our exhibits
PEEK&POKE is home to more than 1000 exhibits, ranging from mechanical calculators and game consoles to rare and obsolete computers from the last century. There is even a real 1996 supercomputer in the lineup. We are not only guardians of the local history of technology, but also of the world digital history. Slide to learn more about just a tiny fraction of our extensive collection of data processing devices of all sorts. Here are some of the most significant and interesting exhibits you will see if you decide to visit us!
Sinclair ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is widely and fondly remembered in Britain by those who grew up in the 1980's, and many of the games developed for the system by home programmers paved the way for many of the leading European software houses of today. It also taught a generation the basics of computer science and programming, due to the popularity of "program your own game" articles in Spectrum fan magazines, as well as numerous contests. In addition due to the limited functionality of the basic machine, many users "hacked" their computer to add additional functionality.
Original Odhner
Willgodt Theophil Odhner was a Swedish engineer and entrepreneur, working in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was the inventor of the Odhner Arithmometer, which by the 1940s was one of the most popular type of portable mechanical calculator in the world. This pin-wheel mechanism was the first commercially successful mechanical calculator mechanism that was designed for multiplication and division, as well as addition and subtraction. This is a model from the 1950s - 1960s and it has the same layout as the older models but with a more modern design.
Atari 1200XL
In 1982 Atari introduced the new replacement computer to its aging Atari 400/800 line. The downside was that many programs by both 3rd party companies and even Atari itself were incompatible with this new OS in the machine. The computer was too expensive and with many compromises, it was abolished in June 1983.
Nintendo Game Boy
The Game Boy is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It is the first handheld console in the Game Boy line, and was created by Gunpei Yokoi and Nintendo Research & Development. Redesigned versions were released in 1996 and 1998, in the form of Game Boy Pocket and Game Boy Light. Gumpei Yokoi was a famous Japanese video game designer. He was a long-time Nintendo employee also known as the creator of the Game & Watch handheld system, inventor of the Control Pad (whose plus-shaped design nearly all video game controllers mimic today) and producer of a few long-running and critically acclaimed video game franchises, such as Metroid and Kid Icarus.
Sony FD Mavica
Sony FD Mavica MVC-FD200 is a 2.0 megapixels digital camera with 10× optical zoom, 4× speed 3.5” floppy diskette and memory stick slot.
Sinclair QL
The Sinclair QL used the first pre-emptive multitasking operating system for a microcomputer. QDOS was included on ROM, as was an advanced structured BASIC interpreter, named SuperBASIC that was also used as the command-line interpreter. The QL was bundled with an office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, database, and business graphics) written by Psion. The Sinclair QL (for Quantum leap) was the first attempt for Sir Clive Sinclair to produce a computer for business. But after the huge success of the ZX81 and ZX Spectrum, the QL can also be regarded as the first commercial failure of Sinclair Research Ltd.
Philips VG-8235
Philips VG-8235 is one of the few MSX2 computers to be widely distributed in Europe. The machine had 64 KB ROM and it could use all of its 128 KB RAM memory. It also had separate 128 KB of VRAM with seven graphic modes in 256 colors. Later, the NMS-8280 version was available, it was a MSX-2 computer with video-processing capabilities built into it.
Addiator Duplex
The Addiator Duplex is an add and substract mechanical calculator. It was simple and cheap for the time. This type of calculator was invented by Louis Troncet in France, back in 1889. Troncet's invention became so popular that the term “Troncet-type” is often used to refer to this class of devices. The device was in production almost 30 years. Millions units of this type were sold. It was on the market until the 1970s.
IBM ThinkPad 701C
IBM ThinkPad 701C model is famous for its TrackWrite “butterfly” keyboard. This is a foldout laptop computer keyboard designed by Sam Lucente, with John Karidis, and Robert P. Tennant for IBM as part of the ThinkPad 701 series, released in 1995. This keyboard allowed the 701 series to be both compact and comfortable to use. The 701 was the top selling laptop of 1995, however, as later laptop models featured progressively larger screens, the need for a folding keyboard was eliminated.
Sinclair ZX Spectrum +2
In 1986 Alan Sugar and his company Amstrad bought the rights to the Sinclair computer product line. The Sinclair ZX Spectrum +2 was the first Sinclair computer made by Amstrad and it was made in a similar style as Amstrad’s CPC series of personal computers. This mature edition of ZX Spectrum was very popular and was a commercial success.
Atari 2600
In 1986, a new version of Atari 2600 was released. The newly redesigned version of the 2600, unofficially referred to as the 2600 Jr., features a smaller cost-reduced form factor with a modernized Atari 7800-like appearance. The redesigned 2600 was advertised as a budget gaming system (under $50) that has the ability to run a large collection of classic games. In 2007, the Atari 2600 was inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame, with 40 million units sold in its lifetime.
Atari Lynx
The Lynx holds the distinction of being the world's first handheld electronic game with a color LCD. The system is also notable for its forward-looking features, advanced graphics, and ambidextrous layout. As part of the fourth generation of gaming, the Lynx competed with the Game Boy (released just 2 months earlier), as well as the Game Gear and TurboExpress, both released the following year. The Atari Lynx II is smaller and lighter than the original Lynx I model.
Sumlomatic
This is a key-driven calculator with a multiplier register as well as the usual working register and store register. Digits for the multiplier are set from the keyboard by means of a transfer button which is also used to transfer digits from the working register to the store register. For repetitive multiplication by the same factor the multiplier register is provided with a locking switch. The large key seen to the left of the board is the multiplier control.
BIT 90
The BIT 90 computer had a completely rubber keyboard like the ZX Spectrum and Basic statements and graphic symbols could be accessed via combinations of "function" keys such as CTRL, BASIC, FCTN and a special symbol key. It could display 16 colors and 32 sprites, with a high-resolution of 256 x 192 pixels. The BIT 90 could directly accept Colecovision cartridges, and Atari 2600 cartridges through a special interface and also it supposed to be a Sega SC-3000 clone with which it bears a striking resemblance. Probably due to legal problems, this computer didn't last long on the market.
Didaktik Gama
Didaktik Gama was the first clone of the ZX Spectrum with one specific feature: 80 KB RAM divided into two switched 32 KB memory banks and 16 KB of slower RAM containing graphical data for video output, while the size of ROM was 16 KB. This computer was a dream for many children and adults in former socialist Czechoslovakia as the computer was considerably expensive and seldom available to buy. All games developed for the ZX Spectrum 48K were generally compatible with this computer. There is no need to say that it established massive and flourishing black market with these games country-wide as they were officially unavailable behind the "iron curtain".
Sinclair Cambridge
The Sinclair Cambridge was a pocket-sized electronic calculator introduced in August 1973 by Sinclair Radionics Ltd. It was extremely small for a calculator of the time and it was available both as kit form kit to be assembled by the purchaser, or assembled prior to purchase. The range ultimately comprised seven models.
Thomson TO7
The Thomson TO7 is the first micro computer made by Thomson and the first French micro-computer. It’s also called Thomson 9000 and as such was mainly used in french schools with great success in France. "TO" stands for "Tele Ordinateur" (”computer” in French).
