Computers & Business Machines

Slides Showing Fractals

Description: These twenty slides, prepared by the American mathematician John Hubbard of Cornell University, show computer-generated graphics of fractals. They were collected-for-the-museum from Hubbard on a February 28, 1985, visit to Cornell.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: ca 1985

ID Number: 1985.3088.03
nonaccession number: 1985.3088
catalog number: 1985.3088.03

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Documentation on the Philbrick Computer

Description: TheElectronic Analogue Computation Laboratory of the Department of Engineering at the University of California at Los Anglees prepared a typescript Bulletin describing developments in the field. This is Bulletin No. 2.The undated document - as well as Bulletin No. 1 - described use of Philbrick Computer components. A signature on the document reads: Don Lebell. A five-page document attached to this one is entitled "Application of Feedback Amplifiers to Analog Operations." It is by Louis G. Walters.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1950

ID Number: 1995.3001.16
nonaccession number: 1995.3001
catalog number: 1995.3001.16

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Documentation on Miscellaneous Computing Devices

Description: This documentation on diverse computing devices includes material on the BINAC, the C.I.T. Electric Analog Computer, the Douglas Aircraft Data Analyzer, the EDVAC, diverse German and Japanese machines, the Goodyear Geda L3, the Maddida, the SWAC, and Reeves Instrument Company machines.; For a related transaction, see 1983.0023.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: ca 1947-1956

ID Number: 1995.3001.19
nonaccession number: 1995.3001
catalog number: 1995.3001.19

Data Source: National Museum of American History

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

Remington Rand Univac Minimum Latency Calculator Slide Rule

Description: This circular device was an aid to programming the UNIVAC solid state computer. It consists of a paper disc, with equal divisions running from 1 to 200 near the edge, and a clear plastic rotating disc. These are pivoted together at the center. The upper disc is marked in red with two perpendicular diameters. The lower disc is marked: MINIMUM LATENCY CALCULATOR FOR THE UNIVAC SOLID-STATE COMPUTER. The UNIVAC had a magnetic storage drum on which locations were specified numerically. The latency calculator allowed programmers to write code for the machine to make the most efficient possible use of the drum memory.; The back of the instrument gives a list of instruction codes and corresponding execution times for words. It is marked: Remington Rand Univac. It is also marked: U1767 Rev. 1 PRINTED (/) IN (/) U.S.A. The rule was received in a paper bag.; Reference: Sperry Rand Corporation, Simple Transition to Electronic Processing, UNIVAC Solid-State 80, (1960), 18–26.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: after 1950

maker: Remington Rand Univac

ID Number: 2005.0271.01
accession number: 2005.0271
catalog number: 2005.0271.01

Data Source: National Museum of American History

ComputerLand Photograph

Description: This 5" x 7" black and white photograph shows James Egan in front of a software display at the ComputerLand store in NYC. On the back, written in pencil are the dates 1981-82.; James Egan, Joseph Alfieri, Robert Kurland, and Thomas Vandermeulen of Facks Computer, Inc. were the owners of the first ComputerLand store in Manhattan.; ComputerLand was a nationwide chain of retail computer stores. They opened their first store in 1976 in Hayward, California. By 1990 most stores had closed and in early 1999 the company officially disbanded.; The objects in accession 2017.0321 and non-accession 2017.3153 are related.
Location: Currently not on view

ID Number: 2017.3153.05
nonaccession number: 2017.3153
catalog number: 2017.3153.05

Data Source: National Museum of American History

MacUser Internet Road Map

Description: This paper document entitled “MacUser Internet Road Map," is folded like a road map.; The information, structured like an outline, has six sections with categories and sub-categories. Every level has a web address and a brief description. The sections are named Government Information Zone, Education and Reference Zone, Arts and Humanities Zone, MacIntosh Resource Zone, Business and Commerce Zone, and MacUser Magazine.; The reverse side has an index to the categories and sub-categories with map coordinates to locate them, a terminology list, a highlights area listing the most popular sites, instructions on how to connect to the internet, a description of how to read a URL, and the map legend.; Many of the web addresses begin with http://akebono.stanford.edu/yahoo/ which is the address used by Jerry Yang and David Filo (students at Stanford University) in January 1994 when they created “Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web.” In March of 1994 it was shortened to http://www.yahoo.com.; Some addresses listed on the map are still valid, others automatically redirect you to their current site, and a few cannot be found.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1994

publisher: Ziff Davis Media Inc.
maker: Ziff Davis Media Inc.

