[pups] Re: Us vs. Museums

[Merle K. Peirce]

Uhhh...
do you really have to ask...

Why can't you execute the paper work for a non-profit yourself?  In RI, 
it's $35.

M. K. Peirce
Rhode Island Computer Museum
Shady Lea, Rhode Island

"Casta est quam nemo rogavit."
           -Ovid

On Sun, 4 Mar 2001, Jeffrey S. Sharp wrote:

> I don't know everyone's perspective on this issue, and it would be good to hear 
> some alternate viewpoints.  Basically, I am against people giving classic 
> computers in working condition to museums.  Instead, I believe that they should 
> donate or sell their machines to enthusiasts who will play with them and learn 
> things.
> 
> A while back, I ran across a person that had some hardware I wanted.  He was 
> torn between selling it to me and giving it to a museum.  I didn't have a lot 
> of money available to give him, and donation to a museum (a nonprofit) would 
> get him an impressive tax deduction.  I did some research about what it takes 
> to start a nonprofit organization, but it looked too expensive (lawyers) and 
> time-consuming to be a viable option for me.  I sent the following argument to 
> him:
> 
> > While I would love to establish a collection of these machines,
> > I'm definitely not a 'collector' as the term has come to mean
> > today; I'm not in it to get something rare, to make money, or
> > to have some pretty decorations in my house.  While it would
> > certainly be nice to have a pretty system, my priority is to
> > get something that I can learn with.  I want to *run* these
> > machines.  I want to *explore* these machines.  I want to *hack*
> > on these machines, to see what unexpected things they can be
> > coerced into doing.  I want to get as close as I can to the
> > *experience* of computing in these machines' era.  If these
> > machines go to a museum, they're just pretty art, and they will
> > educate _no_one_.  They will sit behind glass walls, no one
> > ever will touch them again, and no one will ever turn them on or
> > keep them in working order.  They are effectively lost.  That's
> > little better then scrapping them, and you _KNOW_ how you feel
> > about that!
> 
> What do you think about this?
> 
> (BTW, if anyone wants to use the quoted paragraph, they are free to)
> 
> --
> Jeffrey S. Sharp
> jss at ou.edu
> 
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