Computer History Displays

Hi,

I thought that I would let you all know that the display has been completed to the standard that I had planned. I am off for a break in warmer climes but when I return I will be in contact with all who requested tours to make arrangements. We are also thinking of having a little ceremony for the display's completion to which you will be invited. Probably in September.

A few words on how the funding was spent. The total expenditure on the display was $2697. Nett funds from PledgeMe amounted to $2309. However, some expenses have been met by the University, so $118 pledged is still unspent. Looking at the display it would seem prudent to put a cover on top of the plotter so that will take up all that was pledged (and a bit more from TradeMe sales.)

Thanks for your generous assistance. This will be the final PledgeMe update - I will send emails about the tours etc to you directly.

Bob

Just a quick update to let you know that you are not forgotten. The heavy items have been installed. The next step is to have the acrylic covers made. And, the hard part for me, writing the display description to go on the wall above the plotter. The 5080 was released in 1984 - seems to have been a pivotal year for computing history.

We reached our goal today. This was possible because we have made $655 from selling on TradeMe surplus and duplicate items from our collection. Pledges totalled $2550. It would have been a harder slog were it not for our generous benefactor but thanks to all who contributed or made pledges. I will get back to you individually later when PledgeMe provides the details. 

You will see that we are now at $2,260 so there is less than one quarter to go! This is close and we are so confident that the goal will be met that we have gone ahead and ordered the furniture.

As well as the IBM 5080 there will be other items on display. These include a large HP plotter:

And Tektronics "green flash" storage display terminal:

The description will explain the problem of memory cost with raster graphics and how vector graphics was more feasible to start with. The Tektronics display actually stored the image on its screen - unfortunately parts of the image were not erasable - this required the whole screen to be cleared with the "green flash."

You will notice that the amount pledged is close to half the total. I am selling off duplicate and spare items from the department cupboards and have raised another $200, so we are definitely half way there. You will also notice that the average pledge seems high - this is because we received a very generous donation from an anonymous donor. This makes me confident that we will meet our goal.

But there is still a long way to go. I had no idea that this crowd-funding involved so much work!

Anyway, here are some more details of what is intended. We have space in the 5th floor lobby of "our' building. It will allow a display more than 2m wide. The original IBM 5080 workstation looked like this when used at Mechanical Engineering:

The idea is to put the 5080 on a desk with its controls much like in the photo. We will also pack in the processors, an RS6000, and a Tektronix display. Something like:

A bit rough, but I have quotes on detailed plans for the furniture, which comes to about $1000 by itself, without cases.

More next week.