http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLATO_(computer_system)

Check this out, I've been working on these terminals for some time now, I recently modded an old router case and installed a new windows computer with an emulation program to drive them.   We have about half a dozen old student terminals with really cool orange touch screen plasma displays from the 1971-77 era (every pixel works) and tonight we load them into a rented truck and haul them to Santa Clara to donate them to a computer museum.   

They all work perfectly now. We couldn't resurrect the original mainframe but I modded an old router case from the same era and installed a tiny windows motherboard with an emulation program to act as a mainframe.

And the original (internet) the network from the University of Illinois at Urbana is still active!   All the old software is still working! Some of this equipment even has the originators signature on them.

Pretty cool shit compugeeks. This is why I went to Chicago last year.

Rock on!

I love all that old stuff... the thing people dont realise is that somewhere down the track, someone is going to want to look at the old output, for whatever reason. For historical documenting, keeping working original hardware is as important as documenting what the machines did, or maintaining records of their output.

The MAME project is exactly for this purpose, documenting the original software for arcade machines. Being able to play the games on current hardware through an emulator is a side benefit.

I'm all for this project Mike, kudo's to you!

Thanks. I just got back from San Francisco a couple hours ago. The Computer History Museum where we delivered the equipment this morning is in Mountain View.
But after leaving there we went into the city for lunch and I took Amtrak back because my boss needed to stay and meet with a client.

http://www.computerhistory.org/visit/

It's in a really cool building that used the be the headquarters for Silicon Graphics. They are currently in the process of adding a 25,000 sq ft addition.
I was given a 1 on 1 tour of the facility this morning and they have some cool stuff. The first mouse ever, hand carved from a block of wood, one of Lee  De Forest's first triode tubes, one of the first Cray super computers and Deep Blue is there too.

It was all very interesting. Bill Gates is helping to fund the expansion.