Paul Allen's Computer Museum to Be Auctioned
Paul Allen's Living Computers Museum and Labs in Seattle, known for vintage computing systems, will be auctioned at Christie's. The closure marks the end of a major vintage computing museum in Washington State.
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Paul Allen's Living Computers Museum and Labs in Seattle, known for its interactive vintage computing systems, is set to be auctioned off. The museum, which closed during the pandemic in 2020, will see its entire inventory, including items from Allen's personal collection, auctioned at Christie's. This decision comes 12 years after the museum's opening to the public. The museum's unique feature was allowing visitors to interact with the computing systems, offering a hands-on experience. While other vintage computing museums now offer similar interactive displays, the closure of LCM+L marks the disappearance of a major vintage computing museum in Washington State. Fans hope that the items being auctioned will find new homes in other museums or with collectors who will continue the educational legacy of LCM+L. The auction includes 150 items from the Gen One: Innovations from the Paul G. Allen Collection, showcasing a significant part of computing history.
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10 comments> Is the Living Computer Museum Dead?
https://www.pcjs.org/blog/2023/02/16/
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34831880 (238 comments)
> At the time, Vulcan CEO Bill Hilf framed the closure both as an unavoidable consequence of COVID-19 and as a difficult decision that was actually in keeping with Paul Allen’s wishes – that how Paul wanted his money to be spent after he was gone was very different from when he was alive.
> Yet it’s almost impossible to square the idea that Paul Allen, after investing so much time, energy, and money in the Living Computer Museum and its people – not to mention his express hope that efforts like his would not be “lost to time” – would have also left instructions that could somehow be interpreted to justify completely shutting down LCM after his death.
https://www.geekwire.com/2024/seattles-living-computers-muse...
> The estate previously teamed up with Christie’s for a November 2022 auction of 155 masterpieces from Allen’s extensive art collection. It was the world’s most successful single-owner fine art auction ever, raising a record $1.62 billion.
I'm sure they are expecting a huge payout here as well. Understandable but sad nonetheless.
I really wish Paul set up endowments to continue his projects. I don’t know if he knew how his sister would handle his estate but it doesn’t seem like what he wanted.
Some more discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40789179
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