PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS: Neil Davidson (Red Gate), Mike Muller (ARM), Jason Fitzpatrick (CfCH)
Computer museum backed by ARM, Hauser and Red Gate
Cambridge tech heavyweights have joined Business Weekly in a campaign to create a state-of-the-art Cambridge Computing History Museum.
Serial tech entrepreneur and co-founder of Acorn Computers, Dr Hermann Hauser, superchip designer ARM Holdings and software pioneer Red Gate have lent their muscle to the quest for a suitable building in Cambridge to house the venture.
The vision is to transform around 10,000 sq ft of rented accommodation into an Aladdin’s Cave of computing artefacts.
The computing treasure trove would be – initially at least – a more modest version of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass.
Jason Fitzpatrick, the man behind the venture, is calling for Cambridge technology businesses to help fund the computing museum going forward. And the Museum's Board of Trustees, of which Fitzpatrick is a member, would be happy to receive more memorabilia for the collection.
Jamie Green, of Juniper Real Estate in Cambridge, is helping Jason to find a building of around 10,000 sq ft – or something close to that – or a couple of neighbouring properties adding up to that kind of size to create the showcase and also provide storage facilities.
The building would have to be dry and in relatively good condition given the value of the collection in which there are more than 7,000 items – and as close to the city centre as possible to exploit the business and tourism footfalls.
ARM has provided some temporary storage for the collection which is currently housed in Haverhill. Red Gate has donated important funding. Hauser commented "It would be wonderful if a Computer Museum was opened in Cambridge to celebrate the many historic milestones Cambridge University and local companies have contributed to."
Fitzpatrick, who appeared in the BBC’s Micro Men TV programme, said: “We only have 3,000 sq ft of space in Haverhill so only a fraction of the collection can be displayed.
“I am 40 now but my passion for collecting things began when I was 11. I really started building up in earnest about 20 years ago. To be honest I bought far too much and four years ago it was obvious that I would either have to dump all these wonderful machines in lofts or cupboards or honour their legacy by putting them on public display. I chose the latter.
“My collection is fairly insignificant compared to all the donations from people all over the country – we have even had donations from the US.
“It is a very old collection that traces the history of a technology revolution. These machines date back to the birth of personal computing – my first Sinclair machine is in there and an Acorn BBC Computer – what a contribution Acorn made to this revolution. The Acorn story is incredible.
“Some of the early computers are really big machines – like the one Benny Hill wreaked havoc with in the ‘Italian Job’.
“The oldest is my Altair 8800 from 1975. Ours is issue number three. It is normally considered the first home computer. We have a Sinclair Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Acorn Atom.
“A lot of the early computers came in kit form with just switches and lights. There was no keyboard or mouse. When Steve Job and other major players saw these machines they knew that was definitely not the way they envisaged computing for the future and new generation computers such as the Apple 1 were born. That was Apple’s first product in 1976.
“It’s hard to put a value on such a collection. I bought the Altair on ebay for around £10,000 - I put in a binary bid of 11,111 and eventually got it for around the £10k mark - but in historical terms they are priceless really.
“Setting nostalgia aside, the microchip made everything possible. From then on, the advent and evolution of personal computers have revolutionised the way we live and work. They have touched practically every aspect of our lives – including medicine – and changed things for ever.
“That’s why we are fighting so hard and enlisting support for the Cambridge showcase. Anyone who wants to pitch in with donations, machines or expertise would be most welcome. We are preserving these artefacts for future generations – generations that will be far more switched on to technological advances than most youngsters were when the first personal computers were produced.”
The Computing Museum is a registered charity. If you can help with funding, have other suitable memorabilia – or if you have a suitable building for the museum – please get in touch with Jason Fitzpatrick direct on 01440 709794 or via email:
- Code: Select all
info@computinghistory.org.uk
