Sound Bytes with Maria Klawe

Through our newest initiative, Sound Bytes, we have begun to build a video archive highlighting the experience and expertise of our speakers from Decoding the Past.  In these micro-interviews, we ask each participant to reflect upon their most memorable experiences with personal computers and to share their personal recommendations for our collection. Check out our second installment of the series with Maria Klawe here: 

The Roots of Techno-Optimism

 

Join us for the next installment of our ongoing conversation series, Decoding the Past: Conversations with PC Innovators!

This session, The Roots of Techno-Optimism, is an opportunity to join a conversation with Harry McCracken, veteran technology journalist and current editor for Fast Company. A self-proclaimed techno-optimist, McCracken has spent the last three decades writing about how technology and personal computing affects peoples’ lives, serving as editor at large for Time magazine, editor of PC World, and founder and editor of Technologizer. 

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Recent Aquisitions

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, our collection has continued to grow this year with several new acquisitions including an iMac G3 and iMac G4! These machines add to our collection of Apple products like the Apple Macintosh II currently on display in the “IBM Versus Apple” exhibition. 

Apple Macintosh II (1987)

In 1977 Apple produced the first ever color graphics computer, the Apple II. Ten years later the Apple Macintosh II was released with outstanding color graphics that helped transition the computer from a word- processor and game machine to other functions like photo editing. Although the Macintosh II was quite expensive for its time, the cutting edge color graphics and impressive processing speed ensured its popularity.

iMac G3 (1998)

Two decades later in 1998, Apple released the iMac G3, which later earned the nickname “Bondi Blue” for its translucent colored plastic casing. The iMac was hugely influential for its innovative design and for forgoing traditional technologies like floppy disk and serial ports. The iMac G4 replaced the G3 in 2002, soon earning nicknames like “the Dome” and “the Lamp” for its cutting-edge form. 

 iMac G4 (2002)

We are so grateful for donations like these that continue to increase the breadth, depth, and value of our collection.

Sound Bytes with Walt Mossberg

We are excited to share the first installment of our newest initiative, Sound Bytes, inspired by the incredible caliber of our Decoding the Past speakers. For this project, we ask each of our speakers the same two questions and record their responses in order to build an ongoing video archive of our speakers’ expertise, reflections, and insight.

What was your first experience with personal computing?

Veteran technology columnist Walt Mossberg described what would now be called a “text chat” with a friend as his most memorable early experience with personal computers. Listen to Walt’s response to our first question, here:

If you could add one object to our collection, what would it be and why?

Walt suggested that the first camera phone photo ever taken would be a crucial addition to our collection. 

On June 11, 1997, with the internet still in its infancy, PC pioneer Phillippe Kahn created the first “camera phone” in a Santa Cruz hospital, waiting for his daughter to be born. Driven by his desire to document this momentous occasion and a need to pass the time, Kahn wired his Motorola Startac flip phone to his Casio QV-10 digital camera, which he then connected to his laptop using speakerphone wiring ripped from his car. When baby Sophie was born, Kahn held his daughter in one hand and took her photo with the other, then instantly sent the image to over 2,000 people. 

The impact of this invention cannot be understated. The ability to capture and instantly share imagery has changed the way we interact with the world and with one another. Anyone with a camera phone may now be a journalist, publisher, consumer, artist, or documentarian. The impact of image-based social media applications is debated in the highest courts, while their user numbers continue to grow. Instagram alone claimed 1.3 billion users in 2020. 

Phillippe Kahn himself has continued to be hugely influential in the tech world. He founded several software companies including LightSurf whose picture-messaging technology is used today by Sprint, Verizon, and other major carriers. Kahn has been granted hundreds of patents for innovations related to artificial intelligence, wearable technologies, telecommunications, and motion-detection. 

Full STEAM Ahead: Inclusion Across Generations

Join us for the next installment of our ongoing conversation series, Decoding the Past: Conversations with PC Innovators!

This session, Full STEAM Ahead: Inclusion Across Generations, is an opportunity to join a conversation with Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College and renowned computer scientist and scholar, known for her advocacy of women in STEM fields.

