6th August 2009, Swindon, United Kingdom – Eighteen months after it was forced to close by the withdrawal of the University of Bath from Swindon, the long-awaited re-opening of the UK’s first dedicated Museum of Computing takes place this Saturday, 8th August. The main focus is on the paradigm shift over the last forty years that has seen computers become part of everyday life. As a major player in the industry and as the Museum’s main sponsors, Intel’s Vice President for Europe Middle East & Africa, Gordon Graylish, says ‘It’s very appropriate to open a Museum of Computing in Swindon; a town which has been at the forefront of technology since the days of Brunel. We’re really happy to support it because it shows where the IT industry has come from and where it’s headed. We can all learn so much about how and why a new technology flourishes, if we understand what contributed to the success and failure of past inventions.’

One unusual item is the 1989 Nintendo Power Glove whose motion-controlled sensor technology never caught on to any great degree. However, once Nintendo resurrected this idea into the world-famous Nintendo Wii nearly two decades later, it has given them significant competitive edge.

Gaming enthusiasts can try out two Intel i7 based systems with the latest Extreme Quad Core processors running a network racing game in racing seats. Intel also displays the first full-size, real-life surfboard with an inbuilt tablet and touch- screen computer, used to promote and ‘Surfing the Web’ early this millennium.

Rare exhibits include a Science of Cambridge Mark 14 with a calculator style LED display, the first computer designed by Sir Clive Sinclair. The Museum of Computing loaned it to the BBC for filming ‘The Syntax Era; The Story of Early British Home Computing’ due to be screened in October. The programme covers the golden era of the 1980’s fight for the UK home computer market between Commodore, Atari, Amstrad, Sinclair and Acorn. It especially features rivalry between Sir Clive Sinclair (ZX and Spectrum), and Chris Curry, his protégé and former employee who headed up Acorn (BBC Micro). The Museum also shows the Amstrad 464; Lord Alan Sugar’s machine of the same era.

Wednesday 1st July 2009, Swindon, United Kingdom – Today from 5:15pm, Gordon Graylish who is Intel’s Vice President of Europe Middle East and Africa will be onsite and at 5:45pm he will cut the ribbon heralding the opening of the new venue for the UK’s first dedicated Museum of Computing, originally set up in 2002. From 6pm onwards, around 200 VIPs, local Councillors and IT companies from around Swindon are gathering to review the new location and see some showcase items from the Museum’s large collection.

Technology has changed beyond recognition in one lifetime and the museum holds over 3,000 pieces of hardware, 2000 software items and about 2,000 computer periodicals and manuals. The Museum of Computing’s objective is to document innovations of the past as well as look to the future of Information Technology. It will track seventy years of men of vision, brilliant engineers & software architects who shaped the way we live, work & communicate today. At any one time, around 5 to 10% of the collection will be on display.

The revolution that saw computers the size of three rooms move from air conditioned labs onto the desktop, into your pocket and onto the world-wide web, has been driven by miniaturisation and the rapid evolution of computer processors and the microchip. Gordon Moore – co-founder of Intel (which has its European headquarters in Swindon) famously said in an article decades ago ‘The number of transistors on a chip will double every 24 months.’ This principle was surprisingly accurate and has become known as ‘Moore’s Law’.

Intel are proud sponsors of the museum along with IT PR firm Blue Click PR and Clark Holt, local solicitors specialising in IT law. Gordon Graylish says ‘Intel has an interest in educating the next generation of IT Programmers, engineers and systems architects. We have plenty of museums in the UK covering the industrial revolution of the 19th Century but the Museum of Computing’s depth and breadth lays a rock solid foundation of history of the digital revolution. The IT industry has made astonishing progress over the last 30 years and it’s important for that knowledge to be conserved.
Intel fully supports their work because Intel is inside about 70% to 80% of the collection! We’re right at the heart of IT and are writing tomorrow’s history today!’