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, Nielsen6, is lucky because of the five Kenbak-1 computers owned by the Computer Museum of America, or it's founder Lonnie Mimms, this is the only one on public display. All the rest are in storage.
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This shows the general location in the museum of the computer, visible in the bottom middle of the photo.
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Another view of the museum. The tiny Kenbak-1 is just over girls head, very had to see if not enlarged.
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Early low-res photo from 2003, courtesy of Herbert Eisengruber.
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Early low-res photo from 2003, courtesy of Herbert Eisengruber.
When this first went on display at the museum, it wasn't obvious if this was a new Kenbak-1 not previously known, but comparisons of legacy Nielsen6 photos shows the same pattern of dirt on bottom of panel. The blemishes on the top, and a chip on the top front edge also matches.
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