Episode 2123 - From Tech History to Future Innovators: Mimms Museum on Curation, Apple Collection, and Bridging Technology & Art

Mimms Museum of Technology and Art founders, Karin and Lonnie, recently joined The Ash Said It Show for an exclusive interview, providing an in-depth look at their new, highly-anticipated iNSPIRE exhibit. The conversation covered the museum's origin story, the curation process for the largest public collection of Apple products ever assembled, and the unique intersection of technology and art.

The Vision: Why a Museum for Tech?

The founders first discussed the driving force behind the museum's creation. They detailed the specific inspiration that led to the launch of a highly shareable social media campaign, "Show Us Your Apples," designed to promote the new exhibit. This campaign aims to tap into the public's emotional connection and personal history with Apple innovation.

Curating iNSPIRE: The Apple Collection

Lonnie shared insights into the immense scale of the iNSPIRE exhibit, which is billed as the most extensive public collection of Apple products anywhere. The founders revealed the intensive curatorial process required for a collection of this magnitude, touching on the most challenging artifacts to acquire and the surprising items that tell a richer, untold history of Apple. Visitors can expect to find stories and artifacts unavailable in books or online archives.

Bridging Technology and Art

A central focus of the discussion was how the Mimms Museum blends its two components: technology and art. Lonnie explained how the iNSPIRE exhibit successfully bridges this gap, confirming that the display will feature art pieces and creative works inspired by Apple products.
* Interactive Exhibits: Following the art discussion, the founders touched on the planned interactive exhibits, many of which will also feature a creative or art component, ensuring an engaging, hands-on visitor experience.

The Future of Public Engagement

When asked about the highly successful "Show Us Your Apples" campaign, the founders addressed their plans for integrating submissions. They confirmed that the museum is waiting to gauge the full public response but plans to incorporate submissions digitally and through social sharing. The public’s personal stories and photos are intended to be a vital part of the overall experience.

The Message for the Next Generation

The conversation concluded with a powerful question about legacy and purpose: Why is it crucial to dedicate a massive museum exhibit to a company's past innovations in a world defined by constant technological release? Lonnie and Karin shared the overarching message they hope to convey to the next generation of innovators who visit Mimms, emphasizing the importance of studying history to shape the future of technology.

Web: https://mimmsmuseum.org

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
What a world.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Let it do, Cyber World. It is your girl, the
one and only Ash Brown, And this is the Ash
Said It show. Over twenty one hundred episode since twenty fourteen,
half a million streams around the world. None of this
is possible without you, guys. So I thank you so
so very much. Today I have the esteem honor of

(00:23):
having with me the founders of the Mimes Museum of
Technology and Art, the wonderful Karen and Lennie Mims.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
Hello, Hello, Hey, how are you?

Speaker 2 (00:36):
I am great? How are you all today?

Speaker 1 (00:40):
We're good, We're tired. We've been working hard.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Oh I hear big things are come and Roswellis is
on the map for a good reason. I love it.

Speaker 4 (00:50):
Oh yeah, So we're.

Speaker 3 (00:53):
Trying to eat an elephant right now.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
I'm sure you guys are are consuming that elephant in
all the right place, all the right parts, portioning it out.
I know you guys have got it. But for our
listeners that are not familiar, let's get a little bit
of background. What is the MEM's Museum of Technology and Art.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
Well, it started officially in twenty nineteen. On July twentieth,
which happened to be the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo
eleven moon landing. And you know, unfortunately within six months
or nine months we were looking at COVID, but we

(01:35):
didn't slow down during that time. We kept adding to
our exhibits and you know we're still doing that today.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
Yes, Yes, and as many businesses I'm sure had to
pivot during COVID. Do you all feel as though now
you've got a really good sense of the community now
that things have kind of regulated essentially.

Speaker 4 (02:01):
Absolutely. You know, at that time, you know, events and
schools stopped coming.

Speaker 3 (02:08):
You know, we would have other other you know, groups,
but similar.

Speaker 4 (02:12):
Museums to us didn't reopen for two years because they
said without schools and without groups, we can't make it,
you know, without events, because those are two of our
big revenue resources as well. But we really used it
as a time to just narrow our focus. We didn't

(02:33):
let anybody go. We just really kept moving, you know forward,
because when we opened, you know, we opened with three
main exhibits. One was the Apollo exhibits, which was huge
and you know it was focus on space and you know,
getting to the Moon, a history of computing, which is

(02:55):
the timeline, and then the supercomputer exhibit and since.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
That we've had lots of little pop up.

