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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Sheets, Model MM8 8K RAM System Instructions
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1977
- ID Number
- 2012.3060.28
- nonaccession number
- 2012.3060
- catalog number
- 2012.3060.28
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Documentation, Programming Manual for the Bunker-Ramo Model 130 and Model 133 Digital Computers
- Description
- This spiral-bound document is a copy of the programing manual for Bunker-Ramo computer models 130 and 133. These models were the basis for the computers the company built for military applications.
- According to the donor who wrote programs for a BR-130, "The TRW-130 (also known as the BR130) was the most interesting machine that I have ever programmed. Normally the lowest level language is an assembler language. In an assembly language, each assembly instruction performs a single function, e.g. add, subtract, compare, branch, shift, etc. There are no more basic operations. These instructions are hardwired in the machines physical architecture. In those early days, the physical architecture was made up of gates, flip-flops, registers, etc., prior to integrated circuits. There were only a limited number of these component types, so the various hardwired instructions were made up of fixed combinations of these. Therefore there was significant duplication of these components. TRW engineering came up with a very clever idea. Could a lower level of software be used to implement the assembly level instructions by causing these components to be combined/reorganized in real-time to execute the entire instruction set? The answer was yes. It allowed for a cheaper and more versatile machine. I cannot remember, but I believe these lower level instructions were called ‘logans’." (The word “logand” was a computer acronym for “logical command” the intermediate level programming language planned in the design of the TRW-130 computer.)
- Reference:
- Nonccession file 2015.3097.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1965
- maker
- Bunker-Ramo Corporation
- ID Number
- 2015.3097.09
- nonaccession number
- 2015.3097
- catalog number
- 2015.3097.09
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Software and Documentation, Galaxy Invasionby Big Five Software
- Description
- This computer game, Galaxy Invasion, was released in 1980 by Big Five Software for the TRS-80 Model I and III microcomputers. The software package included an instruction manual, a special instruction sheet, and a 5.25” disk. It is enclosed in a plastic bag with a price sticker of $19.95 ($61.00 in 2019 dollars).
- This game was based on the arcade game “Galaxian” released in 1979 by Namco. Galaxy Invasion was Big Five Software’s first game to feature sound and music. The object of the game was to shoot down space aliens, with extra points awarded if you shot a space alien while it was attacking, and to destroy a Flagship within a set amount of time.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1980
- ID Number
- 2012.3098.016
- catalog number
- 2012.3098.016
- nonaccession number
- 2012.3098
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Software and Documentation, Tallymaster by Prosoft, Inc.
- Description
- Tallymaster was software for the TRS-80 Model I and III written by Chuck Tesler for Prosoft, Inc. of North Hollywood, California. The binder includes advertisements for other Prosoft products, product catalogs, a user manual, a 5.25" software disk, and an invoice from JMG Software International to Jon Eklund (curator at the National Museum of American History from 1967-1999). Tallymaster was a financial analysis and management tool designed for small businesses and personal use. It performed the functions of a general ledger except that Tallymaster was interactive - the results from arithmetic operations were updated immediately on the screen. Data could be sorted, graphed, printed, and saved. Dr. Eklund purchased this software in June of 1984 for $55.00 (approximately $136 in 2019 dollars).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1983
- ID Number
- 2012.3098.051
- catalog number
- 2012.3098.051
- nonaccession number
- 2012.3098
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Check-A-Tron Electronic Cash Register
- Description
- This yellow-tinted electronic cash register sits atop an off-white cash drawer. It has black keyboard keys, a printer for receipts, and a red digital display. The key that opens the cash drawer is missing.
- A mark on the left front reads: CHECK-A-TRON. The machine has serial number 4500032. Stanley Hayman Business Machines stickers are on the front and the back.
- Check-A-Tron began selling an American-built electronic cash register in 1975. In 1977 it introduced the MICROS electronic cash register/point-of-sale terminal. The firm also distributed Sanyo cash registers made in Japan. According to a mark on this machine, it was assembled in the United States. By 1983 Check-A-Tron Corporation was out of the cash register business entirely.
- Reference:
- Creative Strategies Internaional, Retail Automation to 1983, San Jose: Creative Strategies International, 1980, esp. p. 116.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1975
- maker
- Check-A-Tron Corporation
- ID Number
- 2002.0281.03
- accession number
- 2002.0281
- catalog number
- 2002.0281.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Software and Documentation, Software Toolworks, REACH Modem and File Transfer Program
- Description
- This software and documentation was written by Walt Bilofsky and distributed by his company, The Software Toolworks of Sherman Oaks, California, in 1980. The REACH Modem and File Transfer Program ran on Heath CP/M microcomputers. It was a software tool that turned the computer into a remote time-sharing station for tasks such as transferring files and printing to remote printers. The software cost $19.95 (approximately $62 in 2019 dollars).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1980-1981
- maker
- Software Toolworks
- ID Number
- 2012.3098.057
- catalog number
- 2012.3098.057
- nonaccession number
- 2012.3098
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Documentation, Paperback Book Entitled 1541 User's Guide
- Description
- This gray, spiral-bound paperback is a guide to using the Commodore 1541 disk drive, written by Gerald Neufeld. It was copyrighted in 1984, with both the first and second printing in 1985. This is a copy of the second printing. This copy id not annotated.
- Received with 1987.00249.03, an example of the disk drive, used with the commodore VIC 20.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1985
- maker
- Datamost, Inc.
- ID Number
- 1987.3049.04
- catalog number
- 1987.3049.04
- nonaccession number
- 1987.3049
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Newspaper Article on Samuel Alexander, Uncle Sam's Brainkeeper
- Description
- This article by Emile C. Schurmacher describes Samuel Alexander and the SEAC. It ran in The Los Angeles Times on October 26, 1952. The object is glued to paper sheet. It is associated with Margaret Fox.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1952
- maker
- National Bureau of Standards
- ID Number
- 2013.3034.28
- nonaccession number
- 2013.3034
- catalog number
- 2013.3034.28
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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