[rescue] Does any one on the list run this?

[rjtoegel]

I agree.  I used an Apple 2c to run a "electron wave" simulation in my chem
class and a wave superposition demo in my physics class and the students just
"freak out" when see a machine that old, with that slow a CPU, and little
memory do what it does. When it comes time to reduce the number of machines I
have,  it will be this list/museums/individuals will get them, not the
junkyard if I can help it.

Bob

Sent from my iPod

On Jun 7, 2013, at 8:43 PM, "Carl R. Friend" <crfriend at rcn.com> wrote:

>   On Fri, 7 Jun 2013, Ian Finder wrote:
>
>> That said, many thanks to a few awesome list members who have donated to
my
>> personal collection over the years, knowing I'm not running a museum. You
>> guys are awesome :)
>
>   After a while it becomes apparent that we're not just "collectors"
> but rather "conservators", and that we have a sense of responsibility
> to ensure that these devices survive for future generations.  This is
> easy enough when a typical example machine weighs, perhaps, twenty
> pounds all up; however, when they occupy a couple of 6-foot racks
> apiece the entire idea gets a bit more tenuous for long-haul
> survivability.
>
>   I occupy the latter slot (although I do have a pretty decent cache
> of assorted pre-2000 workstations) and sometimes it's a bit of a
> fight.  Wives don't understand the significance and look at them
> as "clutter".  Friends, even, poke fun at the "dinosaurs" -- even if
> they run!  Needless to say, this tends to ratchet up the sense of
> responsibility somewhat!
>
>   There's an entire "hidden" portion of the very vibrant history of
> computing that's missing from the modern psyche.  Scholars are looking
> actively at the earliest delvings into electronic computing, and that
> is a good thing indeed; however, the mass of popular belief seems to
> hold that the computer sprung forth in its modern form from Bill
> Gates' mind in 1981 -- and this is sad indeed because the history
> of computing is a tale that has the power to better the best "whodunnit"
> or "spy story" going.  It's a story of blind alleys that lead nowhere,
> a chronicle of skullduggery and treachery that rival the best of what
> "normal" history can offer, and a tale of almost unbelieveable
> innovation and creativity that has helped shape the world that we
> occupy today.
>
>   The "personal computer" was born in 1961.  Kudos to anybody who
> can name it.  That's a span of 20 years -- almost a human generation.
> How many times have we made the same mistakes -- in architecture,
> design, and implementation -- in the intervening years?  (It's
> worth noting the the example I speak of from 1961 was so shockingly
> modern that one could almost attach a mouse to it and have it be
> quite familiar, at least in its editor.)
>
>   The point of this is that by whatever means an operational
> example machine survives is a worthwhile one, and that one can
> only hope that the current "owner" of said machine views himself
> not as "collector" or "owner", but rather as "conservator" or
> "curator".  My personal passion is for machines that run as their
> designers intended, but that's just one view; others are just as
> valid so long as they look to the future.
>
>   Cheers!
>
> +------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
> | Carl Richard Friend (UNIX Sysadmin)            | West Boylston       |
> | Minicomputer Collector / Enthusiast            | Massachusetts, USA  |
> | mailto:crfriend at rcn.com                        +---------------------+
> | http://users.rcn.com/crfriend/museum           | ICBM: 42:22N 71:47W |
> +------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
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