Speaker 4 (03:02):
Exhibits, and then this year we rebranded because everybody that
came in, they would say, I don't understand Computer Museum
of America. And I come in and I see, you know,
you've got a movie exhibit, you've got music, you've got robots,
you've got space, you've got art. You're not what your
name is. And for for five years we've been trying

(03:24):
to come up with something different, and finally Rene Youngblood,
our executive director, said, look, you know, we really need
to name it after you know, Lannie, you started it.
The you know, Memes is a great name. Let's do
Men's Museum of Technology and Art and call it the
Memes like the lou the High the you know, most

(03:46):
museums or many are started from someone with the collection.

Speaker 5 (03:50):
So that's you know, that happened last.

Speaker 4 (03:52):
Year or this year, earlier this year, and the response
has been really great because it really defines who we
are and shows that were much bigger than what people
the box people want to put us in.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
Yes, I love that story. Well, that's sensational. So you
know from opening till now, I guess for you, Lonnie,
what is a moment that has stuck out to you
as that moment of confirmation, like that proud moment that
just sits just right there on your heart.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
I mean, there's just there's too many really to even
even list. But I mean the fact that just the
end of last year, we were able to purchase virtually
all of Paul Allen's Living Computer Museum, which was in Seattle,

(04:46):
and it closed down at COVID and was never able
to reopen.

Speaker 4 (04:51):
And for those who don't know, that's the co ounder
what he was, the co owner of Microsoft with Bill Gate.
He had a technology museum called the Living Computer Museum
out in Seattle.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
He started, he started a lot of museums. His estate
still owns two of the major supports franchises in that area.
And I mean he was, you know, at one point
one of the ten wealthiest people in the world, so,
you know, to be able to purchase his his computer collection,

(05:26):
you know, being that he was really one of the
you know, big drivers of the entire industry. I mean,
there isn't anybody on the planet that probably has not
used or still doesn't use a Microsoft product. So it
you know, the roots are all there, and it took
sixty semi trucks to bring the collection to to Roswell.

(05:53):
So that was that was just you know, one moment
we've we've had one of the co founders of Apple
actually dropped in earlier this year and we talked to
him quite a bit and did an interview.

Speaker 5 (06:11):
Yep, yeah, Ron Wayne.

Speaker 1 (06:14):
So you know, people people, you know, a lot of
people don't know about him because you know, he he
owned ten percent of Apple when it was originally founded
on April first of nineteen seventy six, but he only
owned it the ten percent for about twelve days. So

(06:35):
he was he was the he was the old man
in the room that that he was. He you know,
he had a family and a car and a mortgage
and a house and everything, and and Steve Wosniak and
Steve Jobs had had, you know, very little of that
and you know, they they didn't have anything to lose,

(06:57):
and Ron did, so he was you know, more cautious,
but he stayed you know, he stayed along and helped
in the early days. And that will be highlighted in
the beginning of our next exhibit on the history of
Apple the first fifty years.

Speaker 2 (07:17):
Yes, yes, and we're going to get into that too,
but back a little bit more into the museum, Like,
there are so many museums that focus on like historical artifacts,
but you all embrace modern interacted in exhibits and with
your philosophy on making technology and aren't accessible and engaging

(07:40):
for all ages. You know, where do you see that
going in the next ten years.

Speaker 1 (07:46):
Well, I think we're unique in the museum world because
you know, there there really are very very few other
types of museums where people go into them and they go, oh,
I had one of those Oh look, look, I remember this,
and you've got multi generations and it's so current the

(08:09):
entire history of the industry, with just a few exceptions
that you know, where things started many many many years ago.
For the most part of the whole industry is within
the last seventy years, and really it's it's accelerated so
much within the last fifty that you know, it's within

(08:33):
so many people's lives. And you know, you don't go
into an art museum and say, well, you know, I
used to have that Picasso and that Rembrandt over there
that was hanging above grandma's you know fireplace. I mean,
it just doesn't happen. It doesn't have it doesn't have
the relevancy, it doesn't have the immediacy of technology. You know,

(08:57):
same goes for a natural history museum. Things like that. Now,
you know, you might cross over and say, you know,
we had a dog or a sheep or something that's
you know, happens to be in a natural history museum,
but it doesn't have the same kind of emotion and
the same kind of nostalgia and the fact that you know,

