As part of Reading Museum’s Digital 60 event I was asked to loan my VT101. Some months ago the museum sent a driver to my house to collect it, he wrapped it up very carefully and duly took it away. Sadly this exhibition is about to end, but there will be a new one in 2025.

I thought I would post some pictures of the VT101 on display.

Here is the text of the label they displayed:

DEC built its success on the popular, versatile and
affordable “minicomputer”. The mini performed
computation and data processing but to interact you
needed a terminal like this. It presented characters
on a monitor with instructions relayed to the
computer through the keyboard. Built for different
budgets and needs, DEC’s terminals became an
industry standard that others attempted to copy with
mixed success. A member of DEC’s VT100 family, this
VT101 lacked features such as printer connection,
helping to reduce its purchase price.