Wizards of OZ

(C)reativity, (A)ctivity and (S)ervice Project Website

Welcome to the Wizards of Oz project website. Here, you can find information about ourselves, our project and our process.

As both Otto and I have some background in computer science and data systems, we both want to deepen our own understanding of how such systems work and how they came to be. Not only does this subject hold historical significance, but it is also relevant in the context of modern-day developments in the technology industry regarding digital privacy and access to information online, which has been largely impacted by the AI boom in the past year. While both of us have either interned or worked in such a field, this will be the first time that we will be put completely in charge of our own standalone project, and we hope to gain an understanding of the planning, communication and resource management that such a project entails.

The goal of our project is to raise awareness about the state of older computers and technology. This is to be achieved through the research and documentation of old mainframes and minicomputers and sharing this research on a website. Through the sharing of free information, we hope to encourage people to help maintain and restore old computers and to enable further study of the records and information preserved by these machines. We will collaborate with experts, historians, and computer museums to make our research more widely and freely available to students interested in computing and other volunteers and researchers.

Old mainframes and minicomputers are the only link we have between the present and the records of people’s lives from the past. They are the only way we are able to access old salary histories, prison ledgers and factory logs which document the evidence of possible past discriminatory practices, environmental trespasses and social injustices. With these old computers becoming increasingly rare and fewer people knowing how to use or repair them, it is now more important than ever before to ensure that future generations will be able to access and remember these past personal histories and injustices.