industrial and military applications. The company president, Pat Haggerty, sought a consumer product that would use chips, just as earlier TI transistors had found wide use in transistor radios. Haggerty proposed a variety of possible products, and Kilby and his colleagues settled on making a small electronic calculator. TI had given an earlier development program the code name Project MIT. The calculator work, also confidential, was dubbed Project Cal Tech.
- Machines that performed basic arithmetic had sold from the mid-19th century, for use in business and government. Desktop electronic calculators with vacuum tubes sold from 1961, and with transistors from 1964. Kilby envisioned something much smaller that would be roughly the size of a book. This required a smaller keyboard, a new form of display, a portable power supply, and a new memory and central processor. Kilby assigned design of the keyboard to James Van Tassel, and gave work on the memory and processor to Jerry Merryman. He took responsibility for the output and power supply himself.
- By September 1967 Kilby, Merryman, and Van Tassel had made enough progress to apply for a patent. The submitted a revised patent in May 1971 and a further revision in December 1972. This final application received U.S. Patent No. 3,819,921 on June 25, 1974.
- The prototype resembles the “miniature electronic calculator” shown in the patent drawings. It has a metal case painted black and an array of seventeen keys and a zero bar. In addition to nine digit keys, there are keys for a decimal point, four arithmetic functions, clear (C), error (E), and print (P). The on/off switch is at the back right and a thermal printer with a thin strip of paper at the back left. The power supply plugs into the back of the calculator and into the wall.
- An inscription on the front of the calculator reads: THE FIRST CAL TECH (/) PRESENTED TO P. E. HAGGERTY (/) MARCH 29, 1967.
- Depressing a button on the front edge of the machine releases the cover and reveals an intricate “integrated circuit array” (to use the terminology of the patent description) and three chips. The array contained four integrated circuits, each the size of a wafer usually made with several chips on it.
- Further refinement of the Cal Tech led to the commercial Pocketronic calculator, introduced by Canon in Japan in 1970 and in the United States in 1971. Texas Instruments began selling calculators under its own name in 1972.
- References:
- Kathy B. Hamrick, “The History of the Hand-Held Electronic Calculator,” American Mathematical Monthly, 102, October 1996, pp. 633–639.
- Jack Kilby, Oral History with Arthur L. Norberg, June 21, 1984, Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota. A transcript is available online. Accessed June 18, 2015.
- T. R. Reid, The Chip: How Two Americans Invented the Microchip and Launched a Revolution, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1985.
- Jeffrey Zygmont, Microchip: An Idea, Its Genesis, and the Revolution It Created, Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing, 2003.
- date made
- 1967
- maker
- Texas Instruments
- ID Number
- CI.336000
- catalog number
- 336000
- accession number
- 319050
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Microcomputer, Google Glass
- Description
- The Google Glass, a wearable microcomputer, consists of a silver and black colored headset with an optical display (glass), worn like a pair of glasses. The wearer communicates with the internet via touch and voice commands. Information is displayed on the glass (screen) mounted just above the right eye or it may be read to the wearer. The power button is located on the inner side near the temple. The device is designed with built in camera (for pictures and videos, located on the front next to the glass) and a speaker (located on the inner side of the arm, behind the right ear). The battery is located near the end of the right arm.
- Accessories included are two carrying cases, clear shield with protective case, sun shades with a protective case, power adapter, USB power cord, and nose guards.
- This example was received with a box marked Explorer Edition model no. XE-B.
- It was worn by Google executive Vinton Cerf.
- date made
- ca 2013
- wearer
- Cerf, Vinton
- maker
- Google, Inc.
- ID Number
- 2016.0058.01
- model number
- XE-B
- accession number
- 2016.0058
- catalog number
- 2016.0058.01
- maker number
- ELDMB132215684
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Hewlett-Packard HP-35 Handheld Electronic Calculator
- 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 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 LED display that shows results. Numbers with absolute value between one hundredth and 10 billion are given in decimal form. Smaller or larger figures 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, a compartment for a battery pack, four rubber feet, and a sticker entitled: HEWLETT•PACKARD MODEL 35 INSTRUCTIONS. Text below the sticker reads: HEWLETT-PACKARD (/) 3.75V 500MW (/) MADE IN USA PATENT PENDING. A sticker inside the battery pack reads: HEWLETT-PACKARD (/) SER.NO. 1249A 11780. The portion 1249 of the serial number indicates that it was made in the forty-ninth week of 1972. A red sticker on the lid of the battery pack reads: CAUTION (/) USE ONLY H. P. BATTERY PACK (/) MODEL NO 82001A (/) OTHER BATTERIES MAY DAMAGE CIRCUITS. A sticker on the outside top of the calculator reads: PROPERTY OF (/) Dr. R. E. Zupko.
- In addition to the calculator, the gray plastic case contains a power adapter (1991.0210.01.2) labeled in part: HEWLETT - PACKARD (/) MODEL 82002A. It also has a carrying pouch (1991.0210.1.3). For the related manual, see 1991.0210.02.
