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Computer History Museum
Rating Details »
1401 N Shoreline Blvd
Mountain View, CA 94043
(650) 810-1010
Mountain View, CA 94043
(650) 810-1010
- Hours:
Wed-Fri. 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
41 reviews for Computer History Museum
This business is a Yelp Sponsor
8/30/2009
8/27/2009
7/21/2009
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10/3/2009
7/27/2009
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11/2/2006
One of Computer History Museum's Favorite Reviews What's This?
I seldom love museums enough to say the following:
I had a nergasm. Hell, I had multiples. I loved it so much I wanted a cigarette afterward...and I don't even smoke.
But that's what you do after you've gotten your geek on and your mind blown by all the wonderful old (and new) technology that's here. Hundreds of devices--thousands perhaps--all lovingly arranged and coordinated in a timeline approach. It's like a Smithsonian of old clunkers that've seen better days. They still inspire a sense of wonder, even as I realize my laptop's processor is capable of more Gigaflops than 90% of the computers displayed.
Sure, there could be more educational material for kids on what makes up computers...what is a transistor...what is parallel processing...is there a difference between SDSL and DSL? For those answers, little Johnny, go to the Tech Museum. This isn't really a museum for 10 year-olds. It is, however, a museum for all those who love devices and seeing just how far computing has progressed.
The Computer History Museum is an amazing historical journey told though the engineered relics left in the wake of technological advances over time. If you ever cracked open a computer case in your life, this place should be on your must see list.
It will take a good two hours to go through the visible storage room... "the digital graveyard". The Babbage Difference Engine No. 2, which is what you see as you walk in the doors off to the right, is an amazing piece of mechanical engineering. They also have an exhibit entitled "Innovation in the Valley" which highlights some of the pioneers of hardware, software, and computer language which were specific to Silicon Valley. Fun for the kids comes in the form of "Mastering the Game" of chess with a computer and a motion sensitive movie mini theater called " The Silicon Engine"
Free admission and easy parking.
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The Babbage machine was pretty damn amazing. The Computer Museum holds one, of only two, machines in the world. It's pure effin' genuis that Charles Babbage, constructed this in his mind. Truly Brilliant.
It was a trip down memory lane, in the "artifacts" section. I still have the Atari system, Commodore, PS1, and O.G. Nintendo System, included in the Visual Display.
Some of the items I saw, I would still buy, if they were still on the market. For example, the "Kitchen Computer". It can print recipes, and also be used as a chopping board, all in one sleek package. Domestic Bliss.
Old pictures of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak making the first Apple One are geek-tastic. Comparing the differences between the first disk drives and ethernet cords to the present models is dork-a-larious.
All in all, the Computer History Museum can be enjoyed by everyone, from nerds to jocks and, dare I say, even cheerleaders. :)
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A unique museum. It was informative for me even though I'm not a techie.
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The Computer History Museum - Free
Parking lot outside - Free
Seeing the gigantic smile on Jason S.'s face the entire time we were time-traveling at the museum - Priceless
J puts up with my hobby of eating and lucky me, I am more than happy to accompany him to this candy store of his. I love computers and technology (even though I know nothing about it). It boggles the mind what engineers and computer scientists have come up with over the years. How amazing is the revolution of technology and how things keep getting smaller and faster?
This museum celebrates the progress that defines the modern life with computers.
Did you see Steve Job's first Apple computer? Hand-made with wood!
What about the first mouse (it has three buttons)?!
You'll be amazed by the precision and patience people had back in the day to wire these circuit boards.
I love computer geeks (okay okay, just one) for their ingenuity and creativity. Next time you see one wandering around - thank them for who they are and tell them that they are cool...because they truly are.
Everyone who uses the internet or a computer should definitely check this place out. Even if you only have half an hour, you can do this place justice - because it's not overwhelmingly big and best of all, it's FREE!
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Neat seeing all the different types of computers...make sure you take one of the tours so that it makes it more interactive/interesting (particularly if you are not totally into computers or technology stuff). Some people could probably spend just 15 minutes here and others the whole day, depends upon your computer geekness level.
