Mariupol computer retro museum has been destroyed

https://www.pcgamer.com/retro-computing-museum-in-ukraine-destroyed-by-russian-bomb/

by pvaldes • 4 years ago

108 13 4 years ago

pvaldes• 4 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lhl4YS3TQkA&t=1s

That was a wonderful glimpse into their museum. Given how rare the Soviet era computers became, there may be some truly irreplaceable losses from this. I hope they can rebuild this eventually.

danbolt• 4 years ago

The video's worth a watch! It's really interesting to hear him talk about the history of the various machines, especially with respect to Eastern Bloc economies/culture.

Sad that the museum is gone now, though!

thevagrant• 4 years ago

what a collection! a huge loss.

zoomablemind• 4 years ago

So much effort that went into preserving the history and engineering examples just got mindlessly wasted. So many of those artifacts were from the Soviet Union times.

I think it was a different kind of nostalgia, it was nostalgia not for the Union times, but for the times and spirit of ingenuity despite the scarcity and isolation of the Union.

I guess, those PCs back then were in a way as small screens of hope to have a chance of more advanced and free future. That PC era started not long after the times when owning a personal typewriter in the Soviet Union could put one on a suspects/dissidents list.

This only underscores the fact that those who brought this barbaric war into Ukraine under the slogans of creating a Union 2.0, in reality don't give a damn about keeping the Soviet legacy.

The so widely advertized putin's "personal tragedy" of the Soviet Union break up is just as fake as his edited-in appearance at the supposed recent meeting with flight attendants.

The PC museum is gone in ruins, so will go the remnants of the "empire of evil". Mariupol should be rebuilt, but the obsolete emipre is in EOL and has no future version.

nr2x2• 4 years ago

This and the destruction of world heritage sites in Ukraine, Syria, and elsewhere may not be classical “war crimes”, but the destruction of our shared history, culture, and artifacts is a crime against all.

These computers may not be ancient relics, but now they won’t get the chance.

hedora• 4 years ago

Intentionally destroying cultural artifacts (or civilian property) is a war crime:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crime

nr2x2• 4 years ago

Feels weird to be happy about that, but great to know.

nomemory• 4 years ago

This is unfortunate, but, let's be honest it pales in comparison to the tragedy of the people living there.

serf• 4 years ago

that's true, but imagine that retort when speaking of the burning of the Library of Alexandria -- it is presumably true that people there suffered during their civil war, but the symbolic loss of human knowledge and progress that the burning of the library represents is what is remembered of the event.

Speaking about one thing being horrible doesn't somehow disqualify other things from being horrible, nor does it take away from the personal suffering of others by the mere mention of it.

mensetmanusman• 4 years ago

Our material bodies all exist for just a brief moment. Our cultural artifacts hopefully help the next generation enjoy this.

Sakos• 4 years ago

I don't agree. It's a different kind of loss entirely and it's also important. Culture is a major aspect of what it means for a society to endure over time. Erasing that culture and that history is monstrous.

akoster• 4 years ago

Source (in Russian) [1] and future plans for a virtual museum [2]. A huge loss but glad the curator is safe. Слава ретро-компьютерам!

[1] https://m.facebook.com/it8bit.club/ [2] https://it8bit.club/blog/muzeya-kompqyuterov-v-mariupole-bol...

Mariupol computer retro museum has been destroyed

Related Stories