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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Sex and the City Computer
- Description
- Manhattan newspaper columnist Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker used this laptop to record her observations on modern relationships in the risqué comedy series Sex and the City (HBO, 1998-2004).
- Frank, witty, and often outrageous, the Emmy Award-winning cable show won millions of loyal fans with its depiction of four women friends and their romantic urban escapades. It also established cable TV as a competitive producer of original programming. Sex and the City set fashion trends, from Manolo Blahnik shoes to cosmopolitan cocktails, and provoked cultural debates about sex, relationships, and gender roles.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1998-2004
- maker
- Apple Computer, Inc.
- ID Number
- 2004.0163.01
- accession number
- 2004.0163
- catalog number
- 2004.0163.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Microcomputer Peripheral, Silicon Graphics 1600SW Flat Panel Monitor
- Description
- This Silicon Graphics1600SW (super-wide), 17.3 inch diagonal ultra-high resolution flat panel monitor was added to the O2 workstation early in 2000. The adapter card was installed by the donor. The monitor was made by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation in the O2 workstation colors, blue and black.
- The monitor came with a digital camera for video conferencing and a color sensor to calibrate the monitor's color display.
- See 2016.3032.05 for monitor documentation and systems software. See 2016.3032.06 for adapter card installation tools.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1998 - 2000
- maker
- Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
- ID Number
- 2016.0057.02
- accession number
- 2016.0057
- catalog number
- 2016.0057.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Global Positioning System, Garmin GPS StreetPilot 2720
- Description
- This Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver uses information transmitted from four or more satellites in the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) to deduce its own location.
- The unit is made of gray colored plastic. It has a touch screen with four buttons (FIND, MENU, MAP, SPEAK) on the front. The back has connectors for the power and USB cords. On the bottom of the unit is the post for the dash mounting base. The car adapter power cord contains a speaker to verbally communicate directions to the user.
- Accessories include: power cord, USB connector, car adapter power cord, dash mounting base, remote control, screen cover, portable friction mount, oval backing disks for mounting base, and a setup and map data dvd. Object received in original box.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 2005
- maker
- Garmin Corporation
- ID Number
- 2016.0058.03
- accession number
- 2016.0058
- catalog number
- 2016.0058.03
- serial number
- 42639086
- model number
- 2720
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Certificate of Appreciation for Those Working on a Y2K Project
- Description
- This computer-generated sheet acknowledges the contribution of an employee of the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to exterminating the Y2k "bug." It is signed by George A. Braley and Janice G. Lilja, and was given to the museum by Lilja.
- For related objects, see 2016.0138.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 2000
- ID Number
- 2016.3118.01
- catalog number
- 2016.3118.01
- nonaccession number
- 2016.3118
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Diskette with Text for September 11 Witness Story Web Page
- Description
- This 3 1/2" diskette contains the text used for the September 11 Witness Story page on the NMAH website.
- Web designer David McOwen, a member of the New Media Office at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, used these materials when designing sections of the NMAH website.
- The entire Smithsonian website is preserved by the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 2002
- ID Number
- 2017.3148.03
- nonaccession number
- 2017.3148
- catalog number
- 2017.3148.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Texas Instruments TI-Navigator System, Wireless Network for Electronic Calculators
- Description
- By 2007 Texas Instruments calculators were used primarily in classrooms, often in conjunction with computers. The Navigator Learning System, copyrighted in 2004, linked individual student calculators wirelessly to a teacher’s computer. It included four network hubs, four network connectors (each of which could connect to four calculators), a charging bay, a charging bay power adapter AC9940, a network hub power adapter, sixteen TI-Navigator seventy-two-inch input/output cables, and four network hub clamps. A mark on one of the hubs reads: S/N:206 1041298 (/) MAC: 00093700A152 DATE:S-0706A. Another mark reads: MADE IN CHINA.
- A sheet in French, Spanish, and English gives electrical information and a warranty. A leaflet describes radio frequency interference. A booklet describes the license agreement. The hub and charging bays are marked: MADE IN CHINA. A mark on the box reads: Made in Taiwan.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 2006
- maker
- Texas Instruments
- ID Number
- 2007.0179.04
- accession number
- 2007.0179
- catalog number
- 2007.0179.04
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Flowmaker Button, No Excuses
- Description
- This circular button has black text on a white background that reads: No Excuses. It has a black flowMaker logo. Surrounding the words it has a red circle with a slash through it.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- c 2000
- ID Number
- 2009.3071.427
- catalog number
- 2009.3071.427
- nonaccession number
- 2009.3071
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Moore Business Forms Continuous Forms Planning Rule
- Description
- This steel rule was used in the design of early computer printouts produced by dot matrix printers. The rule has a scale of 18" along one side, divided to 1/32" for the first two inches and then to 1/16". Each inch division, up to 17, is labeled with a number of punch cards, starting with 140 cards at 1" and going up to 2,380 cards. A hole 3/16" in diameter is placed at each 1/4" and 3/4" mark up to 11-1/4" (23 holes total). These were used for setting pinfeed holes down the side of the forms for continuous feeding.
