From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: peter.jeremy@alcatel.com.au (Peter Jeremy) Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 07:49:26 +1100 Subject: [pups] ACMS (Australian 'puter museum) doomed? In-Reply-To: <7AD18F04B62B7440BE22E190A3F7721409E428@mwsrv04.microwalt.nl> References: <7AD18F04B62B7440BE22E190A3F7721409E428@mwsrv04.microwalt.nl> Message-ID: <20031112204925.GH52503@gsmx07.alcatel.com.au> On 2003-Nov-11 14:18:24 +0100, "Fred N. van Kempen" wrote: >Ow, c'mon. In *australia*, how hard can it be to find or make >space for that priceless collection? Geez! Wide open spaces aren't necessarily ideal for storing historical computers. You need to store them in a controlled environment to preserve them and this costs money. And Australian governments don't seem to place a great value on history: Australia is one of the pioneering space nations. We were one of the first countries to launch our own satellite. The launching sites are recognized as part of Australia's heritage by organisation such as the Institute of Engineers, Australia. Our Armed Forces (with the support of our Federal Government) uses those same launching sites for target practice. As far as private companies - it mostly comes down to the beancounters demanding to know how spending money on preserving obsolete equipment will help the bottom line. The Corporate headquarters also generally see outpost subsidiaries solely in terms on how much cash flows into the corporate coffers. On the positive side, Australia has managed to preserve the last first generation computer extant anywhere (CSIRAC, built in the late 1940's). Peter