Living Computers: Museum + Labs

Living Computers: Museum + Labs (LCM+L) was a computer and technology museum located in the SoDo neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. LCM+L showcased vintage computers which provided interactive sessions, either through time-sharing operating systems or single-user interfaces. This gave users a chance to actually use the computers online or in-person in the museum. An expansion had added direct touch experiences with contemporary technologies such as self-driving cars, the internet of things, big data, and robotics. LCM+L had also hosted a wide range of educational programs and events in their state-of-the art classroom and lab spaces.

According to an archived version of LCM+L's website, their goal was "to breathe life back into our machines so the public can experience what it was like to see them, hear them, and interact with them. We make our systems accessible by allowing people to come and interact with them, and by making them available over the Internet."

The museum closed in February 2020 but did not reopen later due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Paul Allen Estate announced in June 2024 that it would be permanently closed and that the museum's collection, most of which was owned by the Estate and not the museum itself, would be auctioned off by Christie's.

History


LCM+L (originally known as Living Computer Museum, and before that, PDPplanet.com) was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, on January 9, 2006. Through PDPplanet, users were able to Telnet into vintage devices and experience timesharing computing on equipment from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and XKL.

Users around the world could request a login through the LCM+L website and telnet into systems from XKL, DEC, IBM, Xerox Sigma, AT&T, and CDC.

The museum opened to the public on October 25, 2012, and guests could visit in person to interact with the collection of mainframes, minicomputers, microcomputers and peripherals the museum had on display. Various and changing exhibits in the museum showed how much computers and technology had changed over the last 50 years and were changing still. In 2013, Seattle Weekly voted the museum the "Best Geeky Museum" because it highlighted "an essential part of Seattle binary history - the founding of Microsoft and its role in establishing Seattle as a tech-driven industry".

On November 18, 2016, the institution changed its name to Living Computers: Museum + Labs to reflect its enlarged goals of igniting curiosity through direct touch experiences with contemporary technologies as well as vintage computers.

The museum closed in February 2020 and did not reopen afterward due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Allen Estate announced the museum's permanent closure in June 2024 with plans to auction off some materials in the collection.

Collections and exhibits
The collection consists of publicly donated items and Paul Allen's personal collection. The working computers on display included one supercomputer, seven mainframes, 10 minicomputers, and over three dozen microcomputers.

Various artifacts from the museum were borrowed and featured in TV shows such as Mad Men and Halt and Catch Fire.