ID Number: 2017.3122.01
nonaccession number: 2017.3122
catalog number: 2017.3122.01

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Punch Card Used to Retrieve U.S. Patent Papers

Description: This cream colored punch card has 53 columns versus the standard IBM 80 column punch card. The card is marked PO-33, PATENT ORDER (Letter Unit) on the left edge.; The following information is punched and printed on the card: patent number (1256951), quantity (001), customer number (002775), serv. code (02), month (1), day (75).
Location: Currently not on view

ID Number: 2017.3122.04
nonaccession number: 2017.3122
catalog number: 2017.3122.04

Data Source: National Museum of American History

ComputerLand NYC Franchise Agreement

Description: This loose-leaf binder contains a copy of the franchise agreement between ComputerLand Corp. of California and Facks Computer, Inc. of New York dated January 1980. The binder also contains a manilla folder with newspaper clippings and legal documents concerning a legal dispute over the ownership of the franchise.; James Egan, Joseph Alfieri, Robert Kurland, and Thomas Vandermeulen of Facks Computer, Inc. were the owners of the first ComputerLand store in Manhattan.; ComputerLand was a nationwide chain of retail computer stores. They opened their first store in 1976 in Hayward, California. By 1990 most stores had closed and in early 1999 the company officially disbanded.; The objects in accession 2017.0321 and non-accession 2017.3153 are related.
Location: Currently not on view

ID Number: 2017.3153.09
nonaccession number: 2017.3153
catalog number: 2017.3153.09

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Commuter Computer Reseller Documentation

Location: Currently not on view

date made: ca 1983

ID Number: 2018.3076.02
nonaccession number: 2018.3076
catalog number: 2018.3076.02

Data Source: National Museum of American History

ComputerLand NYC Store Images

Description: These four color Polaroid photographs, taken in 1981, show the interior of the first ComputerLand store to open in Manhattan. James Egan was one of four owners.; In the first pair of images, Egan is the man in the light brown suit and the man kneeling in front of three people in ViewSonic bird costumes.; The second pair of images are of interior views of the store with customers browsing.; James Egan, Joseph Alfieri, Robert Kurland, and Thomas Vandermeulen of Facks Computer, Inc. were the owners of the first ComputerLand store in Manhattan.; ComputerLand was a nationwide chain of retail computer stores. They opened their first store in 1976 in Hayward, California. By 1990 most stores had closed and in early 1999 the company officially disbanded.; The objects in accession 2017.0321 and non-accession 2017.3153 are related.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1981

ID Number: 2017.3153.07
nonaccession number: 2017.3153
catalog number: 2017.3153.07

Data Source: National Museum of American History

ComputerLand Name Tag

Description: This plastic name tag has a dark blue background with white text that reads: JAMES EGAN. Above the name is a white ComputerLand logo. On the back is a metal pin.; James Egan, Joseph Alfieri, Robert Kurland, and Thomas Vandermeulen of Facks Computer, Inc. were the owners of the first ComputerLand store in Manhattan.; ComputerLand was a nationwide chain of retail computer stores. They opened their first store in 1976 in Hayward, California. By 1990 most stores had closed and in early 1999 the company officially disbanded.; The objects in accession 2017.0321 and non-accession 2017.3153 are related.
Location: Currently not on view

ID Number: 2017.3153.03
nonaccession number: 2017.3153
catalog number: 2017.3153.03

Data Source: National Museum of American History

IBM 1441139x Punch Card Advertising the IBM 602A Calculating Punch

Description: This white paper punch card demonstrates how an average hourly rate of pay can be calculated for a worker paid partly on piece work and partly on day work, receiving a bonus. It was intended as advertising for the IBM 602A calculating punch.; The left half of the card has text describing the product. It reads in part: ARITHMETIC (/) CALCULATIONS ARE PERFORMED IN (/) ONE OPERATION BY THE NEW (/)TYPE 602A CALCULATING PUNCH. The right side has columns of holes to be punched that are numbered from 37 to 80.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: ca 1948

maker: IBM

ID Number: 1995.3080.01
nonaccession number: 1995.3080
catalog number: 1995.3080.01

