Our Mission

Derby Computer Museum showcases mainly 80s and 90s computers, gaming and portable technology. We focus on a "hands on" approach so that anyone visiting the museum can see, touch and use/play with most of the articles in the museum.

Registered charity 1199054

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Hands on fun!

We want to make sure that our exhibits are accessible, usable and fun so that they can be fully appreciated. So as a result you'll find the vast majority of our exhibits are all in working and usable condition, and you can see, touch and use them just as you could do 30 or 40 years ago.

There are a few exceptions such as items which are fragile or being restored.

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To preserve and maintain history

The articles in our museum are mostly from the 80s and 90s and aren't that old in the grand scheme of things, especially if you compare it to other museum articles such as dinosaur remains. However, technology moves on so quickly and is thrown away just as quickly meaning that items common place 30 or 40 years ago is almost non existent today.

For example, there used to be millions of CRT ("fat screen") monitors but as the vast majority of these have since been thrown away or have broken, they are now really hard to find. We've also found that even technology that has been put away for preservation often doesn't work anymore due to failing components that weren't meant to last more than 10 or 20 years.

As such, a huge part of our mission is to preserve and maintain this technology for future generations as historical record.

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A place to reminisce

Derby Computer Museum was founded by Rob, born in the early 80s and assisted by friends of a similar age. Now with kids we want to be able to share our enjoyment of the technology we used when we were young with our children and we want others to be able to do the same too. Old computer games like Pacman or Mario Kart will bring just as enjoyment to the next generation as they did to ours; even if they look really pixelated by modern standards!

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Educate

Part of our mission is to educate on computing history by showcasing it, preserving it, and exhibiting displays explaining history and having interactive exhibits.

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Work experience for young adults with special educational needs

We provide practical work experience for young adults with special educational needs. We also work closely with Horizons Sixth Form who are a few doors down from us on Iron Gate.

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To give back to the community

Any town or city is what you make of it. Whilst we welcome visitors from absolutely anywhere, I am passionate about Derby so Derby Computer Museum is my way of bringing a smile to people in Derby.

Sincerely...
Rob,
Founder