Great fun! Wonderful volunteers - they made it great for me, an ignorant tech-illiterate. Great to wander around the visual storage, I learned quite a bit - very helpful and prolific signage. The highlight was of course the Babbage - we were lucky enough to catch a demonstration - it is truly beautiful to watch. I got a kick out of the Cray supercomputers, too - having read Jurassic Park a few too many times, it was nice to see - although I must have missed the Hood gene sequencers? Hmm..oh, and "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiago" was a nice nostalgia kick. Lots of comfortable chairs in the lobby and Chess areas, fantastic bathrooms (the water fountain is hidden, but it's there).
Loved to be able to take pictures, unrestricted. Free museum (donations of course accepted). Gift store is a bit thin, so don't bank on it too much - I got a few postcards and lusted over the abacus (abaci?) - but mainly seemed to be Discovery Store stuff - fun, but not much to choose from. But that's not why to go! Go see the Babbage!!
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This is the place to go if you're into high-tech and you want some serious nostalgia waves. Everything from the original Apple I to an Atari 2600 dev station, a piece of ENIAC and even Babbage's Difference Engines No. 1 and 2. There are many, many other pieces of computer history here, some key software from history on display and at the time of our visit, they had a section dedicated to chess technology and how Kasparov and Big Blue squared off.
There's even a hard drive the size of a bicycle wheel, as well as several CRAY machines and some of the earliest Intel processors (kind of funny how much we paid for that 386DX back in the day!). The staff is exceptionally educated in their subject matter, as noted before, and they give friendly tours for the museum and they have many stories to tell, from the early abacus all the way to the tube computer and their use in wartime, and technology beyond.
As for the Babbage's DE No. 2, if you want to want to see a thing of beauty in motion, you need to visit!
Ok, I'm definitely NOT a tech. geek, but found this place pretty interesting. Want to hear something funny? The PS1 and Nintendo were both included in the Visual Storage display! How weird is that? Are they so ancient to be placed in a museum? (makes me feel old) lol. Also, the Speak and Spell. Do you all remember that? Well, if you're a techy fan, this place might be a place for YOU! It's kinda cool to see how far we've come in the techy world. What you'll see..a huge laser printer, ancient sci calculators & computers, robotic arms, robots, etc., oh, and the best part crazy/smart engineers arguing about how the babbage engine actually worked! What the heck is the babbage engine?! jk..
http://www.computerhis... -- see for yourself. : )
I am in geek ecstasy: in paradiso. A kindred spirited girlfriend and I met at the Computer History Museum to attend an interview by Cisco's upper mgmt, Kathy Hill, in conversation with Bob Metcalfe, the father of the Ethernet.
While waiting for my friend, I was immediately amused by the very large Babbage Difference Engine, one of only two that exists in the world. The other machine is currently in London, Babbage's hometown. The machine was conceived by Babbage, although its completion occurred posthumously. It is a work of extremely intricate mechanical genius designed as a mechanical calculator to compute polynomial functions. A couple of retired mathematicians lectured on the features of the machine and provided us with a demonstration of how it calculated a simple polynomial equation. The output was a printout generated at the opposite end on a delicate paper-like medium.
To say the lecture was stimulating, is an understatement. It was inspiring to listen to Metcalfe's story on the history of Ethernet invention at Xerox Parc, and the resulting technologies that evolved after the adoption. It was as if I strolled down memory lane of the last two decades working in networking and server infrastructure as he talked about the old school gadgets such as token ring, coaxial cables, repeaters, terminators and vendors such as Ungerman Bass, 3Com (company he founded) and the IBM PC revolution. My girlfriend (who was my most favorite manager back in 1995 while at the Xterminal company, NCD) and I simultaneously whispered, memories of the technology past!
Metcalfe is in his early 60s yet he maintains that twinkle in his eye, the passion and drive that excites technologists, engineers and scientists to tinker and push the limits, just because. Yet, he also carries a very pragmatic and practical demeanor that demonstrates his tenacious business acumen and his pride to work and enjoy the monetary rewards. Today he is a Venture Capitalist.
The best moment of the evening was the fact that my friend encouraged me to add his signature into my notebook collection of "intellectual" autographs. I was shy, and she was so generous to walk past the crowd of the Silicon Valley elite to ask him for an autograph. He stared at us in a vexed manner, after all, no one was asking for autographs! He obliged us. My heart was racing and just like a smitten rock star fan, I sincerely thanked him in my very fan-like demeanor. His face warmed up and gave us a big smile, although I'm sure he was left in a puzzled state.
