Looking for the largest direct-view CRT, the Sony Trinitron PVM-4300

[MIPS]

What I was objecting to was Tom's characterization of museums as being black hole that rot away artifacts. That couldn't be further from the truth.

Nope.


Speaking from 20 years of computer collecting there are a lot of places that declare themselves as museums where the actual exhibit hall is tiny compared to the long-term storage. Some places do properly photograph, catalog and store their items. Others are black holes for machines that were found/donated, you get a few photos but then and are never seen again, or worse, the donations through poor paperwork are sold when the museum closes (the Living Computer Museum) and the items disappear into the shadows of the new private owner.
Likewise I am aware of museums who refuse to do any preventative maintenance even for static displays, either because modern technology somewhat conflicts with existing policy for handling artifacts or because the removal of volatile components would devalue the item. The Smithsonian is guilty of this.

I can absolutely see the largest known CRT on the planet doing that. I know systems that were selectively stolen and have never been seen again.

[vol.2]

Originally Posted by MIPS

Speaking from 20 years of computer collecting there are a lot of places that declare themselves as museums where the actual exhibit hall is tiny compared to the long-term storage.

All museums that I am personally aware of have vastly larger storage than exhibit space. That's perfectly normal.

The Smithsonian is not an institution that specializes in the preservation of 20th century electronics. There exists reputable museums that could care for and display a set like this. I think that would be a better fate for it.