Donner 3000
YEAR: late 1950's
ITEM: Analog Computer
COMPANY: Donner Scientific Company
COUNTRY: U.S.A.
IN OUR COLLECTION: Yes
The Model 3000 is exceedingly rare and was probably first offered for sale in the late 1950's. (We have seen a magazine ad for the model 3000 dated 1957 so we know it is at least that old.) It was designed so that it could be a free-standing computer or it could be reconfigured to be rack mounted.
As of 1957 the computer was selling for $1,150.00 which is equivalent to $13,220.00 in 2025.
On October 18, 1958 the Donner 3000 was used for the very first public video game!! Using an oscilloscope with a five-inch screen, William Higinbotham demonstrated "Tennis for Two" where two people could move a ball back and forth across the oscilloscope's screen. An excellent article on this early game can be found at the Heinz Nixdorf Museums' website. (It is in German but your browser should translate it for you.)
Programming was done by patchcords. This means that is you wanted to program the analog computer to solve an equation you had to configure the patchcords in just the right way. And if you then wanted to solve another equation...you had to unplug all the patchcords and reconfigure them. Imagine having to use patchcords instead of your keyboard or mouse or touchpad to enter information into your computer.
History of the Donner Scientific Company
Donner Scientific Company was founded in 1953 in Berkeley, CA by William Rosenberry and was named after Donner Pass. The company moved to Concord, CA in 1954. They began making the Model 30 Analog Computer (a vacuum tube computer) and sold 600 units between 1954 and 1960. Donner Scientific merged with Systron Corp. to become Systron Donner Corp. on March 31, 1960.
Systron Donner is still in existence in the same city. They are called "Systron Donner Interial" and make sensing devices (such as gyroscopes) for all sorts of modern tecnologies such as the Mars Rover (really, they are on Mars!), military helicoptions, UAVs, torpedoes and robots.
Sorry, no images have yet been entered. As we get more volunteers/interns we will be adding these images.
Documents
Documents for this item have not yet been scanned or not yet posted. There are a lot of pages...contact us if you have an immediate need. (Although there are not a lot of "immediate needs" for a 70+ year old computer!)
Exceedingly Rare
We know of five of these computers. There are two at the AnalogMuseum in Germany, one in Long Island Science Center in NY (we think...their website does not mention the computer but see link), one at the Nachrichtenteknic Museum, and the one in our collection.OUR DEFINITIONS OF RARITY
One of a Kind: Only known existing item.
Exceedingly Rare: Only 2 to 10 known to exist.
Very Rare: Only 11 to 25 are known to exist.
Rare: Only 26 to 50 are known to exist.
Difficult: Difficult to find.
Available:Can be commonly be purchased.
Unknown: We cannot make a determination.
(For comparison: Many people consider the Apple-1 computer to be rare. As of 2025 there are 92 confirmed and probable Apple-1 computers.)
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