The structure was an old SGI building. You can tell by the fun wall colors and very modern look that it was once home to the hippest workstation company of the 1990s.
I will be back to see the historical storage devices on display. Tonight's lecture and Babbage machine showcase was enough for this intellectual groupie to feel satisfied and content. I'm looking forward to my next visit, and looking forward to more lectures and book signing by the giants, whose shoulders we stand upon.
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So many have pointed out this museum to me. My attitude was, "I've worked in the SV since 92'. Did time at HP and Intel..I've seen it all". cRiSsY really must pull it out at times:) Took the lil Diva to this museum over the weekend. Praying she would be interested for at least an hour!
Yess folks we will be going back when have more time. I can't explain all the amazing exhibits. Believe the Babbage Engine 2. will only be there for the quarter, so hurry and get out to see the man, the story behind that amazing piece of hardware.
Ok walking into what seemed like a set up of exhibits at a large conference.. entrance... Monitors galore... probably not every but most ever known to man. Some of the computers were definitely amazing to see.
Computers and huge mondo back up hardware used to see at my Uncle's company when a kid.
Remember when COBOL first hit the circa... many original software, names, games.. you name it. Circuitry, chips.... some bike thing with a monitor on it.
Thing on of my favorites was a huge computerized contraption believed built for the aeronautics field in the 50's or 60's. Folks also remember wayyyy back in the day when smoking in the office was acceptable. Hmmmm check this contraption out as it also to the lower left of the round monitor is a cigarette lighter (just like in your car) and a built in ashtray.
There is a gift store with some new gadgets, mugs, pens, clothes.. the usual. And of course books on or written by every pioneer known to laying the foundation of the 'Silicon Valley'.
Wish could talk more eloquently of everything we saw, but I've always been the Admin, never the Engineer:) Check the pics I'll post. Great place to spend an hour or two... The five year old enjoyed herself, and tadaaaa. There is no entry fee. However there is a donation box at the entrance of the building.
Check it out folks!!
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Really fun day trip for tech geeks. : )
They even have a vintage Enigma machine from WWII on display!!!
Rather than reviewing the event attended [http://www.yelp.com/bi...], I'd very much rather review the museum as it was not only the perfect venue for a gathering to celebrate my love of all things geeky, but it has inspired a change in my life. From this point forward, I have added a new requirement for future boyfriend[s]: Must be able to appreciate the Computer History Museum. Take note!
The lower level features an awesome room called "Visible Storage," where you'll find unique artifacts, from mechanical calculators and old school keyboards to the vintage PCs, historical firsts and exotic supercomputers. One of the docents pointed out the Honeywell 316 [http://en.wikipedia.or...], a $10K computer to assist housewives of the late 60s in the kitchen, assuming that they took a course to read binary. Very amusing.
This room is also where you will find the PDP-1 [Programmed Data Processor-1] Restoration Project. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.or.... Got to meet Peter Samson [http://en.wikipedia.or...] too - nifty!
I didn't look closely at everything. I must return. Most likely, a weekend since their hours during the weekdays aren't very long. There is a lot to see and the hour or so spent looking around was not enough. The next time, I will definitely take a docent-led tour. Lots of nifty info for a computer geek and non-geeks [me!] alike!
Best of all, it's FREE! *shock* [Donations welcome, of course! I became a member.]
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If only the US robot were as cool as the one from Japan...
The Japan twins reminded me of Wall-e and R2D2.
Sigh...I digress.
Where else can I visit
to take a step back in time
to see history on the industry that has revolutionized us ALL?
The Computer History Museum completely ROCKS!
Ranging from old school calculators, big massive computers, and the first APPLE PC, this place is worth your time...and heck...even a donation!
Volunteers are knowledgeable, and staff is always friendly. Love the outdoor area, and ease of parking. Bring out the inner geek in you...visit this museum....seriously.
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My love with all things gadget dates back when I was a kid in grade school learning the sing song on running the abacus. The sound of calculation!?!
The museum is huge. I only manage to take a sneak peek on some of their exhibits and I was already getting goose bums all over. These artifacts stand as witness of the great strides of modern technology. I take a look at my iPhone resting in my palm, the computational power that I hold suffice the sum of machines that takes up a football field!
