If you want to step back into the past of Microsoft, then there is no better way than stepping into the official archive room and taking a look around. In an exciting video, Luke Burbank, takes us on a tour through the history of Microsoft.
Amy Stevenson has the official title of “Microsoft Archivist” and spends her days deciding what should be preserved for future generations of Microsoft employees and lovers to admire. Amy has a few different ways of deciding what should be kept, she states that “some things are interesting for exhibit value because they look cool and will cause a reaction later on”, other items are simply valuable and extremely significant. At the beginning of the video, Luke and Amy begin their interview in Bill Gate’s Conversation chairs; two items that were used in his office during the early 1980’s.
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So, why save all of these items? Amy tells us that she is trying to save content they she feels is “important culturally to the world”. Microsoft started as a software company, although we know they have morphed into a hardware manufacturer also, and Amy wants to make sure that not only the software that Microsoft created is preserved, but everything “around it” – that includes marketing materials, records, etc.
But papers, reports, and software aren’t the only things floating around in the archive. Amy shows off a giant server setup from the Windows Server 2003 launch, which was on stage with Steve Ballmer. At the time, the Server had a value of at least $1 million dollars. They also house an Altair unit, that wasn’t the original, but still gives an image of what the company was founded upon.
Lastly, we cannot forget the most important piece in the collection – a giant costume of Microsoft Office’s “Clippy”. To check out the Clippy costume, see a “bitching” Microsoft logo, and the rest of the collection – check out the above video.
Source: MSDN