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Commodore 201 Adding Machine

Description: By the 1960s most adding machines on the market had ten keys and printed results. Often they were manufactured overseas. This ten-key, printing adding machine was made in Japan and imported by Commodore, a firm then based in Toronto. It has nine digit keys, a slightly larger digit bar, and keys marked with two vertical lines and with three vertical lines. It also has four function keys right of the digit keys and what appears to be a place value lever on the left, with a mechanical display of the place value above this.; Behind the keyboard at the back of the machine is a paper tape holder with a paper tape, a printing mechanism, and a two-colored ribbon. A rubber cord fits in the back of the machine and there is a plastic cover. At the front of the machine is a metal carrying handle.; A mark on the top reads: commodore. A tag on the bottom reads: commodore 201 (/) No 22742. The tag also reads: COMMODORE BUSINESSS MACHINES INC. MADE IN JAPAN. A mark on the cord reads: KAWASAKI.; Commodore Business Machines was incorporated in Toronto in 1955 under the direction of Jack Tramiel, a Holocaust survivor who had spent some years in the United States. The company initially distributed typewriters and came to sell electronic calculators and then personal computers. Commodore adding machines were advertised in American newspapers as early as 1962 and as late as 1972 (by this time they faced severe competition from electronic calculators). The Commodore 202, which is quite similar to this model, was advertised in 1968 as “all new.”; References:; Pine, D., “Jack Tramiel, Founder of Commodore Computers, Lodz Survivor, Dies at 83,” The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California, 116 #16, April 20, 2012.; Los Angeles Times, January 21, 1968, p. C87. This is one of many advertisements found through the ProQuest database. It is for the Commodore Model 202.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: ca 1968

maker: Commodore Business Machines, Inc.

ID Number: 1998.0246.01
accession number: 1998.0246
catalog number: 1998.0246.01

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Educational Software for Use with the Commodore 64 Microcomputer, Sky Travel

Description: This group of five educational computer programs was developed for the Commodore 64 during the 1980s. Each program has its original box, the 5 ¼” software diskettes, and the user manual.; Word Shuttle; This word processing program was released in 1985 and included a 42-page user guide and two keyboard overlays. Word Shuttle was the official word processor of the Young Astronaut Program which operated between 1984 and 2004. The objective of this international educational curriculum was to promote greater interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) through space-themed activities, experiments, and conferences.; Sky Travel; This astronomy program, designed for persons ages 12 and up, was released in 1984 and included a 138-page manual. It provided an interactive guided tour of the universe—in the past, present, and future. The universe model could show the location of more than 1,200 stars, 88 constellations, 8 planets, deep sky objects, and the (then) future appearance (1986) of Halley’s comet. The program had four basic modes: map, set, sky, and chart. Map was used to select the location on Earth; month, day, year, and time were determined in set; optional displays were chosen in sky; and chart was used to project the sky on a celestial sphere with coordinate lines for creating, viewing, and printing your own star charts.; JUST IMAGINE…; This creative writing program, released in 1984 for individuals of all ages, included a 20-page manual. The user could create colorful animated stories by selecting up to three animated characters from the twenty-five provided, choosing one of nine backgrounds, and a few of the 48 stationary objects. The author then wrote a story to match the selected graphics. While different parts of the program loaded it displayed random trivia facts from the 300 stored on the diskette. The story could be played back and saved to diskette. The introduction in the manual states that “JUST IMAGINE… is another example of Commodore’s commitment to excellence-in-education through technology.”; Reading Professor; This reading program, released in 1984, was designed to teach reading skills to high school-age students as well as adults. Included with the two software diskettes was a 40-page user guide. The program provided a series of ten 20-minute lessons to increase reading speed and improve comprehension by presenting specific techniques for eliminating bad reading habits and developing new skills. It has a library of reading materials with three reading levels--High School, College and Adult, and Professional--each level with 32 reading selections. The program used seven types of exercises to monitor and log progress and success.; Typing Professor; This typing program, released in 1984 for individuals ages 12 and up, included a 20-page manual, two cassettes for use with a Commodore 16, and a diskette for use with either a Commodore 64 or Commodore Plus/4.; Students could learn the basics of touch typing or learn to improve their typing speed. The program had 19 exercises which increased in difficulty. Each exercise contained a score chart that calculated and recorded the number of errors, error rate, and typing speed. The exercises were timed and the student could not exceed the acceptable error rate before beginning the next exercise. The allowed error rate started at 4% for lesson 1 and decreased to 1% for lessons 16-19. The goal for lesson 19 was 35 words per minute with a less than 1% error rate.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: ca 1984

