[SIGCIS-Members] Restoraing computers....

[Andrew Russell]

Dag’s email made me think of fascinating work in media archaeology, digital humanities, and related areas by scholars such as Matt Kirschenbaum (see his book _Mechanisms: New Media and the Forensic Imagination_), Lori Emerson (http://mediaarchaeologylab.com/ at CU-Boulder), Andreas Fickers (playing with ‘Experimental Media Archaeology’ at Univ. Luxembourg), and others.  

There are some clear differences between these scholars and the types of computer restoration projects mentioned below - for example, Kirschenbaum and Emerson are both in English Departments and link their work to cultural theory in ways that the Science Museum and Computer History Museum do not.  But there are also some clear areas of overlapping interest, especially a deep appreciation for machines (and their ‘materiality’) and the value that comes from preserving and working closely with them.  

To respond to Dag’s question, I think this is an incredibly valuable area of work.  There’s a lot more to say about this -- in part because it is linked to the discussion triggered by Tom Haigh’s recent CACM column on the “tears of Knuth” -- but I’ll restrict myself to two observations for now:
- if we broaden the scope of inquiry from “computers” to “media technologies,” we will find many more areas of intersection between museum professionals and academics who identify not strictly as “computer historians” but instead as media historians, media scholars, etc. (scholars such as Mara Mills and Lisa Gitelman come to mind).  Jen Light described some of this overlap in her SIGCIS keynote address in Dearborn, and I hope we’ll hear much more about this at future SIGCIS workshops.  
- I bet that antiquarians, hobbyists, and museum experts working with cars and trains have put a lot of thought into the value of restoration and the extent to which they interact with academics.  This is familiar territory for SHOT members, to put it mildly.  To put this another way: I wonder if Wolfgang Schivelbusch likes going to railroad museums, and if staff at those museums know about or appreciate his work?

Cheers,

Andy   
 



> On Jan 18, 2015, at 10:20 AM, Brian Randell <brian.randell at newcastle.ac.uk> wrote:
> 
> Hi Dag:
> 
> Though I wouldn’t call them actual restorations, I think the Science Museum’s construction of Babbage’s No 2 Difference Engine, and the late Tony Sale’s of the Colossus Mk 2, were wonderful examples of what I understand is called “experimental archaeology”, up there with the Chateau de Guedelon (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10440300), and as such of *unquestionable* value.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Brian
> 
> On 16 Jan 2015, at 19:09, Dag Spicer <dspicer at computerhistory.org> wrote:
> 
>> New piece today by the BBC on computer restorations, including the Computer History Museum’s IBM 1401 (1959).
>> 
>> http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30546592
>> 
>> I’d be interested in hearing from SIGCIS members about their perception of the value of doing these kinds of things…
>> 
>> Dag
>> 
>> --
>> Dag Spicer
>> Senior Curator
>> Computer History Museum
>> Editorial Board, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing
>> 1401 North Shoreline Boulevard
>> Mountain View, CA 94043-1311
>> 
>> Tel: +1 650 810 1035
>> Fax: +1 650 810 1055
>> 
>> Twitter: @ComputerHistory
>> 
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