Living Computers: Museum + Labs

Living Computers: Museum + Labs (LCM+L) was a computer and technology museum located in the SoDo neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. LCM+L showcased vintage computers which provided interactive sessions, either through time-sharing operating systems or single-user interfaces. This gave users a chance to actually use the computers online or in-person in the museum. An expansion had added direct touch experiences with contemporary technologies such as self-driving cars, the internet of things, big data, and robotics. LCM+L had also hosted a wide range of educational programs and events in their state-of-the art classroom and lab spaces.

Living Computers: Museum + Labs

Exterior of the museum
Established	October 25, 2012 (2012-10-25)
Dissolved	February 2020 (2020-02)
Location	2245 1st Avenue South Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Coordinates	47.582487°N 122.334708°W / 47.582487; -122.334708
Type	Computer museum
Key holdings	PDP-10, IBM Mainframes, Apple 1, PLATO
Founder	Paul Allen
Curator	Aaron Alcorn
Public transit access	King County Metro, Link light rail
Nearest car park	Onsite and Street Parking
Website	www.livingcomputers.org

According to an archived version of LCM+L's website, their goal was "to breathe life back into our machines so the public can experience what it was like to see them, hear them, and interact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."^[1]

The museum closed in February 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2] In June 2024, The Paul Allen Estate announced that the museum would be permanently closed and that the museum's collection, most of which was owned by the Estate and not the museum itself, would be auctioned off^[3] by Christie's.^[4]

History

Harry Garland and Paul Allen at an event honoring computer pioneers at the museum in April 2013

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.^[5]

Users around the world could request a login through the LCM+L website and telnet into systems from XKL, DEC, IBM, Xerox Sigma, AT&T, and CDC.^[6]

The museum opened to the public on October 25, 2012, and guests could visit in person to interact with the collection of mainframes, minicomputers, microcomputers and peripherals the museum had on display.^[7] Various and changing exhibits in the museum showed how much computers and technology had changed over the last 50 years and were changing still.^[8] In 2013, Seattle Weekly voted the museum the "Best Geeky Museum" because it highlighted "an essential part of Seattle binary history - the founding of Microsoft and its role in establishing Seattle as a tech-driven industry".^[9]

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.^[10]

The museum closed in February 2020 and did not reopen afterward due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[11] The Allen Estate announced the museum's permanent closure in June 2024 with plans to auction off some materials in the collection.^[3]

Dave Plummer posted to one of his YouTube channels a private tour of the museum. Plummer posted to X saying "Thanks to Christie's Auctions, I managed to get a private tour of the Living Computers Museum in Seattle. It's been closed since Covid, and now everything is being auctioned off, so it's your last chance to see it all... and you can only see it here!"^[12][13]

Collections and exhibits

The collection consists of publicly donated items and Paul Allen's personal collection. The working computers on display included one supercomputer, seven mainframes, 10 minicomputers, and over three dozen microcomputers.^[7]

Various artifacts from the museum were borrowed and featured in TV shows such as Mad Men^[14] and Halt and Catch Fire.^[15]

A roughly 180° panorama of the "conditioned" room at the Living Computer Museum containing mainframes and large minicomputers