(09:17):
there's a greater number of people now, I mean every
day there's more and more people whose lives are based
on technology. That you know, the careers are all moving,
you know, in that direction, whether you like it or not,
and you know, to be able to inspire and impact,
you know, especially a younger person's direction. I mean, what

(09:42):
started the museum in the first place is that you know,
and I think you mentioned that you're from Stun Mountain
at one point early in your life. And I grew
up in the North Lake area of the calp County
to just inside the perimeter from Stone Mountain. And actually,
you know, Stone Mountain was a rival. You know, we're

(10:04):
Dan and Stone Mountain that all those were rival high
schools of ours. I went to Lakeside. No no connection
to the Microsoft Lakeside, but interesting you know, similarity there.
And what got me started was I took classes. You know,
back before sports was three hundred and sixty five days

(10:25):
a year during the summer. I would take classes at
Fernbank Science Center, which is for those who don't know,
it is an amazing asset for the DeKalb County school System.
And when it was built in nineteen sixty eight, they
had one of the largest planetariums in the entire world.

(10:47):
I think it was third largest. It had an incredible
observatory and again before you know, pre light pollution, you know,
you could really do, you know, see amazing things. But
I would take just random classes, it didn't matter what
it was. I was such a such a science geek
that you know, the classes on everything from mushrooms to geology, chemistry,

(11:13):
different things. Well, they one year they had the first
class they had ever given on programming and it was
in the very early seventies, probably seventy seventy two time period.
And I took that class and we used a terminal
and there was this acoustic coupler which is like two

(11:33):
cups that cradled the phone the phone handle of an
old fashioned you know, dial up phone, so you dial
the number that they gave you, and then you'd hear
the beeping. A lot of people will remember the sound
of either like a fax machine or a modem where

(11:53):
it makes the squeal and it starts, you know, going
back and forth, and you'd stick the headset very quick
down into this acoustic coupler and then before you know it,
you'd see a word come up on the screen asking
you to log in. And at the time I didn't
know it, but we were dialing in and using an

(12:14):
IBM three sixty, which was one of the main frames
that was very prevalent in that era. And this is
all pre micro computer. It's pre Apple, it's pre Commodore,
it's pre Dell, it's you know, it's it's before all
of that, and no one at that point in time
would have ever thought about having a computer in their house.

(12:36):
But once I took that class, I just got hooked.
I mean, it was so so appealing to be able
to give directions to some you know, multimillion dollar machines
somewhere and haven't come back and give you a response.
That was so exciting.

Speaker 4 (12:52):
But at that time, I mean as he's about ten
years old, so you know, it's that's at a time,
at an age when you know you can make such
a difference in somebody's life, and that one class changed
his whole life. We ended up, you know, going to
George Tech getting an electrical engineering degree.

Speaker 1 (13:15):
I majored in my hobby, right, so that that made life,
you know, much more interesting. And literally from the time
micro computers came out, which is way before I went
to college, but you know, I convinced Dad we had
to have one in the family business, and you know,
he didn't really believe it, I don't think, but he

(13:38):
was so supportive that we actually went to California and
looked at several different companies. We would visit the company itself,
and we got the best machine at the time, which
came out in seventy six, and it was a Processor
Technology SAW twenty, which is probably you know TMI. But anyway,

(14:00):
long story short, I never got rid of anything, and
it turned into a collection without necessarily intending to. And
then at some point I started collecting other people's collections
and at this point in time, you know, I would
say we probably have more than half a million artifacts.

(14:22):
So you know, as far as like technology museums globally go,
I fully expect to be the largest in the world
before we're done.

Speaker 2 (14:31):
I expect that as well. I mean just you know,
we were just in the front half of the museum
and you know, as we were talking before, I haven't
even been to the entire thing. I haven't even been
through it, but just going and just seeing like the calculators,
seeing that those calculators on the wall, I was like,
oh my gosh, like that's over, you know, and I'm

(14:52):
looking at the years and I'm getting all the information. Incredible,
absolutely incredible.

