In 1998, George Costanza was seen moving the “Frogger” across several lanes of traffic in an episode of Seinfeld, when he attempted to save his high score from his high school days. Jason Alexander, who played George, actually performed the stunt himself, dodging cars and trucks as he tried to make his way across the street with the game. That episode — and the show itself — might now be considered dated, to some. 

So are most items at the Rhode Island Computer Museum, a place where high-pitched beeps, blips, and the fun, melodic music of a Mario Bros. game can be heard. The museum also showcases troll dolls with brightly colored hair sitting on a shelf, vintage typewriters and televisions, and games — tons of games from the past. There's no need to move a giant machine across the road to access a bit of nostalgia in Rhode Island — playing is part of the museum experience. 

“There is nothing normal to see here,” said Ray Young, a volunteer at RICM. Just then, a tour group came through the museum and made their way to the back room, stopping to let the walking robots figure out where they were going as two little girls playing with them laughed hysterically at the “road block” made by the robots.

Dan Berman, one of the museum's founders, explained that RICM began around 1996 when he and a few of the early founders, who were all British car collectors, decided that cars were too large to collect. So, they turned to computers. “We started collecting computers, but then we ended up with five storage lockers full of them,” Berman said, laughing at the irony. In 1999, they began a nonprofit, and soon after, local schools, colleges, and government agencies began donating old computers. Today, the museum’s warehouse spans 5,000 square feet and is filled with digital relics. 

RICM has also become a go-to resource for filmmakers. “We rent out our vintage technology to TV and movie productions,” Berman said. “It's much cheaper for them to rent our items than to build their own,” he went on to say. The museum’s items have appeared in a variety of productions, including Mad Men, Hidden Figures, King Kong Skull Island and the hit Apple TV show Severance. More recently, RICM was involved in Netflix's Fallout series. Bringing the nostalgic technology to life on the big screen is not the number one priority of the museum, though.

The museum is a knowledge center

Young, a retired chief information officer with decades of experience, has volunteered at the museum for several years. “I drove by one day, saw the sign, and thought I’d see what was going on here,” Young recalled. With his deep knowledge of computers and 13 programming languages, he teaches kids about the inner workings of digital technology. “I can teach anything from basic digital electronics to software,” he said. 

One of Young’s favorite moments came when a 12-year-old girl amazed him with her understanding of programming. During a camp for kids, the group worked on a project using LED lights to simulate a traffic light. “She asked, ‘Do you think we can control this with a computer?’ ” Young recalled. “I said, ‘Absolutely.’ ” The girl drew a diagram to show how a traffic light works, but then noticed something missing. “She realized she hadn’t accounted for the lights turning off. It was fascinating to watch her think through the problem,” Young reflected.

Young helped her refine her diagram and turned it into a simple program. “We reduced it to just three lines of code,” he said. “I like to teach kids a language that won't run out of gas. If you teach kids stuff that is too complicated, they may get frustrated and walk away, but if you teach a language that is very powerful, and you teach them properly how to use it, it’s limitless.”

This statement is made just after the inner workings of an old typewriter has been shown to the two little girls who were the museum’s first visitors of the day. Their eyes looked on in amazement, not knowing what the foreign object does or how it works. Their questions began …