If you are like me who appreciates the humor such as "There are only 10 kinds of people, those who understand binary, and those who don't," and would take pride of explaining /(bb|[^b]{2}/ is just a geeky way of saying "to be or not to be," then this is the place for you.
I'll have to come back someday and tour the whole exhibit!
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Major Props to Yelp for turning ME on to this incredible place!!
This coming from a guy that had a front row seat in the 1970's thru today with the 1980's and 1990's spent in the hard disk media development and manufacturing business . . . as it is true, I personally built the very first automated disk coating manufacturing systems between 1982 and 1986 - with the very first sputtered perpendicular media ever made coming out of these machines.
Now the Museum is interested in that box of disk platters from my garage that I saved from the R&D days in the early 1980's when we were developing the first hard disk storage platters made by sputtering perpendicular films directly on aluminum substrates . . . if you could explain that, then you ARE geekier than I thought . . .
This place is simply enormous, and I will be back probably many times . . . to see more of what I passed by or used in the way of computing hardware over the past 38 years . . .
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Geek History Heaven and a Trip Down Work Memory Lane
A visit to the computer history museum was personally special for me as the building it's housed in used to be Silicon Graphics old building #20 where I worked for like five years. So much of the building is exactly the same, from the lobby to the chairs and break room area to the purple cubicle walls they use to display a lot of the computer collection here. Sigh. . .what great memories.
Staff was very informative and really knows their stuff, ask questions and you can really get a lot of information about the pieces you are looking at. Loved seeing the Little Professor Calculator (I had one of those!) and the first supercomputer CRAY-1. I would recommend this place to bring your relatives from Maine, it's much cooler than just fisherman's wharf. As the museum is growing, it's currently Free so stop by check out the super cool geek history and leave a donation cause it's a hidden gem worth supporting.
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this place is sooooo awesome!!!!!!
it's enough to drive a geek girl crazy! I was lucky to find myself there on May 10th, for the lecture/unveiling of the Babbage Difference Engine No. 2. Babbage brought to life for the first(?) time. i love this stuff!
i highly encourage everyone to go, even if you aren't old enough to remember atari or realize the significance of punch card machines.
very knowledgeable docents and curators. check out the website for events!
and can we say "free?" how effing awesome is "free?" THIS awesome.
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I'm a geek. I liked this place...
I visited this place in 2004 for our company Christmas party. We're a tech company so the venue fit. As the saying goes, "If the shoe fits, wear it..."
I''m looking forward to another good time for the 1st Annual Yelp Summer Bash (see: http://www.yelp.com/re... ) . look for an updated review...
Elites are treated to Whiskey Tasting! Yay!
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I've passed this place a million times, on my way to see a movie right across the street. But I never had the pleasure of going inside. Not until Yelp decided to hold it's summer bash here. We didn't stay at the event very long, but we did manage to pick up an informational postcard with the museum hours.
Since it was open the next day, my sister and I decided to take two of the kids here. There were less people, and Steve was really helpful in showing us where and what everything was. We made the mistake of bringing our three-year-old nephew, so I didn't really get to enjoy myself because I was holding him the entire time. But my sister and her daughter were able to soak in all the exhibits. And they walked out with tons of posters. It was a fun experience and everyone visiting the Silicon Valley needs to visit this place!
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I never knew there was such a thing as a Computer History Museum until the Yelp event. That is very cool that there is one; we are in Silicon Valley after all.
I'm not a techy person; infact my techiness goes only as far as using technology at a basic level but I have very little clue about gigabytes, hardware or software or rebooting and stuff. I ask people about these things.
The museum is pretty cool though. I didnt get to take a look at all their displays but what I saw were very interesting. They have this big machine in the front that was suppose to be like really old school calculator. It was probably as big as an SUV. Lots of computer pieces in the main display room (if thats what you call that). Its interesting to see how technology has evolved.
People of technology background will really enjoy this place and I think this would be a great place to take people on their business trips.
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We went here for the first time on Sat 11/1/08 on a rainy day. It was nice to spend a few hours in here.
Things to do at the Computer History Museum: get FREE ticket to PDP-1 Demo at front desk.