Speaker 1 (14:58):
That's it too. It's we don't want to just throw
things out there and you know, just have them all
sitting on a shelf with labels that don't really mean anything.
I mean, we probably have we have hundreds of calculators
in our collection, including literally the first calculator you know,
that was ever made that was electronic. There were two

(15:22):
or three of those ones in the Smithsonian. We have one.
And you know, those are the types of artifacts that
we've been so lucky to be able to get, and
of course now is the time to do that that
you know, the prototypes are being created every day for
new devices, and then where they end up, you know,

(15:45):
and so many of these things end up in the
recycling center, especially since a lot of the early computers
had lots and lots of precious metals in them, especially gold.
Hewlett Packard was famous for using gold because it makes
for very good connections and it doesn't tarnish, So that

(16:08):
motivated people. You know. The cycle is that, you know,
something's very expensive when you buy it, and then literally
like a car or anything else that you know, the
day after you buy it, it goes down in value.
At some point, it hits the bottom and then it
starts going up again in most cases, and that might
be twenty thirty years. But nonetheless, during that cycle, most

(16:31):
of these things get thrown away or you know, best case, recycled.
So we're trying to capture that before it happens.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
Yeah, I think you guys are definitely on your way.
You're well on your way with that a certainly now
shifting gears a little bit. What was the inspiration behind
the launching of the campaign show us your Apples to
promote the Inspire exhibit.

Speaker 4 (17:01):
Well, we're just trying to come up with a way
that you know, the public could get involved with this exhibit.
You know, I continue to tell people next year is
Apple's fiftieth birthday, and everyone just is in complete shock,
like that can't be like are you kidding?

Speaker 5 (17:20):
And so, you know, and I tell them a little
bit about the exhibit.

Speaker 4 (17:24):
But we wanted a way for people to be able
to share, you know, their artifacts and their machines. So
many people collect, it's crazy. And what we have found
is people don't throw away their Apple items like they
do other things. One.

Speaker 3 (17:43):
You know, they're a very.

Speaker 4 (17:44):
Expensive item and people really cherish them. And what that
company has been able to do to all of us
is remarkable.

Speaker 5 (17:55):
And so we just wanted a way that to you know,
show us.

Speaker 3 (17:58):
Your apples, whether.

Speaker 4 (17:59):
It's old, new, a relic, and just to make it
fun and exciting and tell us, you know, if you
want to share, why if not.

Speaker 5 (18:08):
Just take a picture of it.

Speaker 4 (18:10):
But it is shocking how many people have said, oh,
I've still got my first iPod, or I've got my
first this or I you know, I mean, if you
stack up it boost you went home and stacked up
like the Apple items that they're using right now at home,
you know, how about you, ash Air.

Speaker 2 (18:30):
I am. Yes, I still have my first iPad. I
still have my iPhones, still have me all of me.
They're yeah, they're they're they're talked away. I still have
It's like you can't part with them, Like it's a
I know, it's a part of history.

Speaker 4 (18:45):
You know.

Speaker 2 (18:45):
You're just like, I don't want to throw it away,
but I may not use it right now, but it's yeah,
it's still up on the shelf.

Speaker 1 (18:54):
It's funny Apples the National Geographic of of you know,
the current current times.

Speaker 4 (19:00):
Yeah, our youngest daughter did a little show us your
apples and she was saying, how you know, it was
obviously her iPod that she was talking about, and she.

Speaker 5 (19:09):
Said, I won't forget that. You know, every get that.
In middle school, I was listening to you know, Taylor.

Speaker 4 (19:14):
Swift's album on repeat on the school bus, and you
know that just takes you back. Yeah, I mean there's
something we can all relate to. So we're just trying
to find a way to bring people together and also
celebrate apple together.

Speaker 2 (19:30):
Yes, I love that. Yeah, definitely bringing people together. We
definitely need more and more of that going on now
with the Inspire exhibit. It's being billed as the largest
public collection of Apple products ever. So what was that
process like for you all? I mean with this collection

(19:51):
of this magnitude, you know what was the most challenging
part of it?

Speaker 1 (20:00):
Well? Apple, Apple is a you know, incredibly complicated company.
When you start digging into it, and uh, there there
are so many models in the numbers in at one
period of its company's life didn't make a lot of sense.
And you know, the other thing is Apple has a

(20:21):
tendency to you don't buy, you know, a model and
then and then just upgrade it. That just doesn't happen,
at least at least not now. You know, if you buy,
if you buy an iPad, you know it has it
has two hundred and fifty six gig or it has
two terabytes, or it's a certain size. I mean, you

(20:43):
don't upgrade it. So that means that there are so
many more models than with most other companies. And you know,
and even even with the the iPods that I don't
know what the total number is that we're going to
be displaying, but we're doing it in a when I
think is just an high candy, beautiful fashion that is

(21:06):
a timeline, and we'll have all the colors of all
the different models and you'll be able to see visually how,
how and when they came out. And then there'll be
an another entire case with you know, a dozen special
models that came out with collaborations with other companies, or

(21:29):
you know, the Prince Prince iPod that was very limited release,
the Beatles iPod that was very limited release. There was
an HP model and it just kind of it just
kind of goes on and on. You know. You two
was the biggest of the special models that they released,

(21:49):
and we're going to include that in the regular timeline
because it wasn't really limited. They sold. They sold lots
and lots of those.