- The center of the instrument has four holes 7/16" in diameter and four holes 5/8" in diameter. These are for designing holes to be punched in forms for filing. The front of the rule also has a scale of inches divided to 1/10", with subdivisions numbered from 1 to 130. This scale is a printer spacing chart, allowing the user to determine the space required for fields to be printed on the form, since each character required 1/10" of space. The rule is marked: MOORE BUSINESS FORMS, INC. Branches across the (/) United States & Canada. It is also marked at the right end: MADE IN U.S.A.
- The back of the rule has a scale of inches divided to 1/12" along one edge. Along the other edge is a scale in units of 5/32" that is numbered from 1 to 100. A scale labeled "RG" has divisions the same size and is numbered from 1 to 45. This side is also marked: MOORE BUSINESS FORMS, INC. Branches across the (/) United States & Canada.
- According to the donor, the 18"-size rule was considered more desirable than a 16" such as the example in the collections made by Graphic Technology (see 2006.0174.04). Fanfold paper such as that manufactured by Moore Business Forms was used from the mid-1950s into the 2000s, in association with both punched card equipment and computers.
- Reference: "RR Donnelley Business Forms History," http://www.rrdonnelley.com/print-solutions/forms/history.aspx.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- mid 20th century
- ID Number
- 2006.0174.03
- catalog number
- 2006.0174.03
- accession number
- 2006.0174
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Advertising Button, Mustang Software Inc., Wildcat
- Description
- This circular button has black text on a yellow background that reads: I'm a Sysop. It has a purple 'Wildcat 4' logo in center and the Mustang Software Inc. logo and the slogan "Connecting the world" along the bottom.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- c 2000s
- ID Number
- 2009.3071.196
- catalog number
- 2009.3071.196
- nonaccession number
- 2009.3071
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Button, Advertising, Percussion Software
- Description
- This 14-pointed star-shaped button has an off-white background with a black border. The black text across the center reads: "Percussion 2005." The dark yellow text below reads: "Make Domino Shine." In the upper part of the star is a green and black logo. It has small lights on every other point of the star.
- Percussion Software was founded in 1994 in Woburn, MA by Alan Matthews, Barry Reynolds, and John Devine. They created add-ons for Lotus Notes.
- Reference:
- https://www.percussion.com/about-us/
- [Last accessed 6-5-2019]
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- c 2005
- ID Number
- 2009.3071.609
- catalog number
- 2009.3071.609
- nonaccession number
- 2009.3071
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Texas Instruments TI-89 Titanium Handheld Electronic Calculator
- Description
- This symbolic graphing calculator, sold by Texas Instruments, was introduced in 2004 as an improved version of the TI-89. The handheld electronic calculator has a black plastic case with a sliding cover that can also serve as a stand, and a silver plastic keyboard. It has an array of forty-one plastic keys of diverse shapes, many of which can take on three meanings. These include a wide number of arithmetic, trigonometric, statistical, algebraic, and analytic functions. Letters of the alphabet also can be represented. The calculator also has three arrow keys, plus a row of five keys immediately under the display that relate to graphing, tables, and preprogrammed functions. In addition to performing a wide range of calculations, the calculator could display text or icons. It also could display two-dimensional graphs of rectangular, parametric or polar functions simultaneously, either overlapping or on a split screen. Three-dimensional functions also could be shown. It also could list tables and calculate and display derivatives and integrals of functions.
- A mark above the display reads: TI-89 Titanium (/) TEXAS INSTRUMENTS TI-89. A cable allowed sharing data with other instruments.
- A mark toward the top of the back of the calculator reads: 2035034432 S-0604A. A compartment below this holds four AAA batteries as well as a small 303 CR or SR44SW backup battery. A mark inside the battery compartment reads in part: MADE IN CHINA. Further text indicates that the design was copyrighted in 2004.
- Included with the calculator are USB and link cables, a manual, a CD with instructions, and two advertising sheets.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 2004
- maker
- Texas Instruments
- ID Number
- 2006.0214.01
- catalog number
- 2006.0214.01
- accession number
- 2006.0214
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Supercomputer Component, Roadrunner TriBlade
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 2008
- maker
- IBM
- ID Number
- 2014.0239.01
- catalog number
- 2014.0239.01
- accession number
- 2014.0239
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Palm IIIxe Documentation
- Description
- Documentation for a Palm IIIxe personal data assistant (PDA) including "Handbook For the Palm III series," "Warranty and End User License Agreement," "Accessories for Palm Connected Organizers," "Palm Protection," "Palm Organizer Solutions" by LandWare, "GoType! users guide" with product registration card by LandWare, and an advertising flyer for mobile applications from AvantGo.