1. Do the Highlights tour of visible storage. We had Jim Manley, Sr. docent and he was very knowledgeable about the 8 different items he talked about. It was more interesting on the tour, then when we just walked around by ourselves earlier. The tour was longer than the 30 min that was stated, because he had lots of info to share.
2. Next see the Babbage demo. Charles Babbage Difference Engine #2 designed in the 19th century it's only 1 of 2 ever built. It's hand-cranked and really works to get the right numbers. It got stuck a few times when we saw the 2nd demo - oh well. Still very cool. I liked the back side better with the cool designs.
3rd thing to see: PDP-1 Demo. It's really, really, old computers. Two guys worked on it at MIT and now they are retired and back to show it at this museum. They switched it on, Peter (can't remember the last name) programmed it to play classical music, the other guy made a program like a space game. Very cool. Supposedly you need a free ticket (get at main desk at front) to see it since the room is small, though they didn't collect our tickets.
There's a small Museum Store. Had books, mugs, postcards, caps, shirts, some toys, etc.
Recommended if for everyone to visit, best that it's FREE.
Hrs:
W, Th, Fri, Sun 12-4
Sat 11a-5
Closed Mon & Tues.
I've wanted to go here for a while, but never got around to it...until I went here for the Yelp Summer Bash (which was awesome!). I took some time to check out the exhibits before mingling with people. I'm a self-proclaimed geek, so I enjoyed everything, even though much of it was WAY before my time!
It's AMAZING how fast technology changes in just several years, much less decades. I got to see a little tour of this PDP (I think that's what it's called) and saw the first videogame...a game of space invaders/asteroids. The tour guides let some people try playing it, and it was hilarious because they'd cheer "YEAAAAHHHH!!!!" whenever they hit an asteroid and blew it up. "Looks like we've got some gamers here...did people in the 60s make the same sounds when they won?"
Other things of interest were the history of Apple and Steve Jobs, and slide rules. I don't even know what slide rules are...-_-
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I started out in the computer science industry and even though I am far from the newest technological standards in software and hardware(its been 5 years) but I am always fascinated by the future. And anyone that wants to learn of the future....has to learn the past.
Great staff of bright young volunteers and some older volunteers that are bright too. I've been here once but I'm thinking I'll try to go every year.
We originally had the Boston Computer Museum (originally started at DEC) in Boston. Though the Boston-based museum no longer exists, the equipment was moved over to the west coast to what is now the Computer History Museum.
The Computer History Museum has a great collection of computing history from the abacus until today. The current space (formerly an old SGI building) is spacious and provides room for growth and managing the collections.
Check the website for available times for the free tours. They've been restoring old hardware such as the DEC PDP-1 and IBM 1401. Though you can wander the Visible Storage exhibit by yourself, the docent lead tours are interesting and worth experiencing.
The space can also be used for meetings and large events. It's a great place to host an event.
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What did I want to do on my birthday? Well, I must admit that I wanted to visit the Computer History Museum. Little did I know that I was a cheap date. Admission to the museum is free, so it only cost me the price of fuel.
We just happened to visit on the 3rd Saturday of the month, which meant that we got to see the demonstration of the PDP-1 (http://en.wikipedia.or... ) which was hosted by Peter Samson ( http://www.computerhis... ) and (I believe) Lyle Bickely photo: ( http://www.computerhis...). I had a great time learning about the machine and also getting a chance to play the first video game, Spacewar! ( http://en.wikipedia.or...! ).
At the moment, the museum also has the Charles Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2, where they give a demonstration on how it works. Unfortunately, this machine is on loan and will be leaving the museum to reside elsewhere (if I heard right).
The Visible Storage area was interesting, but I has trouble with the continuity of the exhibit. The layout was a bit off. It was difficult to see the evolution. I was told that taking the guided tour was needed, but because of the time we went, it just was not possible. I think that they need to rearrange this exhibit so that one can take a self guided tour.
-1 star for the layout
+1 star for the PDP-1
+1 star for the Babbage Engine
3 star baseline
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Before deciding to visit this museum, rank yourself on a scale of geekdom from 1 to 10.
If your initial reaction is, "Do you mean binary or base-10?" then this is the place for you.