Computers

Manufacturer	Model	Type	Year Introduced	Available for public use	Telnet access[16]
Amazon	Kindle 1[citation needed]	hand-held	2007	Yes	No
Amiga	500[citation needed]	microcomputer	1987	Yes	No
Apple	Apple 1[citation needed]	microcomputer	1976	Yes	No
Apple	II[17]	microcomputer	1977	Yes	No
Apple	IIe[17]	microcomputer	1983	Yes	No
Apple	III[citation needed]	microcomputer	1980	Yes	No
Apple	Lisa 2[17]	microcomputer	1984	Yes	No
Apple	iMac G3[citation needed]	microcomputer	1998	Yes[citation needed]	No
Apple	Macintosh SE[17]	microcomputer	1987	Yes	No
Apple	Power Mac G4[citation needed]	microcomputer	1999	Yes	No
AT&T	DMD 5620 / 3B2[citation needed]	minicomputer	1983	Yes	Yes
Atari	2600[citation needed]	video game console	1977	Yes	No
Atari	400[17]	microcomputer	1979	Yes	No
Atari	1040 ST[17]	microcomputer	1985	Yes	No
Columbia Data Products	MPC 1600[citation needed]	microcomputer	1982	Yes	No
Commodore	PET[17]	microcomputer	1977	Yes	No
Commodore	64[17]	microcomputer	1982	Yes	No
Compaq	DeskPro 386S[17]	microcomputer	1989	Yes	No
Compaq	Portable[17]	microcomputer	1983	Yes	No
Control Data	CDC 6500[17]	supercomputer	1967	No	Yes
Control Data	DD60 monitor	operator console	1964	No	No
Control Data	405 card reader	peripheral	1964	No	No
Control Data	CDC 679-6 magnetic tape transport	peripheral	1964	No	No
Cray	Cray-1[18]	mainframe	1975	No	No
Cromemco	Z-2D[17]	microcomputer	1978	Yes	No
Data General	Nova[17]	minicomputer	1969	Yes	No
DEC	PDP-7[17]	minicomputer	1964	No	No
DEC	PDP-8/E[17]	minicomputer	1970	Yes	No
DEC	PDP-10 KA10 (DECsystem-10)[17]	mainframe	1968[19]	No	No
DEC	PDP-10 KI10 (DECsystem-10)[17]	mainframe	1971	No	No[citation needed]
DEC	PDP-10 KL10 (DECSYSTEM-2065)[17]	mainframe	1974	Yes	Yes
DEC	PDP-10 KL10 (DECSYSTEM-1095)[17]	mainframe	1974	Yes	Yes
DEC	PDP-10 KS10 (DECSYSTEM-2020)[17]	mainframe	1979	Yes	Yes[citation needed]
DEC	PDP-11/70[17]	minicomputer	1975	Yes	Yes
DEC	PDP-12[17]	minicomputer	1969	No	No
DEC	VAX-11/780-5[17]	minicomputer	1982	Yes	Yes
DEC	VT131[citation needed]	terminal	1981	Yes[citation needed]	No
Dell	Dimension XPS B733[17]	microcomputer	1999	Yes	No
E.S.R.	Digi-Comp II reproduction[citation needed]	toy computer	1965 (original patent); 2012 (reproduction)	Yes	No
Honeywell	6180 DPS-8/M maintenance panel and Multics emulator[17]	peripheral; emulation of mainframe	1973 (mainframe)	No	No
IBM	System/360 Model 30 mainframe	mainframe	1964	No	No
IBM	System/360 Model 91 front panel[citation needed]	peripheral	1966	No	No
IBM	029 card punch[citation needed]	peripheral	1964	Yes[citation needed]	No
IBM	4361[17][failed verification]	mainframe	1983	Yes	Yes
IBM	Personal Computer 5150[17]	microcomputer	1981	Yes	No
IBM	PCjr[17]	microcomputer	1984	Yes	No
IBM	PC/AT[17]	microcomputer	1984	Yes	No
IMLAC Corporation	PDS-1 "sImlac" emulator[17]	emulation of minicomputer	1970s (minicomputer); 2017 (emulator)	Yes	No
IMSAI	8080[17]	microcomputer	1975	Yes	No
Interdata	7/32[17]	minicomputer	1974	Yes	Yes[citation needed]
MITS	Altair 8800[17]	microcomputer	1975	Yes	No
Microsoft	PixelSense[17]	microcomputer	2007	Yes	No
NeXT	NeXTcube[citation needed]	microcomputer	1990	Yes	No
Nintendo	NES-101[citation needed]	video game console	1993	Yes	No
Osborne	Executive[17]	microcomputer	1982	Yes	No
PLATO	Terminal V[citation needed]	microcomputer	1976	Yes	No
Processor Technology	Sol-20[17]	microcomputer	1976	Yes	No
Radio Shack	TRS-80 Model 4[17]	microcomputer	1983	Yes	No
Sun Microsystems	3/160[17]	microcomputer	1986	Yes	No
Tandy	1000[17]	microcomputer	1984	Yes	No
Tandy	Color Computer 3[citation needed]	microcomputer	1986	Yes	No
Teletype	Model 33[citation needed]	terminal	1963	No	No
Teletype	Model 35[citation needed]	terminal	1963	No	No
Teletype	Model 37[citation needed]	terminal	1968	No	No
Texas Instruments	Speak & Spell Compact[citation needed]	hand-held	1982	Yes	No
Texas Instruments	TI-99/4A[citation needed]	microcomputer	1981	Yes	No
Xerox	Sigma 9[17]	mainframe	1971	Yes	Yes
Xerox	Alto[17]	minicomputer	1973	Yes	No
Xerox	Alto "ContrAlto" simulator[17]	emulation of minicomputer	1973 (minicomputer); 2016 (emulator)	Yes	No
XKL	TOAD-1[17]	mainframe	1995	Yes	No
XKL	TOAD-2[17]	mainframe	2005	Yes	Yes

