PEEK & POKE Computer Museum

Keeping the doors open and the light on at a private museum of over 1,400 vintage computers and calculators may be hard work, but for the volunteers who run the Club PEEK & POKE computer museum it is a labor of love. Rijeka, Croatia. 09/11/2009.

Tomislav Ribičić and Sveto Nilović shared a problem: their collection of vintage computers was growing faster than their storage space. Not wanting to get rid of their precious junk, they decided on a bold plan to open a club and museum for vintage computer enthusiasts just on the edge of downtown Rijeka.

PEEK & POKE, which officially opened in September 2007, has over 1,400 items in its collection, and nearly a thousand vintage calculators making up the majority of the items on display. Co-founder Ribičić says “not all [of the items] are on display due to the lack of space, but we do shuffle the exhibition every once in a while.” He said most of the computers in the collection are still operational, but “a lot of them have released the ‘magic smoke’ at some point . . . they are being repaired and restored to their original state whenever possible.”

Last year Peek & Poke welcomed over 4,500 visitors – barely enough to pay the rent. Ribičić laments, “the total monthly cost of running the place is between EUR 800 and EUR1,000. It might not seem a lot,” he adds, “but it still difficult to make ends meet.”

Recently, PEEK & POKE had trouble paying its bills and the electric company cut off power to part of the museum. A group of French education workers, who had pre-booked to have a guided tour, were shown around by candlelight.

“They thought it was charming,” Ribičić said. He notes that problems with the electricity “still have to be solved with our own money,” and so PEEK & POKE is ever on the lookout for sponsors and other income generating activities.

The volunteer staff have put together an internet café which attracts many tourists in the summer season. It has shortened operating hours during the winter and plans to add a fully equipped meeting room available for training and seminars. All that in addition to selling merchandise and offering annual membership.

Regardless of the troubles the museum has keeping its doors open, for Ribičić, Nilović and the other core members of the club, it is a labor of love. For Ribičić, it all began in the ‘90s when he got his first vintage computer – an ‘Acorn BBC Model B.’

“Back in the early ‘80s this was a very expensive machine,” Ribičić said, “but now I got a chance to check what I was missing.” Over the years his personal collection grew and through websites like www.old-computers.com, Ribičić met other collectors – among them Nilović, who just happened to live in the same city.

“He accumulated an even bigger collection at home, and we both agreed that it was getting out of hand,” recalls Ribičić. After launching a public exhibition in 2006, Nilović contacted Ribičić with the opportunity to house their collections in a permanent space. Nilović “asked me if I was in, the rest, as they say, is history …”

Reflecting on the impact of their efforts and the museum, Ribičić said: “It is amazing once you realize that the student population [of] today has never seen anything else apart from a PC, and they have never known a world without internet.”

Read the full interview with Tomislav Ribičić
http://davidmarkerickson.wordpress.com/files/2009/12/peekpokeinterview.pdf

See the on-line multi-media gallery
http://www.davidmarkerickson.com/soundslide/peekpoke/index.html

Visit the PEEK & POKE Web Site
http://www.peekpoke.hr