Microsoft founder Paul Allen's tech museum closes, sells off collection The estate of the late Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, has decided to close Living Computers: Museum + Labs, the Seattle site which housed his beloved collection of vintage technology. The museum closed in February 2020 with the onset of the COVID pandemic and was said to be a temporary measure. It’s now become permanent …
"I thought the same thing when Stratolaunch fell apart and was sold off."
Birdzilla didn't fall apart, but it was in an R&D mode when Paul died and Paul's sister isn't into science and engineering at all. The business was sold off and the aircraft has flown a bunch of times and has been in use to develop the Talon hypersonic craft. They might switch to using the 747 they bought from the defunct Virgin Orbit business instead of "Roc" since is does look really silly to sling a tiny little craft under the center section of the carrier when the carrier was designed to haul much much larger rockets and stuff. I've been out there and have photos of the Roc flying. It's the largest aircraft by wingspan in the world now that the Russians bombed the one that was bigger in Ukraine. Mojave Airport is a fair drive outside of LA with not a whole lot around. Better than going to Boca Chica.
"It's not entirely clear why the Paul Allen estate, which is run by his sister Jody Allen, decided to shut the museum, given no apparent cash shortage. We've asked for clarification."
Instead of having 20.30 billion in their bank account they can have 20.31 billion, with no on-going expenses to make it smaller over time.
I took the family to this museum back in 2016 when we had two days in Seattle, so it has been a while. It might have been a tax wheeze, but even if it was, it was just as good a computing museum as any other. At the time, you could create your own punch cards, which was fun. Although I agree, you'd think a billionaire might have set up some kind of endowment, but there you go.
Having said that, the best computer museum is the https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/ in Cambridge. Great couple of hours out with the kids (definitely not for the adults ;) ) as they get to experience playing real consoles from the past! Anyway, I digress.
"It might have been a tax wheeze, but even if it was, it was just as good a computing museum as any other."
Paul had more money than he needed even with a luxury yacht habit. He was also an huge nerd and the money allowed him to collect things he liked without needing to think about a budget. I expect the museum had some tax implications, but it was still his that he could enjoy whenever he liked, cross the barriers, play with things, whatever. Aircraft owners can take a deduction for "displaying" their aircraft at "fly-ins". A good excuse to fly around for a day and hang out with a bunch of other pilots. Some of those events are pretty epic with lots of very unique planes on display. A fun day out and often free or very inexpensive. I have a calendar of them (they're usually held once a month at small airports) and will visit if I'm in the area and take photos. I might make a trip to Mojave for the Burt Rutan fly in where people that have bought his kits over the years gather once a year and fill the apron with their planes. Scaled Composites will also wheel out stuff in their hangers that Burt designed. His pilot brother Dick used to show up for those, but I'm not sure if he's still around. You might have heard of Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager's flight in the Voyager aircraft that flew non-stop around the world. The plane is hanging in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
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Well - no, in the US the best thing to do is to have a startup ring where you and your friends create companies with your children as COO's or CRO's and their friends as CTO's/ CEO's (all depending on how bright and how trusted the kids are) and then invest in these startups (I invest in your kids one, you invest in my kids one) The kids get fat salaries, and then when the startups "fail" as significant shareholders they get most of the cash back... As an investor you are wiped and write it off, but your kiddies do good! This is great because they can then pose as entrepreneur's and position themselves as being from a middle class background (dad was a manager at a company, mom was a realator) and explain their wealth as the result of their daring and intelligence. In reality they are as thick as mince and never did a days work in their lives.
Not sure how well that works for actually transferring the money.
Those salaries get taxed as income; if they're "fat" then likely at the highest bracket.
Admittedly the resume gets a tick, but that's only useful if the kid is planning to work in someone else's company. Investors look at your track record, i.e. was your company actually successful and what part did you have in that? They don't need to follow laws against asking questions on employment, since they're not employing you.
Maybe if their life's ambition is heading up an NGO it's good.
"Moon Unit seems almost reasonable these days."
