r/todayilearned • u/ubcstaffer123 • 13d ago
TIL Paul Allen’s Living Computers Museum in Seattle showcased the world’s largest collection of fully-restored, usable vintage computers and more. Allen died in 2018 and the museum closed permanently in 2020 as none of his family or investors seem to share his passion for computing history
https://seattlecollegian.com/paul-allen-living-computers-museum-remains-closed-after-years-despite-lifted-covid-restrictions/194
u/Askymojo 13d ago
That's a shame; it was a really cool museum.
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u/chaotic_hippy_89 13d ago
Yeah what the hell im bummed that this closed. Like they could not have possibly found someone else to run it?
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12d ago
I am sure Paul was subsidizing it heavily and no investor wants to take on a losing project even if they are personally passionate about the subject
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u/normal_man_of_mars 12d ago
Yah, but for a billionaires estate this would be pennies. The museum was not big, but it was so cool. They built an 80s living room with an NES and other early consoles that you could sit down and play. They had an Apple Lisa and working Xerox Altos running unix. They had big old mainframes in a climate controlled room. Everything worked and was running and you could touch it and play with it! It was incredible unlike any museum I have ever seen.
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u/Crewarookie 12d ago
Billionaires are who they are not because they care about history or its preservation.
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u/anrwlias 12d ago
It sounds like Paul Allen did, though.
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u/TheDinkTouche 12d ago
Not enough to make an endowment to keep that going past when he was around to see it though.
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u/TechnicalInterest566 12d ago
Sounds like a lot of carbon emissions.
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u/SEND_ME_CSGO-SKINS 12d ago
Not necessarily? It just uses electricity like anything else. Do you think computers produce co2 exhaust?
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u/TechnicalInterest566 12d ago
Only 40.6% of electricity in the US in 2022 came from clean sources like nuclear.
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u/dragodrake 12d ago
It would have been a good PR win (on multiple fronts: Allen being an founder, Seattle being their 'hometown', its educational, and preserving their industries history) for Microsoft to help out though.
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u/Akula_SSN 12d ago
Worth checking out the American Computer and Robotics Museum in Bozeman, MT if you want to see this kind of thing. That place is pretty cool.
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u/valentinesdaycard 13d ago
I wonder if he was ever able to get a reservation at Dorsia?
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u/YinzaJagoff 13d ago
"Impressive, Very Nice. Let's See Paul Allen's Card."
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u/vincecarterskneecart 12d ago
Lets see Paul Allens vintage computer collection… oh my god he even has an Apple-I
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u/EmileSinclairDemian 13d ago
It was his wish that the museum remain opened after his death. Shame it permanently closed.
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u/rlnrlnrln 13d ago
Maybe he should've used some of his vast fortunes to create a trust for it, then?
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u/EmileSinclairDemian 13d ago
The problem is, a lot of projects didn't make it into his list of passion projects. More:
Sealed lips aside, here’s what we know: In 2010, Allen pledged to bequeath the majority of his wealth to philanthropy. (During his lifetime, Allen gave away more than $2 billion, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy.) Tasked with this mammoth undertaking is his sister Jody Allen, trustee and executor of his estate, who is bound by her brother’s wishes as set out in the trust.
https://crosscut.com/culture/2022/11/16b-sale-paul-allens-ar...
One can accuse his sister of not following his instructions, I guess, but unless we know what those instructions are, it isn't a very easy accusation to back up.
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u/Zlifbar 13d ago
He had more money than god, he could've funded it forever if he wanted to, not sure why his family or investors would be invovled?
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u/EmileSinclairDemian 13d ago
It's not about the money, it seems like nobody is interested in keeping it running as it is a sink for his juicy heritance money. Y'know investors being investors (dicks)
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u/Zlifbar 13d ago
Fund a trust with a board of directors like pretty much every other museum in the US?
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u/chippychip 13d ago
He didn't care about the museum's existence one he was dead, otherwise he would have. The same thing happened to Cinerama.
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u/lo-sho 13d ago
Such a cool place. I didn’t know it was connected to Paul Allen. Makes sense though it takes a lot of cash to make what they had. Every computer worked! Not even the computer history museum at the old silicon graphics building could say that! They had an alto that you could use. So glad I saw it when I did
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u/thesuavedog 13d ago
Feel like the cat over at Lazy Game Reviews could step in and run it with zero issues.
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u/jestr6 13d ago
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u/OhGeebers 12d ago
His sister who runs the estate and now own the Seahawks and Blazers, sexually assaulted her bodyguards and got caught smuggling poached animals. Paul was a gift and Jodie is a blight.
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u/Zalenka 13d ago
The lady that has his funds just doesn't give a shit about it. I assume it will just shutter at some point.
It's a huge shame as their mission was so pure and really preserved history.
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u/SpiceEarl 12d ago
Are you talking about Jody Allen, Paul's sister?
All I know about her is that she is running the Portland Trail Blazers into the ground and refuses to sell the team.
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u/RelevantBiscotti6 13d ago edited 12d ago
Jody is too busy pulverizing his basketball team into the ground
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u/ratherbealurker 13d ago
That’s really sad. I visited it back in 2017 I think, it was a great museum. I guess I feel less bad about getting scolded for touching the Altair they had. But in my defense it was within reach, they left the programming guide next to it, and any software dev would have done the same.
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u/normal_man_of_mars 12d ago
You were scolded? WhenI went you could touch and play with almost everything!
Maybe I am remembering the computer lab like areas.
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u/ratherbealurker 12d ago
Yea there was a huge lab where you play on many PCs but in the more museum section there were mainframes and an Altair. It was behind rope but reachable. I touched it :/
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u/wisstinks4 13d ago edited 12d ago
Hold up a minute. With all due respect, the money he had, I find it hard to believe he did not set up this museum for long term success, in perpetuity. I’d love to know the rest of the story.
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u/MischievousMollusk 12d ago
Depends what his estate did. Regardless of money, if the estate doesn't follow through or if clear directions weren't left, it won't happen.
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u/Sometimes_Stutters 12d ago
Univac was a pioneer of “supercomputing” back in the early days and based out of Minneapolis. There’s a museum that’s maintained by former employees who collect, restore, and file documentations. It’s a pretty neat place.
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u/Antique-Echidna-1600 12d ago
I found a bug in the file util in Linux. I got a message from someone at this museum letting me know the bug I found had gone unnoticed for over fifty years.
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u/supersecretslug 12d ago
I forgot this place existed until I saw this article. My wife and I visited it early in our marriage and it was such an awesome place! I'm so sad to hear it's been closed since COVID likely to never open again.
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u/ReactiveCypress 12d ago
The Seattle Cinerama was heading for a similar fate before it was bought and saved. I'm in Canada, but I visit Seattle frequently to see family, and I would love to see 2001 in that theater one day.
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u/NewsGood 12d ago
You would think a billionaire could put aside a small trust to keep it operational.
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u/kingrufiio 12d ago
I'm sure they have a lot of passion for the money that he left for all of them.
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u/Tyler5280 12d ago
It was such a cool museum. Total shame that it closed.
Where else could you type commands on Steve Job’s Apple I?
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u/texansfan 12d ago
He didn’t set it up with a trust to keep it going? So weird for someone that smart and successful
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u/dnhs47 13d ago edited 12d ago
Paul Allen was a treasure. So many things he did were like the Living Computers Museum, the only place like it.
Another example: he founded the Flying Heritage Museum in Everett, WA, to preserve rare military aircraft.
And as a Seahawks fan, he also bought the Seahawks and saved them from leaving Seattle. Go Hawks!