Indian plans IT museum in Oman

AJSS Raj has collected around 300 items dating back to the 1970s and 80s for his dream project.

An Indian engineer in Oman is planning to set up an IT museum in that country.

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AJSS Raj, who has been living in Oman for over 25 years, has collected around 300 items dating back to the 1970s and the 1980s for his dream project.

According to a report in the Oman Tribune newspaper, the engineer has in his collection a 1970s model photocopier weighing around 70 kg called Nashua, a Sony Betacam professional television camera, a Commodore computer made in the 1980s, a Japanese electric typewriter dating back to the 1970s, a 26-year-old Aiwa music system and a nearly three-decade-old Kodak microfilm reader.

Raj, who now works as a manager in Computer Xpress in Muscat, came to Oman in 1981.

He worked in Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) from 1981 till 1998 during which period he was familiarised, trained and associated with information and communications technology.

"Though I am a qualified electrical and electronics engineer, I developed a keen interest in computers, electronics and communications," he told Oman Tribune.

In his bid to showcase the collection for the future generations, he has spent a good amount of money in buying these items, many of which are not in working condition.

According to the report, Raj also has a collection of around 50 computers, including IBM 286/386 models, which were in use in the early 1980s.

Many of these items have historical significance since these are from the early days of the computer, he told the newspaper.