maker: Commodore Business Machines, Inc.

ID Number: 2006.0132.28.04
catalog number: 2006.0132.28.04
accession number: 2006.0132

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Software on CD, The Collection, Outlaws from America's Wild West Release 1.00

Description: The compact disc contains live computer viruses (over 500 viruses), anti-virus programs and utilities, source listings for viruses, virus simulator programs, virus information programs and text, virus creation tools, and newsletters and literature related to viruses. Title of the cd is "The Collection Outlaws from America's Wild West." It was sold by American Eagle Publications, Inc. in Tucson, Arizona for "serious researchers and programmers who have a legitimate need to know the information it contains." The copyright date is 1994 and the release version is 1.00.; See related object 2017.3018.02

publisher; distributor: American Eagle Publications, Inc.

ID Number: 2017.3018.01
nonaccession number: 2017.3018
catalog number: 2017.3018.01

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Texas Instruments Little Professor Teaching Calculator

Description: Introduced in mid-1976, the Little Professor is a non-printing electronic calculator modified to present simple arithmetic problems. A correct answer prompts another problem on the eight-digit display. An error delivers the message, "EEE." The colorful keyboard shows a professor with whiskers and glasses. The red light-emitting diode screen, in combination with the top of the instrument, looks like a mortar board.; This example has buttons that allow one to set the level of problems, as well as an on/off button on the front rather than the side of the machine. These features were introduced in a version of the machine made from 1978 onward.; Reference:; P. A. Kidwell, A. Ackerberg-Hastings, and D. L. Roberts, Tools of American Mathematics Teaching, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008, pp. 261–262.

date made: ca 1978

maker: Texas Instruments

ID Number: 1986.0988.197
accession number: 1986.0988
catalog number: 1986.0988.197

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Autopoint Mechanical Pencil

Description: This 5-3/4" black plastic and chrome-plated mechanical pencil is marked near its top: CHICAGO Autopoint USA (/) PATD AND PATS PEND. The word "Autopoint" is in script. The end of the pencil above the mark uncaps to reveal an eraser. A metal clip allows the pencil to be secured in a shirt pocket. The pen is stored in a rectangular gray cardboard box marked: Pencil Used by H H sr. (c[h]rome plated).; Autopoint began manufacturing mechanical pencils in Chicago in 1918. Inventors assigned at least 30 patents to Autopoint between 1918 and 1929. One of the patents referred to on this pencil was taken out by Frank Deli of Chicago, for a metal pin that screwed into a threaded cylinder inside the pencil tip and thus acted to propel the lead. The diameter of the pin suggests the lead width was about 1 mm. The body of the pencil was to be made from bakelite or a similar plastic. Deli applied for his patent in 1921, although it was not granted until 1925. Bakelite, the plastics manufacturer, owned an interest in Autopoint from the 1920s to the 1940s. After several corporate acquisitions and reorganizations, Autopoint moved to Janesville, Wisc., in 1979, where it continues operations.; His daughter-in-law reported that Herman Hollerith Sr. owned this pencil. Hollerith (1860–1929) trained as a mining engineer. He joined the U.S. Census Office in 1879, where he pioneered the development of punch cards for tabulating machines. These machines dramatically sped up the processing of data in the 1890 census. In 1896 he founded the Tabulating Machine Company, which merged with three other companies in 1911 and became the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in 1924. Hollerith retired in 1921 and raised cattle on a farm in Maryland until his death, so he presumably acquired the pencil during his retirement. For depictions and examples of Hollerith machines, see 1977.0503.01, 1977.0503.02, and 2011.3121.01, MA.312896, MA.335634, MA.335635, and MA.333894. See also the NMAH object group on tabulating machines, http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/tabulating-equipment.; References: Autopoint, Inc., "About Us," http://autopointinc.com/about-us; Frank C. Deli, "Pencil" (U.S. Patent 1,552,123 issued September 1, 1925); Robert L. Bolin, "Web Resources Concerning the Mechanical Pencil Industry in Chicago," http://unllib.unl.edu/Bolin_resources/pencil_page/index.htm; William R. Aul, "Herman Hollerith: Data Processing Pioneer," Think, November 1972, http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/builders/builders_hollerith.html; United States Census Bureau, "Herman Hollerith," http://www.census.gov/history/www/census_then_now/notable_alumni/herman_hollerith.html.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1921-1929