Dweezil is on record as saying that with a last name of Zappa, Dweezil isn't a big deal. It's also quite unique so there's no confusing him with some football player or other guitarist with the same name.
Don't forget his sister "Space Muffin". His brother Ahmet has the most plain name of the bunch.
"I'd have thought that an important letter to a US President ought to have become an official document and not something that ended up in a private collection."
Is it the one that was actually delivered or a draft? There may also have been much different laws regarding that sort of correspondence from what applies now.
To the President of the United States
Dear Poopyhead (wads it up, throws it on his library floor, and starts again)
Dear Shit-for-Brains (nope)
You pusilanimous piece of greel-excreta (nah)
*Sigh* "Dear Honorable Colleague ..."
Maid walks in later, picks up one of the discarded copies and reads it. "These ... could be useful in later years." Maid picks up all discarded copies and squirrels rhem away for a rainy day.
So given that Paul Allen owned a big chunk of South Lake Union, right beside the Seattle Center and BellTown (big tourist areas) , where do you think they put this museum. In the arse end of SoDO. Not even the part of SoDO anyone local (or even tourists) might go to by the stadiums and International District. Unless you were buying sporting / outdoor equipment. Outdoor Research are up the street and the Tom Bihn retail store used to be two doors up. Otherwise its mostly a bleak industrial/warehouse wasteland around there. It would be like putting a London tourist museum in Wandsworth or Dagenham.
It was always going to fail. Like every other non-MS Paul Allen venture. The guy who destroyed Seattle as a nice livable city. Vulcan Real Estate anyone?
Short version.
Vulcan and cronies started collecting large parcels in the South Lake Union area back in the early '90's. They wanted to do a huge new commercial development. Basically a new downtown. Critics said it was going to fatally unbalance the city. Huge pushback from many parties. Vulcan needed some city owned property to make the deal work and as part of the political horse trading swapped some worthless land on Lake Union for a "park", made big promises, paid for a part of the SLUT light rail, and rammed the massive development plan through. Oh yeah, they also hired some (very) high paid political lobbyists with deep tendrils into city hall. Which of course had nothing to do with City Hall agreeing to the plan
So pretty much the whole area from north of Olive to the Mercer Mess and west of 80 to the a block or two from the monorail went from low rise commercial / retail / light industrial to mid rise / high rise residential and high rise office blocks. This destroyed huge numbers of small businesses and firms that had been the bedrock of the city economy. Like the office equipment store that had been around for several generations where I bough the Aeron chair I am currently sitting on. Chair still going strong after 25 years but the office equipment business now long gone. That block is now the footprint for several mid-rise residential blocks. Most of the new office blocks are (were) full of the Amazon Blob and related Five Year Wonder VC dot coms. The streets in that area has been mostly tumble-weed since 2020.
So Seattle went from a city with a stable population of around 550k for many decades to a city of over 700K in less than a decade. These incomers voted in a bunch of SJW grifter politicians (like Sawant) into city hall who quickly filled the streets with street people, junkies, and street crims. They destroyed the city police department, turned blocks downtown into street slums, and killed a whole bunch of people in fatuous street riots. They also bankrupted large numbers of small businesses through insane local ordinances. All but one of these Virtue Signaling city politicians was kicked out in the last city elections. But the immense damage to the city was done.
Had a funny conversation with a young woman from West Seattle recently. On a suburban train in Dublin (Ireland) no less. Describing to her what a fantastic city Seattle had been to live in back in the 1990's and early 2000's. The only Seattle she had known was the post 2010 city when the slide into San Francisco / Portland levels total social dysfunction was already well underway. Seattle really was the most livable mid sized city back then. I really do miss it. Such a great place. So many good memories.
So that's what Vulcan (and Paul Allen) did to Seattle. Totally enshitified the place. Just so that utterly pointless person could add a few more zeros to his bank balance while he did what he did on those monster yachts - as all owners of monster yachts do - piss away their pointless money.
Interesting . Downvotes. Let me guess..
1) People who work for Vulcan, Allen, or who think the sun shines out of billionaires a*sses.
