Sarah and I are on the move again staying, this time, near Boulder, Colorado for a couple of weeks. We're technically out here for Sarah's work off-site, that doesn't stop us exploring the area a little.

Yesterday, we visited the Media Archaeology Lab (MAL), a space overflowing with old computers, technology, and media. Everything in the space is hands-on, so it was a wonderful oportunity to finally get to try out some of the computers I've only ever heard of--devices that didn't make it across the Pond to the UK in large numbers.

MAL squeezes a huge collection of technology into a small space

MAL has a whole wall of Macs plugged in and ready to go and I couldn't resist powering a couple on and having a play. I was overjoyed to discover The Apple IIc had an Oregon Trail disk in and I got to

Growing up in the UK, I never had the oportunity to experience The Oregon Trail--in fact this is the first time I've ever played it, and what better way than on an Apple IIc.

Sadly, we lost Lex to dysentery

Timex Sinclair

I'd completely forgotten about the wonderful neon phones of the 80s

Spread throughout the space are various installations made by the MAL's resident artists. Buried in amongst the wealth of artefacts, they can be a little hard to find, but I enjoyed the ones I found: a pair of old phones that always dial each other, and a calculator with a nixie tube display, and a rotary phone as a keypad.

Seeing so many computers side-by-side makes it easy to see clearly how design cues and influences carry through. For example, it's so easy to see the heritage between the Apple Newton eMate and it's far more successful successor, the iBook.