Stanford's PDP-6 ( was Re: Hardware Hobbyists vs. Emulator Jockeys)

[Brent Hilpert]

Al Kossow wrote:
> 
> I'm resending this with a revised title so someone has a chance of finding
> this again in the future. I sent a similar message to alt.sys.pdp10 when
> the subject came up last time.
> 
> Al Kossow wrote:
> > Brent Hilpert wrote:
> >> Rich Alderson wrote:
> >>> On the other hand, the last PDP-6 in existence was destroyed by the
> >>> Computer
> >>> Museum in Boston about 20 years ago, so you're one up there.
> >>
> >> OK, I don't think I've heard this story.
> >> Someone contributing to Wikipedia seems to want to tangentially
> >> counter it,
> >> without explaining the background story.
> >
> > That would be me, a CHM employee, that has access to all of the Boston
> > museum
> > collection records. I have spoken to several of the staff members who
> > were there
> > at the time. I have been trying to find ANY evidence this occurred, and
> > have not
> > been able to.
> >
> > CHM has the fast memory box from Stanford's PDP-6. It came from the
> > Compaq donation
> > to CHM of what they had in >> DEC's << internal collection, and was NOT
> > donated to
> > the Boston Museum. As best as I've been able to determine, the 6 was
> > sent to a DEC
> > warehouse after the anniversary at DECUS, and sat there until what was
> > there was
> > sent to CHM. Since there is no record of this machine going to the
> > Boston museum,
> > nor does anyone there that I have talked to remember it coming there, it
> > would have
> > been difficult for them to have dismantled it. Every major donation to
> > the Computer
> > Museum was cataloged. I cannot find anything for Stanford's PDP-6 in
> > their records
> > or in the Museum Report, which at the time listed every donation they
> > received.
> >
> > I would like to find someone INSIDE of DEC that saw it in while
> > it was in the warehouse, but I haven't been able to locate anyone yet.
> >
> > The rumor of the Museum destroying the system started because their gift
> > shop was selling
> > modules, including the ALU modules from the PDP-6. I have been told
> > these were from a
> > collection of DEC module spares that DEC donated. I haven't been able to
> > determine
> > the earliest that they were being sold. If it was before the
> > anniversary, they obviously
> > could not have been from Stanford's machine.
> >
> > Because of this controversy, CHM has a policy that no artifacts will
> > ever be offered for
> > sale to the public. Items that are deacessioned are offered only to
> > other non-profit
> > institutions.

Thanks for the explanation; so 'there is no story', so to speak.