Wilber Williams has spent the past 25 years or so building the Museum of IT at Queensland University. Now the University has decided to shut down the museum, and a large section of historical computer hardware, software and documentation faces the very real threat of being thrown in a skip. We’re hoping that someone out there can help find this equipment a new home.
The museum, which incorporates approximately 200 square metres worth of old IT stuff from over the past 100 years, includes things like a mechanical calculator from 1906, old mainframe parts, old PCs and SGI workstations has just over a week or so to find a new home or it will end up being thrown out.
The best case scenario is that Wilbur can find someone willing to rescue the entire museum – although some of the items have already been cherry-picked by other museums already. It is quite possibly the biggest collection of historical IT-related hardware in the country, and it would be a real tragedy if any of it ended up being thrown out.
You can check out the museum’s old site, including some classic images from the 60s and 70s, to get an idea of what a real tragedy losing this history could be. If either you – or someone you know – could possibly find a home for the museum, let us know.
Rob Cumming
Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 4:39 PMMonash Caulfield in Melbourne also have a small museum? If the museum cannot be saved, might serve as a possible new home?
stevothegoddamneddevo!
Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 4:46 PMoohhh.. what a find! personally my fav fob pic here: http://www.computer.museum.uq.edu.au/gallery/Pictures/pages/ww008.htm
Greg Randolph
Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 4:51 PMI know the feeling. I had a mini version at my old school. NEC with 8″ floppies, Apple ][e and Apple III with a giant 5MB hard drive, the first HP Reverse Polish calculator – locked to a table on wheels. An original IBM PC, weighed like cast iron and with a green screen. Napier’s bones, slide rules – including a 19th century one shaped like a pocket watch, old hand-cranked Facit calculators. And it all worked. Probably all on the dump by now since the Admin saw no value in history.
Joshua
Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 7:16 PMIs there anyway where people can claim unwanted stuff. I’ll be happy to get some old Apple II’s shipped to me.
Wilber Williams
Monday, July 19, 2010 at 11:35 AMJoshua,
I’mm happy to arrange to send you a couple of Apple IIs. Contact me at “travelmate800 at live.com.au”. (The e-mail address didn’t come through properly in the last posting.)
Wilber
Richard Djordjevic
Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 8:44 PMI went to UQ for 6 years and never knew about any museum of IT. Wish I had, sounds interesting.
Rossco
Wednesday, July 21, 2010 at 2:08 PMSadly, I am in the same boat, was there for 6 years and never even heard of it, even though I was studying computer systems engineering. Some of the lab equipment for our communications subjects belonged in a museum though lol.
matt
Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 11:03 PMwow, that’s sad. the beginning of a brand new age just being thrown out?! what about the Queensland state museum? just shows how backwards this country is… it is after all the same country that thinks that damn filter will work… I’d take what I could myself, not that I could set up a museum.
Anthony Zeater
Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 11:08 PMSend it to the powerhouse museum? I’m sure they’d be interested possibly?
Mathew Merryweather
Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 11:13 PMwe have a museum of IT?!
canberracubicle
Friday, July 16, 2010 at 8:51 AMI would be hitting up one of the big telecoms to fund a permanent exhibit, maybe at Powerhouse, or whatever the equivalent is up in Brisbane.
Wilber Williams
Friday, July 16, 2010 at 10:51 AMThe Museum had a permanent display on Level 5 of the Prentice Building, and was listed in the University’s “Museums and Collections” brochure. However, in or about 2003 a decision was made to increase security in the Prentice Building by closing off public access to most of the building (given that it was – and still is – a focal point for much of the University’s network, and contains half of the administrative systems and most of the central supercomputers, it has been identified by Queensland Parliament as a “site of strategic importance”). This meant that the displays on Level 5 had to be closed.
Some of the staunch supporters of the Museum have been trying hard to find other museums to take over the collection – a few of the places have been mentioned in the comments above – but have only received intereste for a small number of items. Many museums have fairly specific criteria for their collection, eg one place wants a VAXstation because it was used by Professor Ian Frazer in developing his cancer vaccine, but isn’t interested in a VAXstation as a piece of technology.
Joshua – send me an email to travelmate800 live.com.au, and we can “do a deal” for the Apple IIs.
Stefan Nowak
Friday, July 16, 2010 at 11:38 AMG’day Wilbur,
I manage the Telstra Museum in Melbourne and if it is possible could you drop me a note with a contact number.
Many thanks