The Personal Computer Museum was located in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, in a building formerly owned by the municipal government. The building was built with bricks reclaimed from the Brantford Opera House. Over fifty interactive personal computers were on display, from a wide variety of manufacturers, including Apple, Atari, Commodore, IBM, Radio Shack, Timex, Mattel, and others. The museum also had a large library of original software and a huge archive of computer-related magazines. The museum's mandate was to preserve computer technology and, more importantly, to offer interactivity with older machines. It welcomed private tours from schools and other groups. It was open to students, to study the origins of computers and the various technologies involved. Parents were welcome to bring children, to see computers which the parents may have once used, to get a sense of the ancestry of today's technology. Admission was free. The museum first opened to the publicin September, 2005. It was run by Syd Bolton, its founder and curator, and by a group of dedicated volunteers. The museum closed permanently after the curator's death. At that time, it had been open to the public only one day a month. Its contents are slated to be dispersed to another agency.
Displays
The downstairs showcases over forty-five machines that are interactive. The most popular machines include the Commodore 64, IMSAI 8080 and Apple IIe
The 'Tower of Power' is a high display that includes the original packaging for such machines as the Coleco Adam, Atari 2600, and Mattel Aquarius
Upstairs contains a magazine library that has classics such as Byte Magazine and Compute!. The library is home to over 4,000 publications.
Upstairs also has a display known as 'Modem Alley' where the history of the modem is displayed including the major milestones contributed by manufacturers such as Hayes Microcomputer Products and Supra, Inc.
Both levels include hundreds of books on various topics in computer history
The Personal Computer Museum engages in computer recycling. Local residents can bring computers to the museum almost every Monday evening for safe, proper recycling. Computers that are still viable for redistribution are given away to needy families through the computer giveaway program. The museum also has an annual 'Spring Cleanup' event with a special focus on recycling that brought in over 400 pieces of electronics in 2008.
Notable events
Between June 26 and June 29, 2009 Microsoft hired the museum to fill its 'Evolution: 30 Years of Gaming' display in Toronto
On September 13, 2008 the Personal Computer Museum held and established a new Guinness World Records attempt for the most players in a Tetris Tournament
On March 26, 2009 the museum received a 'Shining Stars Tourism Award' for the best marketing campaign for a facility with under 30,000 visitors annually
On June 13, 2009 the museum was host to Andy Walker, Sean Carruthers, and Matt Harris who shot an episode of LabRats.TV
On February 20, 2010 the museum was host to the oldest known computer to send a tweet on Twitter, the VIC-20, using code written by Syd Bolton.
On October 13, 2011 the museum received a 'Shining Stars Tourism Award' for the event "Guitar Hero Rocks the Square" and museum curator Syd Bolton received the "Tourism Innovator" award
On November 15, 2014 Jack Livesley and former TVOntario staff, as well as the former editor of The Transactor, held a talk and Q&A session, reminiscing about the early days of Bits and Bytes and personal computers.
On June 11, 2018 the founder and curator Syd Bolton died peacefully in a Toronto hospital after a brief illness. He was 46.
