Mimms Museum of Technology and Art — Attraction in Roswell

Had an interesting afternoon visiting the Mimms Museum of Technology and Art in Roswell. Unbeknownst to me, it was opening day for the Mimms. It was formerly known as the Computer Museum of America. They have a great collection of everything I've ever purchased. It's as if they cleaned out my basement without cleaning out my basement. And to top it off, they purchased more stuff from Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, who recently closed the Living Computers: Museum + Labs (LCM+L) in Seattle.

The exhibit features a wide collection of computers from the last 60 plus years. In clear plastic display cases I saw an Apple II, The IBM PC (sans Jr), the HP 19C AND 29C, a PDP-18, a slightly dented IBM 029 punch card machine, a whole herd of used Cray Supercomputers, a NEW Monza and a Dali painting of an arm holding a melting clock. Yes, in a side room they have a collection of Salvador Dali paintings and drawings. Granted, an unusual mix, but I think it works.

It was like a computer hardware version of "This Is Your Life" or as I like to call it, a Saturday afternoon spent once again at CompUSA. The memories, thrills and utter frustrations all came flooding back. "Why won't this damned thing work", I wanted to scream out to provide a living soundtrack.

With the LCM+L collection they recently purchased, the museum has started a significant expansion. I look forward to seeing what they have to offer in the next year or two when they open the new wing. New York City may have the Met and Paris may have the Louvre but Roswell, my little almost-hometown, has the Mimms and it really DOES COMPUTE.

I guess it's time to listen to...

Really cool museum. They still seem to be setting up (some blank placards next to displays, some displays without placards, etc.) I had Wikipedia up on my phone, but I think had I been feeling more sociable the tour guides could have easily out-explained Wikipedia. After talking with a tour guide it looks like they have really big plans for this place and way more pieces in the museum's collection than they currently have on display for future expansion.

They do have a sort of out-of-place space exhibit in the middle of it. When I saw it, I thought, "neat, I'll get to see some history of the computers used in space exploration." Not so much. It's mostly just stuff about space flight and specifically the Apollo program. Still really neat, but it could have been tailored a little to fit into the vibe of the rest of the place with some discussion of the computational requirements and advancements of the program--especially now that much of the software that powered the Apollo program is up on Github.

I'll definitely be back with...

They mix learning about space, home computers and some cultural impact really well. Some of the exhibits lack information and cultural context (e.g. large array of super computers and servers - but nothing about the pivot to flash, proliferation of deduping and compression), and although it briefly covers the enigma machine into the space race into personal computing, could do with more information about pre-1970s computing and better cultural context of the items we see. That said... if you know what you're looking at without labels then it is a fascinating collection and trip down memory lane.

The hands on elements of playing old video games from the 80s and 90s is great, and the Love Bytes exhibit is fun. With the amount of stuff they have on site - just putting a page of info on each exhibit, especially with some technical and cultural reference would be enough to elevate it. For example it would be interesting to compare when an enterprise "super-computer" from the 80s was outclassed by personal...