The North American Data Communications
Museum Page
NADCOMM
This page is a link to a unique, collective museum which emphasizes
data communication. "Data Communications Technology from
Telegraph to Digital Transmission." The main location is
in San Diego, California, but properties in four other cities
house parts of their collection. Their web site is: http://www.nadcomm.com/
Don Robert House
is the curator. He reports, "We are moving soon to downtown
San Diego in an old art-deco building. We are being hosted by
the Computer Museum
of America (external link). Right now, NADCOMM is open evenings
and weekends by appointment only. After the move it will have
regular hours like the CMA. When I retire in August I will be
spending 8 months a year working on the museum."
The thumbnail images above link to much larger images on the
NADCOMM site. They take a while to load but they are full of
details. Bookmark the site or make it one of your favorites.
Check back every now and then for developments
Besides many good photographs, the site also has an excellent
data transmission timeline:
http://www.nadcomm.com/timeline.htm
Mission Statement (from the NADCOMM
site)
The North American Data Communications Museum (NADCOMM) is
committed to the project of collecting, displaying, and operating
the equipment which has powered the communications revolutions
of the twentieth century, from telegraphy to digital telephony.
The collection, largely donated by committed telecommunications
workers and businesses, already encompasses a wide array of machines
spanning the entire history of teletype and the transition to
contemporary digital modem technology.
NADCOMM's goal is to counter the present state of communications
history, marked by the quick and successive obsolescence of "last
year's models," by maintaining a working collection of functional
equipment tracing the stages through which teletechnology has
passed.
Curator Don Robert House and the NADCOMM staff believe that
this project involves more than the nostalgia of the technophile.
The advances in technology preserved in the NADCOMM collection
have shaped not only the present state of technology but economic,
social, and cultural history through their use in industry and
mass media.
Whether or not we accept the premise that these advances mark
the transition of world history into a wholly new postmodern
"Information Age," their impact on contemporary culture
makes the unique project of NADCOMM a vital one. Moreover, the
fact that equipment is displayed in a functioning state means
that the NADCOMM collection remains a valuable resource for hands-on
technological training for the communications professional and
the interested layperson alike.
Richard House NADCOMM
Public Relations
http://www.nadcomm.com/
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