HomeComputerMuseum, building a real computer museum

In short I will tell about the HomeComputerMuseum and answer the questions why and how. I will also dive into the importance of the HomeComputerMuseum as a museum and what we do for culture.

Bart van den Akker

The idea of a computer museum dedicated to the home computer was created back in 2016 by me (Bart). At that moment I was a Linux system administrator, VoIP engineer, programmer and retro computer enthusiast. Perfect to create a museum. The HomeComputerMuseum opened in March 2018 with little to no money and a few people with a clear goal. Despite everybodies expectations, we kept on existing and even moved to a brand new (and permanent) building. In February 2020 we opened on this beautiful location in the city center of Helmond. Great timing!

Exactly 1.5 month later we closed and in the following 2 years we've been hit hard by the pandemic. However, we grew as a company and took on several services.

Right now, the HomeComputerMuseum is one of the largest computer museums in the world, with 40ish volunteers where most people have a distance to the labor market because of autism. The HomeComputerMuseum effectively helps them grow to fulfill their dreams (which is, in most cases, find a happy and paid job). The HomeComputerMuseum is unique with digital heritage (reading old media and converting data), unique in collection (well over 16,000 objects in its collection) and knowledge, collaborating with other museums and archives all over the world, an example in how to make a museum a independent company, helping other museums to start and just being a fun museum to be in.