Distinctly Montana Magazine

BYTE OF BOZEMAN: Enterprise DEPARTMENT I n the heart of Bozeman within sight of the MSU stadium there is a place where past and future converge, where in the space of an hour or two one can learn the history of computing from the abacus to the iPad. Here the earliest methods used to keep count are displayed alongside original documents, artifacts and examples of technological developments from their beginnings to the present. The result is a comprehensive history of the information age. Every inch of the 2,000 square feet that comprise The American Computer Museum provides an insight into a subject, which on the surface may seem mundane but underneath pro- vides a wealth of fascinating information, much of it pertinent to our daily lives. Renowned Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson, an annual visitor to Bozeman since he received the Museum's prestigious Stibitz Award in 2006, maintains that, "Inch for inch, (it is) the best museum in the world." And because it is one of only three exist- ing, and the most comprehensive of those, travelers come to Montana from all over to visit it. The companion museums are the Heinz Nixdorf in Paderborn, Germany, and the Computer History Museum in Moun- tain View, California. Neither has the depth of focus nor the wealth of historical documents to be found in the Bozeman museum where about 6% of the inventory is on display at any one time. Recently, a Japanese film company re- quested permission to visit and video in the museum for Japanese television. Since di- rector George Keremedjiev was out of town attending to his profession as a manufactur- ing consultant, his wife, Barbara, suggested that they go instead to Mountain View where the display area is 12 times the size and the budget much larger. The Japanese company representative replied, "Yours is the museum we want to feature." When the crew arrived, Barbara enlisted former Stibitz Award winner Maury Irvine to show them around. Maury is among four of the 66 DISTINCTLY MONTANA • SPRING 2012

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