June 26th, 2024

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 Computer Museum to Be Auctioned

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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Link Icon 10 comments
By @samwillis - 5 months
There was a really good post with significant background earlier this year:

> 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.

By @gtirloni - 5 months
My initial thought was "why don't they donate it to another vintage computing museum?"

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.

By @skellera - 5 months
Really sad to see something so amazing get picked apart for its value.

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.

By @Teslazar - 5 months
This one hurts... I visited the Living Computer Museum in 2017 and it was amazing. Here's a selection of some photos I took: https://photos.app.goo.gl/VUVXQ1cG3zWAMWY3A My favorite photo here is the one of the Xerox Altos available to play multiplayer Maze War (one is a real Alto and the other two are emulated).
By @blackeyeblitzar - 5 months
I wish someone like Bill Gates would step in to save the museum and its items.
By @ChrisArchitect - 5 months
By @KabukiOrigin - 5 months
Not everything in the LCM collection is owned by LCM; some is on loan. Hope Christie's figures that out.
By @hnpolicestate - 5 months
Give 1/3 to LGR, 8 bit guy and curiousmarc?
By @GauntletWizard - 5 months
Now is a good time to be thankful for and get involved in the still-active computer history museums: https://computerhistory.org/ https://m.facebook.com/bloopmuseum/