{"id":3527,"date":"2011-01-13T14:36:52","date_gmt":"2011-01-13T20:36:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/?p=3527"},"modified":"2022-12-28T14:58:28","modified_gmt":"2022-12-28T22:58:28","slug":"the-goodwill-computer-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2011\/01\/the-goodwill-computer-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"The Goodwill Computer Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Goodwill<\/p>\n

Last week I had a chance to visit the Goodwill Computer Museum<\/a>, conveniently located (for me)\u00a0here in Austin, Texas.<\/p>\n

The museum is a small part of the Goodwill Computer Works<\/a>, a computer and electronics recycling center operated by Goodwill<\/a>. \u00a0The site accepts donations of both computer and non computer-related items, like clothes and household items. \u00a0 To enter the museum, you first pass through the computer store. \u00a0Here you can buy used computers as well as cables, wall warts,\u00a0keyboards, flat panel displays, wireless routers, \u00a0graphics cards, and even some software. \u00a0I’ve even seen some small pieces of surplus electronic equipment there, as well as some vintage computers, so I’ll be adding this store to the surplus wiki<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There is a lot of interesting stuff on display. \u00a0Along one wall, there is an assortment of TRS-80<\/a> machines, a Model 100<\/a>, and some home video game consoles, including an Atari Super Pong<\/a> and a Magnavox Odyssey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Goodwill<\/p>\n

The luggable TRS-80\u00a0PT-210<\/a> includes a built-in acoustic coupler!<\/p>\n

\"Goodwill<\/p>\n

Apple is well-represented as well. \u00a0There’s an Apple Lisa 2<\/a> on display. \u00a0Retail price in 1984: $10,000<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

\"Goodwill<\/a><\/p>\n

Standing tall near the entrance is a Data General Nova<\/a> system. \u00a0Flickr user\u00a0P^2 Paul<\/a> points out that “Tracy Kidder wrote a great book about DG, the Nova, and the development of the Eclipse. \u00a0The Soul of a New Machine<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

\"Goodwill<\/p>\n

I love the crinkle finish on this Dynabyte DB8\/4. \u00a0I can’t find much information about this machine online, except this post about a DB8\/1<\/a> that has a Z-80 CPU and an S-100 bus.<\/p>\n

\"Goodwill<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Osborne 1<\/a>, released in 1981,\u00a0was\u00a0designed by Lee Felsenstein<\/a>. \u00a0I’ve had the pleasure of chatting with Lee on a couple occasions. \u00a0He has a lot of interesting stories and is still designing electronics.<\/p>\n

\"Goodwill<\/p>\n

What would a computer museum in Austin be without a shrine to Michael Dell<\/a>? \u00a0Here’s a PC’s Limited Turbo PC<\/a> (there’s one of these at the Smithsonian!)\u00a0\u00a0PC’s Limited eventually became… you guessed it, Dell<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Goodwill<\/p>\n

There’s a painstakingly-restored PDP 8\/S<\/a> (apparently ‘S’ unofficially stands for ‘Slow’) in one corner of the main exhibit area.<\/p>\n

\"Goodwill<\/p>\n

I was happy to see this Heathkit oscilloscope. \u00a0I had a far-uglier Heathkit ‘scope when I was in high school. \u00a0Mine had tubes inside. \u00a0I’m guessing this one does, too.<\/p>\n

\"Goodwill<\/p>\n

In 2007, Jon Stanley<\/a> constructed a relay computer named RC-2<\/a>. \u00a0It is on display here, and I got to see a preview of RC-3 in the back room!<\/p>\n

\"Goodwill<\/p>\n

Computer Terminal Corporation (later Datapoint<\/a>) was based in San Antonio and made the Datapoint 2200<\/a> shown on the desk. \u00a0I’m pretty sure the rest of this equipment is CTC, but I’m not sure exactly what models are shown.<\/p>\n

img class=”alignnone” src=”http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/files\/flickr\/5333821885_e9e2bcf0a9.jpg” alt=”Goodwill Computer Museum” width=”500″ height=”375″ \/><\/p>\n