References

1. "What is Living Computer Museum?". Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
2. "LIVING COMPUTERS: MUSEUM + LABS IS CLOSING FOR NOW". Archived from the original on March 15, 2024. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
3. Schlosser, Kurt (June 25, 2024). "Seattle's Living Computers Museum logs off for good as Paul Allen estate will auction vintage items". GeekWire. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
4. "Inside the historic computer collection of Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen". Christie's. July 8, 2024.
5. "Paul G. Allen Launches Web Site Dedicated to Early Computers; PDPplanet.com Site Celebrates Historic Mainframes and Minicomputers | Business Wire". www.businesswire.com (Press release). Retrieved July 4, 2018.
6. "Application for a Guest Account on the Living Computers: Museum + Labs". Archived from the original on November 30, 2018. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
7. "Home - Living Computer Museum". Archived from the original on July 2, 2018. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
8. "Seattle's Living Computer Museum tempts tech tourists". USA Today. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
9. "Best Geeky Museum: Living Computer Museum". Retrieved August 17, 2016.
10. Schlosser, Kurt (October 25, 2016). "Paul Allen's Living Computers: Museum + Labs rebranded and expanded to better 'ignite curiosity'". GeekWire.
11. Bumpus, Kayvon (September 25, 2022). "Paul Allen's Living Computers Museum remains closed after years, despite lifted COVID restrictions".
12. https://x.com/davepl1968/status/1827863018417561619 ^{[bare URL]}
13. Dave's Garage (August 25, 2024). Rare Private Tour of Seattle's long-closed Living Computer Museum. Retrieved August 26, 2024 – via YouTube.
14. "Fashion and Style: Episode 704: Mad Men: The Monolith". AMC.
15. "Welcome To 1986: Inside "Halt And Catch Fire's" High-Tech Time Machine". August 27, 2016.
16. "Request a login". Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
17. "Vintage Computers". Archived from the original on January 2, 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
18. Miller, Michael J. (August 17, 2017), "Visiting the Living Computers Museum", PC Magazine
19. "PDP10 manual" (PDF). December 1968.

Further reading

• Michael J. Miller (August 17, 2017), "Visiting the Living Computers Museum", PC Magazine
• Engadget - Inside Seattle's invitation-only VR summit
• Engadget - We took a nostalgic look around Seattle's Living Computer Museum
• FC Technology - Welcome to 1986: Inside "Halt and Catch Fire's" High-Tech Time Machine
• Forbes - Bill Gates and Paul Allen Reunite and Recreate Classic 1981 Microsoft Photo
• Fox News Travel - Seattle's Living Computer Museum: not just for techies
• Geek Wire - Paul Allen's quest: A 32-bit computer built by Interdata
• Geek Wire - Go inside Paul Allen's Living Computer Museum with this 3D virtual tour
• LA Times - High-tech effort calls up smartphones for Ebola Battle
• NYT Bits - A Place where Old Computers Go to Live
• Oregon Live - Living Computer Museum offers a hands-on tour of the digital age
• Oregon Live - Paul Allen's Living Computer Museum pays homage to trailblazing PCs
• PDP-7 Lights Up the Living Computer Museum
• Seattle Times - Paul Allen's new Seattle computer museum not just for geeks
• Science Daily - Inside Seattle's Living Computer Museum
• Seattle Weekly - Best Geeky Museum: Living Computer Museum
• The Economist - Keeping skin out of the game
• The Stranger - Two Geeks and an Art Critic Visit Paul Allen's Living Computer Museum
• USA Today Video - Seattle's Living Computer Museum Tempts Tech Tourists
• WSJ Video - A Look Inside Paul Allen's Living Computer Museum

External links

• Official website
• Pete Warden Blog: Why you should visit the Living Computer Museum in Seattle
• Search the LCM+L Library and Archive Catalog!