- In this and a few other early HP-35 electronic calculators, entering the function 2.02 ln (e x) gave a result of 2 rather than 2.02. In this example, the owner chose not to have the error fixed.
- The donor, Ronald E. Zupko, was an historian of weights and measures and a professor at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
- 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.
- Accession file.
- date made
- 1972
- maker
- Hewlett-Packard Company
- ID Number
- 1991.0210.01.1
- catalog number
- 1991.0210.01.1
- accession number
- 1991.0210
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Mainframe Computer Component, Magnetic Wire Cartridge for the SEAC Computer
- Description
- This metal cartridge contains wire used to enter programs on the SEAC computer. A paper ring atop the cartridge lists programs on it. The object is mounted on a wooden backing with a metal plaque that describes the contents of the cartridge.
- A wire cartridge was used to enter data onto the SEAC from at least 1954. The machine went out of service in 1964. This is not the first version of the demonstration cartridge. Hence the date assigned.
- date made
- ca 1960
- maker
- National Bureau of Standards
- ID Number
- 2013.0084.02
- accession number
- 2013.0084
- catalog number
- 2013.0084.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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IBM SCAMP
- Description
- Some personally operated computers, such as this one, came from companies traditionally associated with larger machines. In late 1972, the IBM General Systems Division in Atlanta, Georgia, asked the IBM Scientific Center in Palo Alto, California, to develop a product that would raise the visibility of the programming language APL. Paul Friedl and his colleagues in Palo Alto spent six months developing this pioneering portable computer, known as the SCAMP (Special Computer, APL Machine Portable). The prototype used existing components - a cathode ray tube from Bell Brothers, Inc., for the display; a Norelco audiotape cassette recorder for secondary storage; a keyboard from IBM in Raleigh, North Carolina; memory cards from IBM Germany; and a PALM microprocessor board from IBM in Boca Raton, Florida. The APL language processor emulated one for the existing, much larger, IBM 1130 computer.
- The SCAMP is designed to be a portable and folds into a suitcase-like frame. The upper part, including the monitor, pops up when in use. The frame is chocolate brown and the cover and upper part are almond white.
- Friedl and his colleagues used the SCAMP in over one hundred demonstrations. A menu on the screen indicated possible uses – as a calculator or for financial analysis, project planning, educational drill, engineering analysis, or statistical analysis. The machine served as a prototype for the IBM 5100 portable computer, a machine announced in 1975 that sold for between $8975 and $19,575 and found a range of applications. Some consider the SCAMP as the grandfather of the highly successful IBM Personal Computer (IBM 5150), introduced in 1981.
- References:
- Paul J. Friedl, “SCAMP: The Missing Link in the PC’s Past?” PC Mag: The Independent Guide to IBM Personal Computers, November 1983, vol. 2 no.6, pp. 190-197.
- Jonathan Littman, “The First Portable Computer: The Genesis of SCAMP, Grandfather of the Personal Computer,” PC World, October 1983, pp. 294-300.
- Date made
- 1973
- maker
- IBM
- IBM
- ID Number
- 1988.0681.01
- catalog number
- 1988.0681.01
- accession number
- 1988.0681
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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WorkSlate Microcomputer
- Description
- In 1983 Convergent Technologies, Inc., introduced this light weight portable personal computer. Advertised as “an information processing tool designed to meet business needs,” it sold with an integrated set of three business applications – memo pad, phone list, and calendar. At least eight other proprietary software worksheets were available.
- Power sources included AC power, or a NiCad battery pack, or four AA batteries. Two “button” type batteries (Union Carbide #186, made in USA) maintained the contents of the memory for about 7 days without other power sources connected. To conserve power, the WorkSlate automatically shut off after five minutes of non-use.
- The computer display screen is a liquid crystal display (LCD), approximately 6”w x 3”h. It displayed forty-six characters across and fourteen rows down.
- The sixty keys of the keyboard were color coded to indicate their purpose. Yellow represented principal operations such as backspace, cancel, on/off, and Do It. (The Do It key performs execute/enter functions). White identified the letters, numbers, and main punctuation marks. Keys marked in green were used in conjunction with the green “Special” key to access extended operations and characters.
- The microcassette player/recorder used 1½” h x 2½ w tape cassettes to load software worksheets, store data, and record phone messages.
- The computer included communication connections. Connected to a phone with standard RJ11 cable, it could be used as a speaker phone. Using the phone list application, it could auto-dial numbers. Using a microcassette, it could function as an answering machine. The Comm Port, when linked to the WorkSlate, provided the means to connect with other WorkSlate devices to send or receive worksheets, with printers, or link to a modem to access an electronic information service. According to the reference guide, by subscribing to an electronic information service, you could “receive data on almost any subject imaginable”.
- The objects in accession 2016.0253 and non-accession 2016.3134 are related.
- date made
- 1983
- maker
- Convergent Technologies, Inc.
- ID Number
- 2016.0253.01
- accession number
- 2016.0253
- catalog number
- 2016.0253.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