2) People who think The Stranger is a "newspaper" and not the fictional ravings of deranged nutcases. Now 20 / 25 years ago, maybe there was something...
3) People nit picking that I wrote 80 rather than 5 by mistake. I know. It's 5/80/520/405.. I'd just been giving someone 80/280 directions..
4) The recent arrivals in Seattle who voted for the politicians which turned Seattle into a total sh*thole. Yes. I'm looking at you.
Here is a hint for the recent arrivals who totally f*cked up the city. You know that "Seattle Freeze"? Its not the locals - its you.
The locals are exceptionally friendly and nice. Made some great friends very quickly and I cannot speak too highly of my neighbors when we had a family emergency. Best neighbors ever. Never once experienced the "Seattle Freeze" over the decades but saw it in action a few times. Always towards the same type of people. Recent arrivals in town from some suburb or other (never the Eastside though) with an "attitude problem". Who want the locals to fit into their (bubble) world rather than the recent blow-ins fitting in to how the locals do things. Funny how everyone I've heard complain about "Seattle Freeze" all seem to be the same type. Loud mouth virtue signaling progressive types. Although the locals will never say it they are all thinking the same thing - Why don't you f*ck off to Portland. Its full of people just like you.
In other words, exactly the type people who overwhelmed the city after 2010 and totally ruined it. Just like they ruined Portland. Portland was quite a nice little city about 35 / 40 years ago but by 25 years ago the death spiral in downtown Portland was already very obvious
So to all 4) people. The Seattle locals are really happy that so many of you moved in 2020 and would be really happy if the rest of you would bugger off too. So they can get their city back and try to rebuild what was once such a nice friendly livable city. Clearing all the left wing kooks out of the City Council (apart from Morales - next time) was a great start.
So, you are saying that Portland is the problem with Seattle now.
Having lived in Portland since 1999 and visited Seattle several times over the course of the last 25 years, why do you think that?
My personal experience is that Seattle (population 100,000 more than Portland) is not as nice a place as Portland. Somehow you think that people moving from Portland to Seattle are somehow overwhelming the people of Seattle and making them become like Portland?
I think that you are imagining it.
Sure, Portland has gone downhill over the years, and so has Seattle. But I don't think that the problem with Seattle is Portland, or vice versa. I suspect a larger issue in the US as a whole.
Doesn't matter how rich you are - when you're dead all your assets will be mined for other people's benefit.
No way that anyone who inherited from him couldn't have kept that running, or started a foundation of interested people to continue that work, if they'd given it even ten second's consideration.
What's important to you will not be important to anyone who inherits from you. And the things that are important to them will not be important to you.
This is the thing about "collections", especially the million-dollar item stuff. Nobody cares. Chances are all your hard work will end up on the scrapheap or sold off for a pittance. All those years of collecting, curating, preserving, etc. will mean nothing to anyone else (if it did... they'd have their own collections!).
A friend of mine once said "Never collect anything of which you don't stand a good chance of getting a full set". It's true. Especially those people who start with things like "pottery pigs" - you can't collect all the pottery pigs in the world. And eventually, maybe even while you'll still alive, you'll realise that it's taken over your life and try to get rid of it and NOBODY will be interested.
Collect things that are important to you, and realise that that's the only reason why you collect them, and why most other people will have zero interest in them. Those people who have every NES game (including the one-off unreleased prototypes)... I'm not sure anyone has a complete collection, or could even do so. And do they actually play them? Rarely. And when they die.. .their family will retain a few and sell off the rest to the next set of collectors who will realise that the very act of splitting and selling that collection means they can never have a complete set either.
But when you're parting with stupendous money, hoarding it to yourself for decades, and when you die it gets sold off... you haven't really done anything good there, in fact it's quite selfish. Form a museum, open it to the public, and provide it with a funding path to survive without you... there you have a legacy. Otherwise - like in this case - all you've done is hoard billions of dollars worth of stuff that nobody else can ever appreciate, just for selfish monopoly. And that money, time and effort could be far better spent actually doing some good to preserve those things you claim to care about, and others like them.
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