Quad Core Chip Technology

This hard drive weighed in at one ton!!!  And was all of 5 megabytes

In a cool new hi-tech exhibit “Creating the United States,” visitors can take a look at the proposed Bill of Rights and George Washington’s copy of the Constitution, which includes the first president’s notes on the debate during the Constitutional Convention.  Each document has a dedicated, interactive kiosk that allows students and researchers to closely examine the library’s treasures and to trace the origins of the country’s founding ideas. For example, they might learn that the Bill of Rights was initially created as a diversion to prevent the anti-Federalists from rehashing the entire Constitution.

The high-tech offerings are a big leap for the world’s largest library, which has sought to give visitors more ways to access its books, documents, audio and film resources. Interactive elements from the exhibit will also be available on the library’s new Web site.

The changes come as the library anticipates a surge in annual visitors when the underground Capitol Visitors Center opens in late 2008. The library will be connected to the visitors centre by tunnel, which could double or triple the library’s 1.4 million annual visitors, according to current estimates. Officials expect visitors to meander between the buildings as they wait for a tour of the Capitol.  The library has invested $23 million - all private funding - to create new exhibits as part of the Library of Congress Experience, including about $3 million in software and services from Microsoft Corp.

Technical advances at the library ultimately could include posting digital copies of entire books online, including volumes from Thomas Jefferson’s collection that served as the foundation for the Library of Congress.  The high-tech changes also come as the library opens a tribute to its roots. It is unveiling a re-creation of the original library from Jefferson, which is catalogued by subject areas - memory, reason and imagination - which Jefferson interpreted as history, philosophy and fine arts. He sold his 6,487 volumes to Congress for less than $24,000 in 1815 - a meagre sum even for that day, library experts said.

But most of Jefferson’s books were eventually lost. About two-thirds of the original collection was destroyed in an 1851 fire at the Capitol.  Rare book experts at the library, which holds 138 million items, have spent the last decade trying to piece the collection back together with copies of the books Jefferson prized. Many were found within the library’s vast collection, but the staff also travelled around the world to find copies. Out of the 4,000 volumes lost, about 300 copies are left to be found, said Mark Dimunation, chief of the library’s rare books and special collections division. Boxes on the shelves mark the spaces where books are missing. This type of exhibit really adds a lot to the desirability of young kids learning about U.S history.

Check out this pre-cursor to the laptop.

Digi-Log Systems, Inc.  “Briefcase Portability” (1976)