To see more of the museum, check out the photoset on flickr<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week I had a chance to visit the Goodwill Computer Museum, conveniently located (for me)\u00a0here in Austin, Texas. The museum is a small part of the Goodwill Computer Works, a computer and electronics recycling center operated by Goodwill. \u00a0The site accepts donations of both computer and non computer-related items, like clothes and household items. … Continue reading The Goodwill Computer Museum<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[328,335,368,369],"class_list":["post-3527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-electronics","tag-austin","tag-computers","tag-goodwill","tag-museum"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pioCd-UT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3529,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2011\/01\/scare-the-hell-out-of-your-secretary\/","url_meta":{"origin":3527,"position":0},"title":"Scare the hell out of your secretary…","author":"Jeff","date":"January 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Scare the hell out of your secretary. \u00a0Get her a computer.\" Very un-PC (no, the other PC) 1960s 1970s ad by San Antonio-based Computer Terminal Corporation. \u00a0Spotted at the Goodwill Computer Museum in Austin, TX. Best viewed large.","rel":"","context":"In \"austin\"","block_context":{"text":"austin","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/tag\/austin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_0840.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/files\/flickr\/5333822481_c9d2761d4f.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10566,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2019\/03\/this-weekend-vcf-living-computers-museum-in-seattle\/","url_meta":{"origin":3527,"position":1},"title":"this weekend: VCF @ Living Computers Museum in Seattle","author":"Jeff","date":"March 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This year's Vintage Computer Festival is being held this weekend at the Living Computers Museum in Seattle. Full program is here. The Connections Museum is also holding special hours for the festival. I highly recommend a visit. http:\/\/vcfed.org\/wp\/festivals\/vintage-computer-festival-pacific-northwest\/","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5028,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/an-analog-life-my-pilgrimage-to-the-workbench-of-analog-guru-jim-williams\/","url_meta":{"origin":3527,"position":2},"title":"An Analog Life: My pilgrimage to the workbench of analog guru Jim Williams","author":"Jeff","date":"February 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/mightyohm\/6780036200\/in\/set-72157629444825281 Last week, while visiting the San Francisco Bay Area, I had a chance to visit the Computer History Museum. Surprisingly, I didn't go there to see their impressive collection of vintage computers, although I highly recommend checking out the PDP-1, Babbage Engine, and Revolution, a tour of the first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Electronics"","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1289,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/analog-computer-bouncing-ball\/","url_meta":{"origin":3527,"position":3},"title":"Analog Computer Bouncing Ball","author":"Jeff","date":"February 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a neat video by Eric Archer showing a bouncing ball animation on an oscilloscope.\u00a0 The behavior of the ball is determined by a set of controls and an analog computer.\u00a0 Fascinating! eric archer . net \u00bb Analog Computer Bouncing Ball (via skye)","rel":"","context":"In "Electronics"","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2777,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2010\/03\/photos-of-the-black-hole\/","url_meta":{"origin":3527,"position":4},"title":"Photos of The Black Hole","author":"Jeff","date":"March 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Last May, my brother and I went on a week-long roadtrip across the US.\u00a0 Ambling down the highway in a very large moving truck, we travelled from California to Texas by way of\u00a0 Tuscon, Socorro, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Los Alamos, and quite a few rest stops, gas stations, and fast\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Electronics"","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Black Hole","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/files\/flickr\/3516374199_6467b52aba.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1370,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/diy-8-bit-computer-big-mess-o-wires\/","url_meta":{"origin":3527,"position":5},"title":"DIY 8-bit Computer: Big Mess o\u2019 Wires","author":"Jeff","date":"March 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Steve Chamberlin created an 8-bit computer from discrete logic and called his project the Big Mess o\u2019 Wires. The BMOW runs at 2MHz and has 512K RAM and 16K ROM.\u00a0 It is constructed with primarily 7400 series logic and over 1048 wirewrap connections. The feature list is very impressive: It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Electronics"","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stevechamberlin.com\/cpu\/bmow_case9.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3527"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15922,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3527\/revisions\/15922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}