- See 2017.3053.02 for other Palm IIIxe documentation and
- 2017.0113.01 for the Palm IIIxe
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 2000
- ID Number
- 2017.3053.01
- nonaccession number
- 2017.3053
- catalog number
- 2017.3053.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
HOSC Web disk
- Description
- This zip disk has a capacity of 100mb. It contains the text used for the Hands On Science Center page on the NMAH website.
- Web designer David McOwen, as a member of the New Media Office at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, used these materials in designing sections of the NMAH website. The entire Smithsonian website is preserved by the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 2000-2002
- ID Number
- 2017.3148.06
- nonaccession number
- 2017.3148
- catalog number
- 2017.3148.06
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Portable Computer, Apple iPod
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Texas Instruments TI-nspire Handheld Electronic Calculator
- Description
- This handheld electronic graphing calculator has a plastic case and cover in blue, off-white, and dark gray. It has an array of thirty-seven relatively large keys, including keys for entering digits, arithmetic and trigonometric functions, programming, and control of the screen. The forty-two additional small round keys are mainly for letters and symbols. It is possible to remove the keypad (pushing a button on the back of the calculator) and replace it with a TI-84 PLUS keypad. The keys on this calculator are closer to a rectangular shape and take on more potential meanings. A mark at the bottom of this keypad reads: TI-84 PLUS KEYPAD. The box includes a plastic pouch for storing the extra keypad. A display above the keyboard splits into as many as four sections. A mark above it reads: TI-nspire (/) TEXAS INSTRUMENTS.
- A mark on the back of the calculator reads: 2016006046 S-0507.
- The calculator comes with three cables. One plugs into a jack at the bottom of the TI-84 Plus keypad and would connect to another TI-84 Plus keypad. A second plugs into the top of the calculator and would connect it to another TI-nspire. A third also plugs into the top and has a USB port, to connect to a microcomputer.
- Also in the cardboard box with the calculator is a CD in case marked: TI-nspire (/) Computer Software for Math and Science (/) Logiciel d’ordinateur pour du labo de maths. Manuals in the box have titles TI-nspire Math and Science Learning Technology and TI-nspire Computer Software for Math and Science Reference Guide.
- Also received with the calculator are:
- 1. A poster showing the calculator.
- 2. A transparency for an overhead projector showing the calculator.
- 3. A manual with title Getting Started with TI-nspire Math & Science Learning Technology.
- 4. A leaflet with title TI-CARES Educational Support Programs and Resources.
- 5. Sheets on Connect-to-Class teacher software, instructions on getting manuals in French, a license agreement, two customer response cards, and two quick reference cards, one in English and the other in French.
- A mark on the box holding all of these materials reads in part: MADE IN CHINA.
- Compare 2007.0179.06.
- References:
- Online Datamath Museum
- [Advertisement], New York Times, April 26, 2009, p. AR30. TI-nspire, was $157.99 (or $157.00), on sale for $139.88.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 2007
- maker
- Texas Instruments
- ID Number
- 2007.0179.05
- accession number
- 2007.0179
- catalog number
- 2007.0179.05
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Handspring Visor Deluxe
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- c 2000
- maker
- Handspring
- ID Number
- 2006.0132.07
- catalog number
- 2006.0132.07
- accession number
- 2006.0132
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Mentor Button, Mentor helps me!
- Description
- This circular button has black and red text on a white background that reads: Mentor helps me! It has a blue and green Mentor logo.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- c 2006
- ID Number
- 2009.3071.252
- catalog number
- 2009.3071.252
- nonaccession number
- 2009.3071
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Advertising Button, Ziff-Davis, ZDnet.com
- Description
- This circular button has alternating circles of orange and green. Around the border the black text reads: http://www.zdnet.com.
- ZDNet was a website developed by Ziff-Davis as a source for the latest news, product reviews, shareware ratings.
- References: PC Magazine, April 8, 1997, p.134. (company advertisement.)
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- c 2000s
- ID Number
- 2009.3071.192
- catalog number
- 2009.3071.192
- nonaccession number
- 2009.3071
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Microsoft Button, Windows Home Server
- Description
- This circular button has a yellow house on a white background. Black text on the house reads: Windows Home Server. Above the text is a multi-colored Windows logo. Note: there is a hole in the center of the button, likely where a light could go. There is no pin attachment for this button.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- c 2007
- maker
- Microsoft Corporation
- ID Number
- 2009.3071.294
- catalog number
- 2009.3071.294
- nonaccession number
- 2009.3071
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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