As far as we know, there are only two of them in the world. Not many people will know about Aesthedes 1. This expensive computer was developed in the Netherlands in the 1980s. It has been used, for example, to develop advertising slogans. The founder of the HomeComputerMuseum, Bart van den Acker, in Helmond wanted this. “I want to keep part of the Dutch computer heritage up and running again.”
The museum already has Aesthedes 2 in its collection. It is also a rare computer, as far as we know, there are only 7 computers in the world. Van den Akker has started a crowdfunding campaign to also obtain Aesthedes 1. He now has enough money and is waiting for the computer. “I get it on loan from Amsterdam and I only have to pay the transport costs. But of course I am not allowed to transport it in a truck with blankets. We have to use a private transport company.”
“Photoshop is a toddler using sidewalk chalk compared to Esthides.”
Van den Akker posted information about Aesthedes on the Internet a few years ago. “I said it was like Photoshop,” he says. “I got a response to that, because if you said something wrong, you'd be told right away. An Englishman had worked on it before. He said Photoshop was a little kid using sidewalk chalk, compared to Escydides.”
Big names worked with computers. According to Bart, the Heineken logo and the 25 guilder banknote were designed with it. Volvo worked with it. And Remya. “The guy in England sent me a lot of information. It cost me £300,000 at the time.” The information is very important to Bart. “We don't just collect things, we collect stories.”
“I even went so far as to call Netflix.”
Bart works with his team to operate computers. They've already come a long way with the Aesthedes 2. “It's 99.9 percent working. There's still something wrong with the keyboard.” The museum is in contact with a woman who also worked with him. “She enjoyed going to work every day. Until her company switched to MacIntosh. She quit after a few days. She thought it was a soulless machine.”
The Dutchman Dominique Claesens, who also had a design studio in Eindhoven, developed Aesthedes. “The person I contacted promised in English that the computer would be profitable within a year. This happened only 9 months after a mission from the English army,” says Bart. “It's a very interesting story actually. I even went so far as to approach Netflix to turn it into a movie. But that would require money. That wasn't an option.”
“Half of the visitors are international.”
However, Bart hopes to find new attraction with the Estidis family. The museum has no complaints about visitors. “Half of the visitors are international. People in particular are making the trip from Australia and the United States.”
And so the museum slowly became a source of pride for Helmond. “In fact, many Helmond residents don't know that,” Bart says. “You simply don't go to the museum in your city.” Bart invited Bill Gates to attend. “But he's busy fighting diseases a lot these days.” However, Bart hopes to visit Helmond again.
