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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Altair 8800 Microcomputer Plug-In Card
- 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
- 2007.0032.05.14
- catalog number
- 2007.0032.05.14
- accession number
- 2007.0032
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Altair 8800 Microcomputer Plug-In Card
- 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
- 2007.0032.05.15
- catalog number
- 2007.0032.05.15
- accession number
- 2007.0032
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Altair 8800 Microcomputer Plug-In Card
- 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
- 2007.0032.05.16
- catalog number
- 2007.0032.05.16
- accession number
- 2007.0032
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Altair 8800 Microcomputer Plug-In Card
- 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
- 2007.0032.05.17
- catalog number
- 2007.0032.05.17
- accession number
- 2007.0032
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
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
-
Set of Documents Relating to a 1958 High School Course in Computers, with Punch Cards
- Description
- These materials come from an advanced placement senior-level mathematics course taught at Concord High School in Concord, Massachusetts, in the spring of 1958. The teacher, Norton A. Levy, used notes provided by Rollin P. Mayer and Alexander Vanderburgh, Jr., who had associations with Lincoln Laboratories of MIT. The materials were collected and donated by one of the students who took the course, Edward N. (Nicky) Chase. Approximately 102 pages and eight punch cards are included.
- Most of the pages are loose paper although some were stapled together. Most are of letter size while some are smaller. Included are a syllabus, notes taken by the user covering a history of computers and computer programming, classroom worksheets and notes, assignments, and tests. One computer discussed is the IBM 704.
- All the punch cards are in the eighty-column IBM style. One is punched with standard holes for digits, letters of the alphabet, and a few symbols. A mark on the right edge reads: IBM 5081. A second, unpunched card is pink along the top edge. It is marked on the right edge: UAC BINARY CARD #4. It is marked along the bottom: IBM898443. Five punched cards are in an envelope. Four of these are yellow along the top edge and marked along the right edge: UA SAP CARD #1. They are marked along the bottom edge: IBM884391. The fifth of these cards is green along the top edge and marked along the right edge: IBM893099 704 BINARY CARD. The last card, also an IBM 5081, has a series of numbers and letters written in pencil across the top twenty-five columns. The spaces that would need to be punched to indicate these symbols are outlined in green.
- The course included a visit to Lincoln Laboratories with a demonstration of a rocket trajectory plotted by computer. The donor went on to take courses in computers as an undergraduate and moved on to a career in computer graphics. He reports “That’s when I realized that the 1958 demo really was a big deal.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1958
- ID Number
- 2015.3072.01
- catalog number
- 2015.3072.01
- nonaccession number
- 2015.3072
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Photograph, Comparison Graph for Ease of Use of Screen Interaction Devices
- Description
- This black and white photograph shows a graph comparing data on the ease of use of various computer screen interaction devices. It was included in a 1965 SRI report to NASA.
- Reference:
- William K. English, Douglas C. Engelbart, and Melvyn L. Berman, “Display-Selection Techniques for Text Manipulation,” IEEE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics, March 1967, Vol. HFE-8, No. 1, pp. 5-15. This image was published as figure 2.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made (print)
- 2014
- date made (original photograph)
- 1965
- maker of the print
- SRI International
- ID Number
- 2015.3073.01
- catalog number
- 2015.3073.01
- nonaccession number
- 2015.3073
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Photograph, Douglas Engelbart with Early Computer Mouse
- Description
- This black and white photograph shows Douglas Engelbart sitting in a chair in an SRI office. His right hand is raised to make a point. He wears a suit and tie. An earpiece in his left ear is connected to a computer. Also shown are a mouse and, partially, a keyboard. A blackboard is in the background with the following words and numbers written on it: } PL0T BLANK: ? / PL0T S0LID; ? / 5 -> 3.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- photograph taken
- 1968
- date made (print)
- 2014
- depicted (sitter)
- Engelbart, Douglas
- maker of the print
- SRI International
- ID Number
- 2015.3073.02
- catalog number
- 2015.3073.02
- nonaccession number
- 2015.3073
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Portrait Photograph of Douglas Engelbart
- Description
- This black and white portrait photograph shows Douglas Engelbart, wearing a suit with a tie and looking at the camera. It was taken at SRI.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- portrait taken
- ca 1966
- date made (print)
- 2014
- depicted (sitter)
- Engelbart, Douglas
- maker of the print
- SRI International
- ID Number
- 2015.3073.03
- catalog number
- 2015.3073.03
- nonaccession number
- 2015.3073
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Photograph, On-Line System Terminal at SRI
- Description
- This black and white photograph, taken at SRI in November 1974, shows an On-Line System (NLS) terminal with line processor. The devices include a monitor with a keyboard, a line processor, a mouse, and a five finger keyset mounted on a desk. The monitor has some text on the screen. Part of a printer is in the background.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made (print)
- 2014
- date made
- 1974
- maker of the print
- SRI International
- ID Number
- 2015.3073.04
- catalog number
- 2015.3073.04
- nonaccession number
- 2015.3073
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Photograph, Console, Mouse, and CDC 160A Computer
- Description
- This black and white photograph shows a computer console with the first mouse, as well as the CDC 160A computer with which it interacted. The image was taken at SRI June 1965. The console with a keyboard and mouse are on the left side and the CDC 160A in the background.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- delete
