Apple III & Profile

From: D. Peschel <dpeschel_at_u.washington.edu>
Date: Thu Aug 13 00:32:53 1998

> > And I'm still rather pissed at the reaction I got from the people at Bletchley
>
> This, alas is typical of computer museums. It's a great pity, especially
> as I believe the Bletchley Park PERQs will just switch on.

> Pity... And they wouldn't even pull the case, right, or show you the few
> spare PERQ 3a boards that used to be there. The PERQ boards, especially
> the PERQ 2 CPU board, are worth looking at...

It's hard to express just how disappointed and even angry I was (especially
without using obscenities). My expectations were high; I had come all the way
from the US and had waited literally years to see the place. I was also
feeling a bit cocky that day (I knew I know more than the average visitor
knows, about computers and encryption and the math behind them). I hadn't had
time to send e-mail in advance so knocking on the glass and introducing myself
may have seemed bold.

I don't envy the volunteers. They're desperately in need of money (the place
is in disrepair) and they probably spend a lot of their time getting money
from rich but unknowledgeable people. (Outside the shop housing the Colossus
rebuild is a plaque commemorating its switching on. The plaque mentions the
Duchess of Kent IIRC. The rebuild is only 1/5 or 2/5 done! [*]) Also the CCS
which owns the computers is independent of the Park itself.

But I still think they're making the situation worse for themselves. Their
aloofness put me off ("We only come every two weeks -- we have other lives to
lead, you know" someone told me in a somewhat frosty tone). The CCS is doing
all kinds of projects, but very slowly. The Park's exhibits are beautiful
(Their Enigma gave me exactly the same results as a simulation (except the
sporadically non-lighting light bulbs, but I hear that's a common problem))
but the information underlying the exhibits is not being gathered or
disseminated very quickly. Considering that these people know many things
that are essentially irreplaceable (and aren't young either), I'd expect them
to rethink their priorities somewhat (preserve and share what they have,
welcome help, maybe come more often, and fix the buildings up).

Are there cultural differences here? Are they still nervous about security?
Were my expectations too high? Did I come across the wrong way? Were the
wrong people there that day? All I know is that the degree of entropy there
is one of the few things that can make me _really_ sad and angry.

I won't even _mention_ the Science Museum (maybe next post) except to say:

        - The contents of the "Recent Additions" case are apparently the same
          as the last time someone else brought up the topic on the list.

        - If you go, be sure to visit the library. (Ask at the museum. It's
          part of (the far end of) Imperial College just down the street.)
          It goes a long way toward making up for the disappointment of the
          exhibits. And I still want to know what's in the PDP-16 book that
          I didn't have a chance to read!

[*] 5 parallel sets of logic (one per hole in a 5-hole paper tape. Really!)
    The tape reader and one (or maybe two, I forget) sets of logic are done.

-- Derek
Received on Thu Aug 13 1998 - 00:32:53 BST

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