Should you find yourself in Moscow anytime soon, you can visit. The museum is open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 4pm to 8pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 6pm. Admission is a very reasonable $7.
To date, there have been over 5,000 visitors, and the whole place is modelled on a modern Apple Store.
“People come here to use the computers,” says Andrey. “You see children and adults playing games, trying out software. You see the adults fondly remembering their childhood. There’s a great atmosphere.”
Andrey himself now uses a 2009 MacBook Pro. “It’s enough for my needs,” he says.
You can see a full gallery of 65 photos from Andrey’s museum over on Flickr. What impressed me as I browsed through the images was how incredibly clean and new-looking all his machines are. This Apple II looks like it’s just come out of its box.
Another thing that struck me was how much the museum resembles a modern Apple Store. The computers are all laid out neatly on desks, switched on, ready to be used. They invite you in, they invite you to come and play. Just like today’s Stores do.
The last thought that went through my head was: wouldn’t it be great if there was something like this closer to Apple’s origins in California? How about it, San Francisco-based Apple collectors?
(Author’s note: I don’t speak Russian, and Andrey doesn’t speak English, so this interview was conducted by email via Google Translate. Please forgive any errors of translation that have occurred as a result.)
Source: Cult of Mac Flickr pool
Thanks: Andrey!