- photograph taken
- 1965
- date made (print)
- 2014
- maker of the print
- SRI International
- ID Number
- 2015.3073.05
- catalog number
- 2015.3073.05
- nonaccession number
- 2015.3073
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Photograph, Console, Keyboard and Mouse for Interaction with CDC 160A
- Description
- This black and white photograph, taken at SRI in June 1965, shows a computer console with the first mouse. The console was linked to a CDC 160A computer. The console and keyboard are at the center, the mouse aon the right, and another device on the left. Text appear on the console.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- photograph taken
- 1965
- date made (print)
- 2014
- maker of the print
- SRI International
- ID Number
- 2015.3073.06
- catalog number
- 2015.3073.06
- nonaccession number
- 2015.3073
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Photograph, On-Line System (NLS) Terminals being used by William English at SRI
- Description
- This black and white photograph shows William English using an On-Line System (NLS) terminal. In the image, taken at SRI about 1969, English, dressed in a suit, sits with his right hand on a mouse and left hand on a five-finger keyset looking at a terminal. Another terminal is on the right.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- photograph taken
- ca 1969
- date made (print)
- 2014
- maker of the print
- SRI International
- ID Number
- 2015.3073.07
- catalog number
- 2015.3073.07
- nonaccession number
- 2015.3073
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Photograph, Douglas Engelbart and Others Using On-Line System (Terminals) at SRI
- Description
- This black and white photograph, taken at SRI in 1969, shows Douglas Engelbart and others using On-Line System (NLS) terminals. Four white men sit staring at terminals. One, Douglas Engelbart, operates a mouse and five-finger keypad. The others watch two separate terminals that show the same thing on their screens. The image also shows part of two chalkboards.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- photograph taken
- 1969
- date made (print)
- 2014
- depicted (sitter)
- Engelbart, Douglas
- maker of the print
- SRI International
- ID Number
- 2015.3073.08
- catalog number
- 2015.3073.08
- nonaccession number
- 2015.3073
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Photograph, Bottom of Prototype Computer Mouse
- Description
- This black and white photograph, taken at SRI in June 1965, gives a bottom view of the first computer mouse. A wire runs out of the right side and two wheels are along adjacent sides.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- photograph taken
- 1965
- date made (print)
- 2014
- maker of the print
- SRI International
- ID Number
- 2015.3073.09
- catalog number
- 2015.3073.09
- nonaccession number
- 2015.3073
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Photograph, Prototype Computer Mouse
- Description
- This color photograph, taken at SRI on an unknown date, is a closeup shot of the original computer mouse, held in the hand of Douglas Engelbart.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made (print)
- 2014
- depicted (sitter)
- Engelbart, Douglas
- maker of the print
- SRI International
- ID Number
- 2015.3073.10
- catalog number
- 2015.3073.10
- nonaccession number
- 2015.3073
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Photograph, Douglas Engelbart's Hands Using a Keyboard and Three Button Mouse
- Description
- This black and white photograph, taken at SRI about 1968, shows Douglas Engelbart's hands and a Herman Miller supplied keyboard. Engelbart’s left hand is on the five-finger keyset, his right hand on the three button mouse. The keyboard is in the middle.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- photograph taken
- 1968
- date made (print)
- 2014
- depicted (sitter)
- Engelbart, Douglas
- maker of the print
- SRI International
- ID Number
- 2015.3073.11
- catalog number
- 2015.3073.11
- nonaccession number
- 2015.3073
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Photograph, Candidate Devices for Computer Screen Interaction
- Description
- This black and white photograph shows three possible devices for interaction between a computer user and a computer screen that were tested at SRI in 1964 and 1965. On the right is a computer mouse, in the middle a joystick, and on the left a Grafacon. A light pen and a knee control also were tested – use of the mouse produced the fewest errors (see 2015.3073.01).
- Reference:
- William K. English, Douglas C. Engelbart, and Melvyn L. Berman, “Display-Selection Techniques for Text Manipulation,” IEEE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics, March 1967, Vol. HFE-8, No. 1, pp. 5-15. This image was published as figure 2.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- photograph taken
- 1964-1965
- date made (print)
- 2014
- maker of the print
- SRI International
- ID Number
- 2015.3073.12
- catalog number
- 2015.3073.12
- nonaccession number
- 2015.3073
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Photograph, Prototype Light Pen for Screen Interaction
- Description
- This black and white photograph shows a light pen, one of the candidates for interaction between a computer user and a computer tested at SRI.
- The original image dates from about 1965.
- Reference:
- William K. English, Douglas C. Engelbart, and Melvyn L. Berman, “Display-Selection Techniques for Text Manipulation,” IEEE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics, March 1967, Vol. HFE-8, No. 1, pp. 5-15. This image was published as figure 5.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- photograph taken
- 1965
- date made (print)
- 2014
- maker of the print
- SRI International
- ID Number
- 2015.3073.13
- catalog number
- 2015.3073.13
- nonaccession number
- 2015.3073
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Lotus Button, LotusUserGroup.org
- Description
- This circular button has black text on a yellow background. The text reads "! NOTES NUT !" and "LotusUserGroup.org."
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1990s
- ID Number
- 2009.3071.836
- nonaccession number
- 2009.3071
- catalog number
- 2009.3071.836
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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