Personal Computer Museum

Updated on Dec 07, 2023

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Established 2005 Province Ontario		Curator Syd Bolton Phone +1 226-227-5898

Location Brantford, Ontario, Canada Type Personal Computer museum Website http://www.pcmuseum.ca/ Address 13 Alma St, Brantford, ON N3R 2G1, Canada Hours Open today · 6:30–9PMMonday6:30–9PMTuesdayClosedWednesdayClosedThursdayClosedFridayClosedSaturdayClosedSundayClosedSuggest an edit Similar Canadian Military Heritage, Bell Homestead National, Mohawk Chapel, OLG Casino Brantford, The Sanderson Centre

Personal computer museum on innerspace vintage retro computer fun

The Personal Computer Museum is located in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, located in a former city building that is built from reclaimed bricks from the Brantford Opera House.

Over fifty interactive personal computers are on display from a wide variety of manufacturers, including Apple Computer, Atari, Commodore, IBM, Radio Shack, Timex, Mattel and more.

The mandate of the museum is to preserve computer technology and more importantly, offer interactivity with these machines. Parents are welcome to bring children and show them computers that they may have used to understand the evolution of the technology that they use today.

The museum offers a large selection of original software in its library as well as a huge archive of computer related magazines. The museum is open to students to study the origins of computers and the various technologies behind them.

Currently open to the public only one day a month, the museum welcomes private tours from schools or other groups and has free admission.

The museum was first opened to the public in September, 2005 by founder and curator, Syd Bolton. The museum is run by Bolton and a group of dedicated volunteers.

Personal computer museum on the circuit on space the imagination station

Displays

The downstairs showcases over forty-five machines that are interactive. The most popular machines include the Commodore 64, IMSAI 8080 and Apple IIe

Video games and consoles are also represented. One rare Atari 2600 title is an "Extra Terrestrials" cartridge published in 1983 by a small Burlington, Ontario firm unaware of Atari's similarly themed 1982 'ET' game, a massive commercial failure which was a factor in the North American video game crash of 1983.

There is a 1953 Admiral Black & White television downstairs connected to a game of Pong

The 'Tower of Power' is a 16-foot (4.9 m) high display that includes the original packaging for such machines as the Coleco Adam, Atari 2600, and Mattel Aquarius

Upstairs contains a magazine library that has classics such as Byte Magazine and Compute!. The library is home to over 4,000 publications.

Upstairs also has a display known as 'Modem Alley' where the history of the modem is displayed including the major milestones contributed by manufacturers such as Hayes Microcomputer Products and Supra, Inc.

Both levels include hundreds of books on various topics in computer history

A special section devoted to Canadian journalist and technology evangelist Jim Butterfield is on permanent display

Computer recycling

The Personal Computer Museum engages in computer recycling. Local residents can bring computers to the museum almost every Monday evening for safe, proper recycling. Computers that are still viable for redistribution are given away to needy families through the computer giveaway program. The museum also has an annual 'Spring Cleanup' event with a special focus on recycling that brought in over 400 pieces of electronics in 2008.

Notable events

Between June 26 and June 29, 2009 Microsoft hired the museum to fill its 'Evolution: 30 Years of Gaming' display in Toronto

On September 13, 2008 the Personal Computer Museum held and established a new Guinness World Records attempt for the most players in a Tetris Tournament

On March 26, 2009 the museum received a 'Shining Stars Tourism Award' for the best marketing campaign for a facility with under 30,000 visitors annually

On June 13, 2009 the museum was host to Andy Walker, Sean Carruthers, and Matt Harris who shot an episode of LabRats.TV

On February 20, 2010 the museum was host to the oldest known computer to send a tweet on Twitter, the VIC-20, using code written by Syd Bolton.

On October 13, 2011 the museum received a 'Shining Stars Tourism Award' for the event "Guitar Hero Rocks the Square" and museum curator Syd Bolton received the "Tourism Innovator" award

On November 15, 2014 Jack Livesley and former TVOntario staff, as well as the former editor of the The Transactor, held a talk and Q&A session, reminiscing about the early days of Bits and Bytes and personal computers.

References

Personal Computer Museum Wikipedia

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