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Living Computers: Museum + Labs
LCM+L Logo
LCM+L Exterior1.jpg
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.
Type Computer museum
Key holdings PDP-10, IBM Mainframes, Apple 1, PLATO
Founder Paul Allen
Public transit access King County Metro, Link light rail
Nearest car park Onsite and Street Parking

Living Computers: Museum + Labs (often called LCM+L) was a special museum in Seattle, Washington. It focused on computers and technology. Unlike many museums, LCM+L let visitors actually use old computers. You could interact with them online or in person.

The museum also had new technology exhibits. These included self-driving cars and robotics. LCM+L wanted people to experience how computers worked. They aimed to "breathe life back into our machines." This meant you could see, hear, and use them.

The museum closed in February 2020. This happened because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2024, it was announced that the museum would not reopen. Many of its items were sold at an auction.

History of the Living Computers Museum

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

The Living Computers: Museum + Labs was started by Paul Allen. He was a co-founder of Microsoft. The museum first opened on January 9, 2006. It was first known as PDPplanet.com. Later, it became the Living Computer Museum.

At first, people could connect to old computers online. They used a method called Telnet. This let them experience "time-sharing" computing. This meant many users could share one computer at the same time.

The museum opened its doors to the public on October 25, 2012. Visitors could come in person. They could interact with many different types of computers. These included large mainframes and smaller microcomputers. The exhibits showed how much technology had changed.

In 2013, a local newspaper called Seattle Weekly named it the "Best Geeky Museum." They said it was important for Seattle's tech history. On November 18, 2016, the museum changed its name. It became Living Computers: Museum + Labs. This new name showed its wider goal. It wanted to spark curiosity about both old and new technology.

The museum closed in February 2020. It never reopened after that. The Paul Allen Estate announced its permanent closure in June 2024. Many items from its collection were then sold.

Museum Collections and Exhibits

The museum's collection included items given by the public. It also had many computers from Paul Allen's own collection. The museum had working computers on display. These included one supercomputer and many mainframes. It also had minicomputers and microcomputers.

Some items from the museum were even used in TV shows. These shows included Mad Men and Halt and Catch Fire.

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

Types of Computers on Display

The museum had a wide variety of computers. Here are some of the types of computers that were part of its collection:

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