The Living Computers museum’s tech collection is set for auction. Retired Microsoft engineer Dave Plummer took a last look and mused on the theme of donor’s remorse.

Plummer, who recently built himself a PDP-11 out of spare parts, noted that, despite the “abundance” of billionaires in the Seattle area who owe a substantial chunk of their fortunes to machines like the ones in the museum, “none of them were sufficiently compelled to become the patron.”