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Dear members of SIGCIS,<br>
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we plan to hand in a research project about the plastics used in
electronic artefacts in information and telecommunication
technologies. <br>
<br>
Two topics are being researched:<br>
<br>
a) based on selected artefacts from two museums in Munich
(milestones of the technological development) we aim to
characterise the plastics used in the production of personal
computers and of radios. We intend to understand the reasons
why plastics were selected for production or for changes in their
choice. The plastic selection can be based on some or more of the
following reasons: design, function, costs of production,
properties of the plastic in question (weight, workability,
colour, resistance to shok, resistance to heat, ...), historical
reasons as availability or non availabilty of raw materials during
war or post war periods, etc.<br>
- What were the advantages and disadvantages of past used
plastics in the production of electronic artefacts?<br>
- Why were some plastics preferred in a certain period and
substituted later on?<br>
- Which development similarities do we find between the
production of personal computers and radios?<br>
- What were the main reasons for the selection of plastics
in which period of the twentieth century?<br>
<br>
For the investigation of personal computers we are identifying
the plastics by means of infrared spectroscopy of the following
elements:<br>
- housing<br>
- power cables<br>
- operating elements (push buttons)<br>
- printed circuit board (e.g. mother board)<br>
- integrated circuits<br>
<br>
Below your find the a pre-selection of personal computers
dating from 1975 to 2000:<br>
<br>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse;width:179pt" border="0"
cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="239">
<tbody>
<tr style="mso-height-source:userset;height:50.25pt"
height="67">
<td class="xl65" style="height:50.25pt;width:119pt"
height="67" width="159">Personal Computer<br>
</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left:none;width:60pt"
width="80"> Production date<br>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse;width:179pt" border="0"
cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="239">
<tbody>
<tr style="mso-height-source:userset;height:48.75pt"
height="65">
<td class="xl65" style="height:48.75pt;width:119pt"
height="65" width="159">Heimcomputer "MITS Altair 8800"</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left:none;width:60pt"
width="80">1975</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-height-source:userset;height:48.75pt"
height="65">
<td class="xl66" style="height:48.75pt;width:119pt"
height="65" width="159">Personal Computer Apple II IA2S2</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left:none;width:60pt"
width="80">ca. 1980</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-height-source:userset;height:48.75pt"
height="65">
<td class="xl67" style="height:48.75pt;border-top:none;
width:119pt" height="65" width="159">Personal Computer
Osborne 1</td>
<td class="xl67"
style="border-top:none;border-left:none;width:60pt"
width="80">1983</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse;width:179pt" border="0"
cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="239">
<tbody>
<tr style="mso-height-source:userset;height:49.5pt"
height="66">
<td class="xl68" style="height:49.5pt;width:119pt"
height="66" width="159">Personal Computer Apple Macintosh
512K</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left:none;width:60pt"
width="80">ca. 1985<br>
<br>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse;width:179pt" border="0"
cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="239">
<tbody>
<tr style="mso-height-source:userset;height:51.75pt"
height="69">
<td class="xl67" style="height:51.75pt;width:119pt"
height="69" width="159">Personal Computer Macintosh Plus 1
Mb</td>
<td class="xl67" style="border-left:none;width:60pt"
width="80"><br>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse;width:179pt" border="0"
cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="239">
<tbody>
<tr style="mso-height-source:userset;height:51.75pt"
height="69">
<td class="xl67" style="height:51.75pt;width:119pt"
height="69" width="159">Personal Computer, sign.:
Commodore 64</td>
<td class="xl67" style="border-left:none;width:60pt"
width="80">1992</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-height-source:userset;height:44.25pt"
height="59">
<td class="xl68" style="height:44.25pt;width:119pt"
height="59" width="159">Notebook Apple iBook SE 466</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left:none;width:60pt"
width="80">2000</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br>
b) based on a condition survey of personal computers and
radios from two museums in Munich (several hundreds of objects in
storage) we aim to identify the main decay patterns of plastic
materials (yellowing, discoloration, desintegration, loss
of plasticizer). <br>
After identifying the main weathering decay forms, we will
analyse the plastics, so that we can correlate material and decay.
For instance, until now we have noticed that ABS is prone to
yellowing, plasticized PVC is prone to loss of plasticizer
and tha rubber is prone to desintegration. By identifying the
amount of objects at risk in the collection we can establish
priorities for the active or passive conservation.<br>
<br>
We would like to ask you whether you find this topic interesting
and kindly ask you to discuss with us our aims and methodology. <br>
<br>
Best wishes<br>
<br>
Dr. Marisa Pamplona-Bartsch (& Ulf Hashagen, who forwarded
this Email of his colleague Marisa to sigcis)<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Objekt- und Restaurierungsforschungsabteilung
Conservation Science Department
Deutsches Museum
Museumsinsel 1, 80538 München, Germany
tel + 49 (0)89 / 21 79 512
e-mail: <a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:m.pamplona@deutsches-museum.de">m.pamplona@deutsches-museum.de</a></pre>
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