Introduction
Wang Laboratories was a computer company founded in 1951, by Dr. An Wang. Dr. Wang was a Chinese immigrant and a true genius. The company was always headquartered in the Boston area. At its peak in the 1980s, Wang Laboratories had annual revenues of $3 billion and employed over 33,000 people.
The company was directed by An Wang, who was described as an “indispensable leader” and played a personal role in setting business and product strategy until his death in 1990. Under his direction, the company went through several distinct transitions between different product lines, beginning with typesetters, calculators and word processors, then adding computers, copiers and laser printers.
Wang Laboratories filed for bankruptcy protection in August 1992. After emerging from bankruptcy, the company eventually changed its name to Wang Global. Wang Global was acquired by Getronics of The Netherlands in 1999, becoming Getronics North America. After 2008, WANG did no longer exist as a distinct brand or division. We may now assume that there is no WANG equipment in use anymore anywhere in the world. Here are some examples of the logo’s from the famous company.
This is not an official WANG museum, but just a collection of WANG machines that I collected over the years. However, the complete line of the 2200 models are present, but the VS models are missing completely, because these where for commercial use, not for the scientific world.
My name is Jan van de Veen and I live in The Netherlands. Since 2011 I am retired giving me some more time for hobby’s.
Did I ever work for WANG ? No, but I worked with their machines from 1972 up to 1995. My professional carrier was in Agricultural Research and mainly the 2200 computers where used for data collection and data analyses.
I have developed a lot of software on these machines, but from 1995 no longer on WANG equipment anymore, but on a HP 9000 running the Kerridge emulation package KCML under the UNIX operating system.
Almost every machine that you will see, if you continue, is present in the museum. If you would like to visit the museum, it is possible, but, by appointment only !
Are all machines still working ? I am afraid not, as some where made at around 1972 and it is very hard to keep them running.
Moreover I am not a true technician and I do have another hobby that takes a lot of time. I own 2 full-size steam engines that we rally all over Europe in summer time
