Curator Aaron Alcorn Founded 2006 | Director Lath Carlson Phone +1 206-342-2020 | |
 | ||
Established 25 October 2012 (2012-10-25) Coordinates 47.582487°N, 122.334708°W Hours Closed now Wednesday10AM–5PMThursday10AM–5PMFriday10AM–5PMSaturday10AM–5PMSunday10AM–5PMMondayClosedTuesdayClosedSuggest an edit Similar Museum of Communications, Nordic Heritage Museum, Flying Heritage Collection, Seattle Pinball Museum, Northwest African American Profiles | ||
Living computers museum labs
Living Computers: Museum + Labs (LCM+L) is a computer and technology museum located in the SoDo neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. LCM+L showcases vintage computers which provide interactive sessions, either through time-sharing operating systems or single-user interfaces. This gives users a chance to actually use the computers on-line or in person in the museum. An expansion adds direct touch experiences with contemporary technologies such as virtual reality, self-driving cars, the internet of things, and robotics. This puts today's computer technology in the context of how it's being used to tackle real-world issues. LCM+L also hosts a wide range of educational programs and events in their state-of-the art classroom and lab spaces.
Contents
- Living computers museum labs
- History
- Interesting Facts
- Collections and Exhibits
- Programming Languages available at LCML
- In the Media
- References
According to LCM+L's website, their goal is "to breathe life back into our machines so the public can experience what it was like to see them, hear them, and interact with them. We make our systems accessible by allowing people to come and interact with them, and by making them available over the Internet."
History
LCM+L (originally known as Living Computer Museum, and before that, PDPplanet.com) was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, on January 9, 2006. Through PDPplanet users were able to telnet into vintage devices and experience timesharing computing on equipment from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and XKL.
Users around the world can now request a login through the LCM+L website and telnet into systems from XKL, DEC, IBM, Xerox Sigma, AT&T, and CDC.
Living Computer Museum opened to the public on October 25, 2012 and guests can now visit in person to interact with the collection of Mainframes, Minicomputers, Microcomputers and Peripherals the museum has on display. Various and changing exhibits in the museum show how much computers and technology have changed over the last 50 years and are changing still.
On November 18, 2016 the institution changed its name to Living Computers: Museum + Labs to reflect its enlarged goals of igniting curiosity through direct touch experiences with contemporary technologies as well as vintage computers.
Interesting Facts
Collections and Exhibits
The collection consists of publicly donated items and Paul Allen’s personal collection. There are currently 1 supercomputer, 7 mainframes, 10 minicomputers and 45 microcomputers on permanent display, as well as small temporary exhibits such as "Summer Blockbuster" – software inspired by movies and television. The museum also has two of its own libraries. The first is on the exhibit floor with reference books, user manuals and magazines about the history of computing, available for people to peruse while in the museum. The second collection includes computers, peripherals, software, and documentation to assist in the restoration, display, and use of the vintage computers.
LCM+L is still actively collecting and restoring vintage computers. See the want list for important items the collection is looking for.
A full list of the computers currently on display, and those coming soon can be found below.