Nielsen1

Provenance:  This is one of the eight computers which Robert Nielsen acquired in the 1970's.  Nielsen learned computer programming in the Navy, then opened up technical schools teaching programming, electronics, and even truck driving in Charleston, SC.  His technical school utilized electronic training kits from CTI Educational Products, so they approached him in 1973 to ask him to review the Kenbak-1 computer.  They were considering buying the Kenbak-1 production rights to modernize their educational offerings.  Nielsen absolutely loved the small computer.  He wanted to incorporate it into his computer curriculum.  He also worked with CTI to develop sales and training materials for the computers.  When CTI went bankrupt, he purchased all the Kenbak-1 computers and materials they had at auction.  All of Nielsen's 8 computers had ventilation holes drilled in the top of the case, as they would overheat and lock up otherwise.  Then when his technical school closed, he stored all eight of the computers and documents in large storage bins in his garage.  In the early 2000's, he contacted many museums in hopes of selling his computers, but they only wanted donations.  Finally, in 2003 he contacted Herbert Eisengruber who ran the Nova Scotia Computer Museum, who bought seven of his 8.  Eisengruber kept the seven computers on display for several years, until the museum closed, and he sold the computers individually.

This computer, Nielsen1, was the first one Nielsen parted with.  Eisengruber didn't have much money, so he traded a used laptop for Nielsen1.  This was probably the first computer Nielsen was willing to part with, as it had a unsightly modification - a big muffin fan attached to the back.  This was an attempt while at Nielsen's Electronic Institute to improve cooling.  Eisengruber sold Nielsen1 to a local collector in Middleton Nova Scotia, who had visited the museum several times.  That collector eventually decided to sell his vast computer collection, mostly Commodore computers, and Nielsen1 was sold by eBay in 2019 to an unknown buyer.  It seemed that Nielsen1 was again lost, until the Computer Museum of America in Roswell, Georgia, informed me that they acquired it in late 2022.  It remains in storage, not on public display.

It is interesting that the museum sought to acquire this even though they already had several Kenbak-1 computers.  But they explained they wanted to have one owned directly by the museum, not just loaned to the museum by it's founder, Lonnie Mimms.  Perhaps an early effort to become less dependent on their founder and largest benefactor.  

When the museum acquired their new artifact, they took these incredible professional high quality photos, and permitted their use here.  I asked if they could remove the little white round paper sticker on the circuit board, to see if it had a serial number (presumably in the 500 range like Nielsen7) but they declined.  They were not ready to make such drastic modifications at this time.  I'm grateful for their explanation and information, and especially their photos to use.