Speaker 2 (21:59):
I'm served it. Now, what's the best way for people
to get more information to stay up to date because
I know, you know, release dates and everything of that nature,
they're kind of tentative right now. So what's the best
way for people to get more information and to stay
up to date for when this exhibit is open.

Speaker 4 (22:19):
I mean obviously social media, we're on everything, Facebook, Instagram.

Speaker 5 (22:24):
TikTok, our website has.

Speaker 3 (22:28):
Everything, has our calendar events.

Speaker 4 (22:29):
We have events regularly that people could attend just this
past Saturday, we had a mini fundraiser and it was
our second one called Pixel Putt and so instead of
a it's our play on a golf tournament, but we're
a family or a company to come out and play
mini golf and it was so much fun, and then
we had lunch together and people just loved it because

(22:52):
it's all inclusive. The kids can play and the adults
can play, the grandparents can play, and your teach everyone
about philanthropy and about giving back.

Speaker 5 (23:04):
So that was fun.

Speaker 4 (23:06):
So our website and you know, signing up for our newsletter.
People love our events. We've got a lot going on.
We have an enormous like you saw at the Bridle.

Speaker 5 (23:16):
Show at ten thousand square foot.

Speaker 4 (23:18):
Events space to get rented out for all kinds of
things as well as classrooms.

Speaker 1 (23:23):
Yeah, that's being used almost all the time, you know,
very very there's always always somebody having an event going on.
But you know, even even during the week, not necessarily
in that space, but we have school groups coming out
on a regular basis as well, so schools can book
and come out and there's lots of different lots of

(23:45):
different themes and you know, focuses that it can be
tailored to.

Speaker 4 (23:50):
So the website is Mensmuseum dot org, so just to
look up Men's Museum and they can find us. And
we are open to the public Wednesday through sund from
noon to five awesome. And then we have school groups.

Speaker 5 (24:04):
If you have a school group that's looking for.

Speaker 4 (24:07):
A great field trip, we offer you know, those we
do senior groups. We have sensory friendly mornings where people
who have sensitivities to light their noises. We open early
and we dim everything and you.

Speaker 1 (24:20):
Know, offer that.

Speaker 3 (24:21):
So just trying to just trying to be accessible to
lots of different groups and to be understanding.

Speaker 2 (24:28):
Yes, and that's definitely needed and appreciated, especially now with
you know, with everything that's going on and so many
people affected by different different things in life.

Speaker 4 (24:40):
So we appreciate that also for anybody who's interested who
loves art. Right now, we have a really a nice
Salvador Dolly exhibit. We have over thirty pieces. Those will
go away when the Apple comes because we have and
will be unveiling art that is all Apple focused and

(25:01):
Apple center. So if you want to see that exhibit,
don't wait.

Speaker 2 (25:06):
Right you guys heard it here first. Karen Lonnie, thank
you both for coming through, Sprinklers, Thank you for having
us goodness so much. And I know as the year
goes on, there's going to be more and more announcements
and know I expect you guys are going to be
super busy. It's going to be hard to snatch you
out of reality. But I would love for you all our.

Speaker 4 (25:28):
Big next March twenty first, it's called Bite Dyte, So
hopefully you can join us.

Speaker 2 (25:37):
Yes, and you all are more than welcome back on
the program whenever you want to come through, and you know,
share some announcements with us. We love sharing it with
our audience.

Speaker 1 (25:49):
Thank you again, Thank you, and.

Speaker 2 (25:52):
I appreciate each and every one of you all checking
out the show, downloading, listening, streaming, all that good stuff.
Keep in mind, anyone to tell you that you can't
do what you want to do, you look them square
in the face, you tell them, don't believe me. Just
watch watch what I do, Watch me make it happen,
Watch me make history. That's what we're doing this for

(26:13):
the history books. Social media is nice, but real life
is so much better. Until next time, you guys,