RICM has been collecting and preserving rare and historically important computer gear since its founding in North Kingstown in 1999. Twenty-six years later, the museum has one of the largest collections of vintage computer equipment in the country, stored in a warehouse at the Quonset Business Park. In 2015 RICM open its first Learning Lab and has space on Bald Hill road in Warwick in a comfortable environment that is conducive to learning. They also partner with communities to provide Pop-up Technology Learning Labs. RICM recently began offering more in person events at the Learning Lab. These include workshops on Raspberry Pi™, an inexpensive yet groundbreaking single board computer, and Arduinos, an open-source electronics platform used in robotics. There is also a Teens Take Apart Night, where various electronic devices can be disassembled, and, for the older crowd, a Retro Vinyl Night where your old songs can be digitized. The museum is supported by donations and suggested donations are whatever you can effort. The RICM Learning Lab also offers hosting for birthday. “We have been able to afford our space for the Learning Lab thanks to a happy set of circumstances,” Mr. Berman said. “Word of our collection got around and the producers of several television series and movies contacted us about renting vintage computer equipment to add realism to their sets. Our pieces have been used in Apple TV’s Severance, Prime's Fallout, AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire, Netflix’s Madmen series, and on the big screen in movies such as Hidden Figures, King Kong’s Skull Island, Knifes out, and Jennifer Lawrence’s movie, Joy. This added revenue stream allowed us to acquire the space for the Learning Lab.”