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Maria Klawe, renowned computer scientist and scholar, began her tenure as Harvey Mudd College’s fifth president in 2006. President Klawe is the first woman to lead the College since its founding in 1955. Prior to joining HMC, she served as dean of engineering and professor of computer science at Princeton University. Klawe joined Princeton from the University of British Columbia where she served as dean of science from 1998 to 2002, vice president of student and academic services from 1995 to 1998 and head of the Department of Computer Science from 1988 to 1995. Prior to UBC, Klawe spent eight years with IBM Research in California, and two years at the University of Toronto. She received her PhD (1977) and BSc (1973) in mathematics from the University of Alberta.

Artifact of the Month with MOTAL: Part 2

As part of our partnership with the Museum of Teaching and Learning (MOTAL), we've been able to objects from our collection through MOTAL's Artifact of the Month Program. You can read our second article here!

Artifact of the Month: The Apple II

In the early 1970s, personal computers were mostly owned by a small number of computer and technology specialists. The first personal computers were typically sold as do-it-yourself kits like the Altair 8800 (pictured below), and were more often appealing to electronics enthusiasts than to everyday people. However, innovators committed to making computers accessible created increasingly efficient and intuitive technology. Simultaneously, computers became less expensive to mass-produce which encouraged technology companies to focus on the mass marketability of personal computers. The introduction of easy-to-use, affordable personal computers ensured the commercial success of these machines.

As more people bought personal computers, more technology companies built machines that could perform a variety of tasks. Increasing flexibility and customizability was important in showing the ways in which computers could change people’s lives. In 1977, Apple released the Apple II—the first computer with color graphics—and transformed people’s perception of the possibilities for computers. Users of personal computers liked color displays and high-quality sound because these features allowed them to tailor the computer to their needs. Teachers in the late 1970s, like MOTAL’s own Greta Nagel, were thrilled to have access to these remarkably learner-friendly machines in their classroom. Greta recalls: 

“I ran a reading lab as a specialist in a Title I school when the Apple II came out, and we had four computers to use as a learning center. The computer was friendly and forgiving. It was patient and gave immediate feedback. If the student got something wrong, there was an instant opportunity to try again and get it right.”

Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the Apple II was that it was the first personal computer with color graphics, which the company advertised with a redesigned color logo (pictured below).  This computer was also notable because it was easily customizable depending on the user’s needs. In particular, the software that came with the computer made it useful for business people, reaffirming the potential that personal computers had for transforming the workplace. Color graphics also cemented Apple’s reputation as the preferred computer for graphic artists.

In 1979 Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston introduced VisiCalc, the first electronic spreadsheet, for the Apple II. The application was hugely popular and exponentially increased sales of the Apple II. The VisiCalc was a true game-changer in the industry and paved the way for today’s electronic spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel.

Last year, the Paul Gray Personal Computing Museum hosted the inventor of VisiCalc, Dan Bricklin, as part of our speaker series Decoding the Past: Conversations with PC Innovators. 

Artifact of the Month with MOTAL

As part of our partnership with the Museum of Teaching and Learning (MOTAL), we've been able to objects from our collection through MOTAL's Artifact of the Month Program. You can read our first article here!

Artifact of the Month: The Osborne I

Portability may be the most important personal computer development to date. The very first iterations of ‘portability’ might seem daunting to us now, but at the time they were considered cutting-edge technology. In the early 1980s, portable personal computers evolved rapidly and were usually marketed to the busy businessperson on-the-go. Today, portability is king—as lighter laptops, thinner tablets and more advanced smartphones continue to be developed.

Although it hardly looks like what we imagine a portable computer to be, especially since it lacks the typical clamshell design, the Osborne I was in fact the first “luggable” computer. At a hefty 26 pounds and sporting a tiny screen, the Osborne I was a commercial success and went on to inspire the creation of other portable personal computers.

The Osborne I is on display in the Paul Gray PC Museum’s “The Evolution of the Personal Computer” exhibition alongside with several of the earliest portable computers, including the Grid Convertible 1101. This was the very first portable computer that featured the clamshell design where the screen opens up to reveal a keyboard. When closed the exterior case protects the computer, a useful feature for a portable computer. Weighing ten pounds, this was a much more practical portable laptop than the bulkier Osborne I. However, the first generation of this new technology was punishingly expensive at $8,000 in 1982, the equivalent of $22,000 in 2021. Given this steep price, the market for this model was largely limited to government and military organizations, particularly NASA.

Astronaut John O. Creighton poses with onboard GRiD Compass computer, displaying a likeness of Mr. Spock of Star Trek, aboard Space             Shuttle Discovery mission STS-51-G on 18 June 1985. Wikipedia Commons.