As a museum, it's still evolving and that's somewhat fascinating in and of itself. Thanks to the fall of SGI as a computing superpower, the non-profit that operates the Computer History Museum was able to purchase a beautiful building that SGI used exclusively for wooing clients (ah, to be in 1997 again...). Needless to say, once SGI no longer had anything meaningful to sell to clients, they ditched the smoke and mirrors, and the Computer History Museum and the rest of us in the Bay Area can reap the benefits. As far as I can tell, they kept everything in the building including the color scheme. It's surely no accident that the museum seems to be built around the color purple, and even the "visible storage" exhibit is built using old cubicle walls. That's the kind of DIY spirit that I'm proud to say still seems to be around today, and is especially evident in the exhibits at the museum.
They have a couple of bona-fide exhibits, which they're testing the waters on; but the real meat is the "visible storage" a.k.a. "the coolest garage ever". It's loosely organized chronologically and by topic, and has actual specimens from the history of computing from the 1600s to today (go abacus!). If you're a techie you'll no doubt be at once astounded and dismayed that several things you have boxed up in your closet are on display as part of the "history of computing". Atari 800 anyone? Wow, I'm old.
But not as old as some of the computers on display. For certain the best parts of the museum are the ginormous 50's and 60's era computers that are about 1000 times the size of my Palm pilot but had probably 1000'th the computing power. When you see the care that was put into a lot of the older machines' design you soon realize that Steve Jobs was not the first to marry form with function. Be sure to see the "Johnniac", which is part computer, part 60's art-deco piece, and the old military defense computer that's fitted with a cigarette lighter and ashtray built into the console.
Word of caution - leave the computer-phobes at home and geek out on your own. I easily, easily, easily spent the full 3 hours that they were open on a Sunday looking at everything. They have a few impromptu tours that just go through and give back-story to the equipment in the big "visible storage" center, and then there's currently an exhibit on computer chess, bay area innovations, and the gigantic room of historical stuff to dive into. The museum and its collection are at one time amusing, sobering and inspiring.
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Walking into here is like walking into a candy shop...well aside from the fact you can't really touch anything. They have some of the rarest computing equipment ever. A PDP-1, punchcard readers, an Enigma cypher (yes, the ones used in WWII), an Atari 2600 prototype, the Palm Pilot prototype, Google's first production server, and so much more. If you are even the slightest bit interested in the history of where computing has come from this is just an amazing collection. And if you get tired of walking around, have a seat on a Cray-1 computer. Yes, a real Cray.
The building itself is the old SGI building, and in a sense that is a piece of computing history itself. Plenty of parking out front and on the side. It is definitely worth seeing, especially if they happen to fire up the PDP-1 to play a game of Spacewar, arguably the first video game ever.
Times visited: 1
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Yes, it's a little geeky. Yes, it has a bunch of stuff that you might find in your garage if you took the time to look through it.
But, it's still a LOT of fun -- particularly for adults. Where else can you see the first, second, third, etc. computers? I got a kick out of seeing the old adding machine I used to play with as a kid.
And there's something reverent and nostalgic about being surrounded by miraculous technological breakthroughs of the past (albeit, now somewhat laughable) while in the heart of silicon valley. This place to me captures the culture and spirit of what silicon valley is all about. I love coming here to think about how the present will soon be added to this museum.
Kudos! Thank you for a wonderful experience.
The calculator has come a long, long way.
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Been here once for a company party and once just for fun. It's great to get a docent-led tour and hear the stories about all the olde-schoole computers if you weren't old enough to remember those days. :D
It also makes you feel old as hell to see your childhood compies in a museum!!
Big collection of computers galore! It's computer history, but it equates a lot to Silicon Valley history as well which is cool and gets me a bit sentimental even. Always knew this was here for years post-SGI, but never made it inside until last night.
Highlights:
- Our history: I'm not a big history buff, but this struck me on a personal note. Having been around the computer industry all my life with my dad working at IBM for 30+ years and my whole career being at tech companies working on websites, it made me proud--proud to have been part of this history. From the old school video games, to the first Apples we had in grade school, to the crazy calculators we had to get in high school, to OS/2, to Mosaic and the first Netscape Navigator to browse the web, we lived this. I just think that is way cool and even cooler that so much happened right here where we live--in the groundbreaking Silicon Valley.
