Computer Museum?

I’ve been wondering what to do with some of my old technology for a while now. I have multiple Palm Pilots, a newton, a TI-99 and other odds and ends. I have other friends with similar problems - a bunch of old tech that they don’t want to get rid of, mostly for nostalgic or historic reasons. I’ve been thinking about a computer museum for a while now, but different from the excellent Personal Computer Museum in Brantford. I’m interested in more personal descriptions of how the different devices affected their users. We keep these things around because they point to a time in our life when they had a particular purpose and meaning. That is what i’d like to capture, the stories that go with the technology, rather then just the tech itself.

So, since starting a brick and mortar museum is pretty difficult, i will start with a virtual one. Rui, another interested soul with a large stock of tech ‘stuff’, and i are going to do a photo shoot in October, to get some of the ‘stuff’ into a digital format. Then we need to write the stories which will go with the devices.

One of the important things, for me, is to have it be “open”. Open to others to add their stories about the tech, and possibly adding their own tech to the museum. I’m not sure how that part is going to work yet. This idea is still quite fresh in my mind. But, it is, i think, the main point of departure from other Computer or Technology museums.

If anyone has any suggestions or comments please email me or comment here.