maker: Autopoint, Inc.

ID Number: 1977.0503.03
catalog number: 336122
accession number: 1977.0503

Data Source: National Museum of American History

IBM 811970 Production and Inventory Control Punch Card

Description: This eighty-column paper punch card is tan with a green stripe across the bottom. There is space for punches and for entering text. Fields include invoice number, qantity ordered or shipped, quantity manufacturing, customer name, schedule date, state, office number, customer code number, invoice number, and date schedule.; Six round holes are punched in the card, although these do not fit the design of numbers in the columns.; The card was received with tabulating machine 1990.0693.01.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: ca 1930; 1930 roughly; ca 1930

maker: IBM

ID Number: 1990.0693.01.03
catalog number: 1990.0693.01.03
accession number: 1990.0693

Data Source: National Museum of American History

IBM 001Card Punch

Description: For the first half of the 20th century, much data was entered into data processing machines using punched cards. This machine for punching such cards was manufactured by International Business Machines Corporation of New York.; This key-driven, manual punch has 14 black keys. Twelve are for the 12 rows on a punch card. These are labeled from 0 to 9, X, and blank. Another key moves the card one space to the left and the last releases it. Keys are fed in from the right. A portion of a punch card attached in back of the machine has a pointer attached to it which allows one to determine the column of the card one is punching. The device is set up for 80-column cards and punches rectangular holes. A cylindrical protrusion extends from the back of the machine.; A metal tag attached to the front of the object reads: PROPERTY OF (/) INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. (/) 001-12036-JH (/) ENDICOTT, NEW YORK, U.S.A. A mark stamped into the back of the card bed reads: 01 202.Two rods are marked at the front below the punching position: 202.; IBM cards with rectangular holes and 80 columns were introduced in 1928. Cards with 12 rows of holes date from the early 1930s.; Reference:; E. W. Pugh, Building IBM: Shaping an Industry and Its Technology, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995, pp. 48–49.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: after 1930

maker: International Business Machines Corporation

ID Number: MA.333894
accession number: 304350
catalog number: 333894

Data Source: National Museum of American History

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Computers & Business Machines

Slides Showing Fractals

Documentation on the Philbrick Computer

Documentation on Miscellaneous Computing Devices

Diskette with Text for September 11 Witness Story Web Page

Remington Rand Univac Minimum Latency Calculator Slide Rule

ComputerLand Photograph

MacUser Internet Road Map

Punch Card Used to Retrieve U.S. Patent Papers

ComputerLand NYC Franchise Agreement

Commuter Computer Reseller Documentation

ComputerLand NYC Store Images

ComputerLand Name Tag

IBM 1441139x Punch Card Advertising the IBM 602A Calculating Punch

Commodore 201 Adding Machine

Educational Software for Use with the Commodore 64 Microcomputer, Sky Travel

Software on CD, The Collection, Outlaws from America's Wild West Release 1.00

Texas Instruments Little Professor Teaching Calculator

Autopoint Mechanical Pencil

IBM 811970 Production and Inventory Control Punch Card

IBM 001Card Punch

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