- Staff: knowledgeable and friendly. The guy by the monster calculator machine was happy to explain the contraption in detail and even get it going for us. The lady in the main display room found out my friend (miss new addict Laurie H.) was an ex-SGIer and used to work in the building and proceeded to invite us on a full on backstage tour. She had visit go where her old cube was and everything and take pictures. My friend was full on trippin over the flashbacks going on in her head and it was super cute.
Lowlights (my flip side to highlights):
- I'm not geeky/computer smart enough to fully appreciate it all. :-O
- Seeing all this stuff, made me feel OLD. That crazy hand-drawn arpanet diagram made me think, man, we were around for that time before the internet. Our kids won't even be able to comprehend that--they'll probably look at us like we did at our parents with 8 tracks.
Probably more of a one time visit thing, but I hear they are expanding and I'd love to watch some of my hard core computer friends get excited at the collection.
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For anyone into the history of technology, and how computers started, there might not be a better place in the world than this museum. Having taken a history of computers course in college, it was pretty sweet to see the machines in real life like the Cray supercomputer and the first Apple machines and the Altair.
They also had one of the first server racks that Google used in 1998. It was funny to see how they had the motherboards all crammed together into the rack and out in the open with wires everywhere, which indicated to me how fast they were growing at the time.
The history of chess exhibit on display was very interesting. Learning some of the algorithms and logic used in creating the chess programs such as deep blue was fun and rewarding.
This place is a definite must for any computer buff.
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This place rocks! My husband and I are both into technology and it was amazing to see how far technology has changed rapidly. We really enjoyed the room with the earliest computers, calculators, and the "huge" hard drive! The Atari game console reminded me of my childhood and my husband even recognized an old "Sinclair" he used to own as a kid. It was very informative and can't believe the museum admission was FREE! If you are a computer geek, you will definitely enjoy the experience! Even if you are not, you will still find something neat or interesting in this museum.
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In my family, my wife is the geek, and I'm simply interested in having the computer do what I need. But I love having people tell me interesting stories, and the docent-led tour (conducted by James Manley) of the "Visible Storage" displays kept me in rapt fascination (my wife's description) for over two hours. The stories helped humanize the complicated gizmos on display. Instead of just dead relics, they became the results of efforts to solve important problems (naval navigation, census tabulations), quirky personalities, and corporate and governmental politics --constants in our societies, regardless of the technology.
It amazed me, for example, to learn that in an effort to improve the accuracy of navigation tables, Charles Babbage conceived the first computer (his Analytical Engine) 80 years before the ability to make it existed. Similarly, I was dumbstruck that the Allied powers were able to monitor the encrypted communications of the Germans because of the inspired (and hurried) work of some Polish mathemeticians who just happened to be in the right place after an errant package delivery.
The only criticism I have is that the style of docenting is not well-suited for young children, who require more interactivity and more simplicity. I hope the museum adds children-oriented tours in the future. But this is a museum that gives context to the ultra-civilized society and mind-blowing gadgets that surround us today. If you are a geek, go for the tech. If you like understanding where we came from and why, make sure to get a docent-led tour. In both cases, make sure to donate to the museum on its web site.
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After seeing this place....i thought.....man, we have come a long way. Almost immediately...i remember pong games by atari. My first computer was a Macintosh Plus and i fell in love with the word processing...my dad bought it for me...my first experience with internet stuff was with Prodigy.
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I've been here twice. Both for company parties. Once for Google and another time for Apple. Can I say this place totally rocks? Where else can you find an Apple 1?Where else can you look at old IBMs and be like "Man I remember when DOS was standard." C-colon-backslash and all my love, and honestly what better venue to have a company party for some of the geekiest companies in the valley? I loved wandering around and reading the history. It was fun to hang out and enjoy company perks as well.
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Excelelnt choice for a offsite meeting. They are perfect for the business focused meetings that dont need the "fluff" of hotels. You can also order your food from whoever you like if you are on a limited budget for your meeting. I know that some companies have parties and receptions there as well. Staff is very helpful!
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A very interesting place, and not just for geeks. Walking among the exhibits I recognized many things from my childhood, which kind of made me feel a little old.
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Just went to a conference at this awesome little museum. The meeting spaces and the people who run the place are great, the perfect place for a little tech event -- especially amongst all that memorabilia.
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