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Computer History Museum
Category: Arts & Entertainment Museums Museums [Edit]
1401 N Shoreline BlvdMountain View, CA 94043
(650) 810-1010
- Hours:
Wed-Sun 10 am - 5 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
79 reviews for Computer History Museum
Review Highlights
"The Babbage Difference Engine No."
(in 8 reviews)
"The Babbage machine was pretty damn amazing."
(in 19 reviews)
"Do the Highlights tour of visible storage."
(in 7 reviews)
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79 reviews in English
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Review from Ellie F.
12/16/2011
I had so much fun here! I couldn't wait to share many of the cool things I learned, and definitely want to go back to see more. I didn't even get to the game area before I had to leave! Imagine my devastation.
It is a little dry for younger ones, but for teens and up (and the appropriately precocious youngster), it is a wealth of interesting information on computers from primitive accounting tools to current day. For all the techies or tech inspired, I profoundly suggest a visit. -
Review from Julius O.
Berkeley, CA
1/31/2012
Had a great time here last weekend. We were just in time to catch the demo of the Babbage Difference Engine in action. Simply amazing, we'd still be using books of tables if it weren't for Babbage!
The museum starts with slide rules and abacuses, and ends with personal computers, and handheld devices. Throw in some punchcard machines, DEC PDPs, video game consoles, workstations, supercomputers, and Palm Pilots to the mix. My personal favorites were the CRAY, Connection Machine, Alto, Macintosh, Lisa, Apple II, and the NeXT cube. Incredible machines from incredible minds.
I came away with a much deeper appreciation for computers, and how lucky we are to have computers that are affordable, powerful, and portable. I'm still amazed by how large and mechanistic computers used to be, and the very industrial smell they had. I'd be afraid to operate those machines for fear of starting a fire or getting electrocuted!
If you love computers, and are OBSESSED with computers, you need to come here! -
Review from Jay F.
Saratoga, CA
1/16/2012
A geeks paradise, this place certainly lives up to its name. Covering the history of computing back to the abacus, the exhibits are well done, easy to follow, and mostly interesting.
The docent led experience was rather dull in my opinion, so unless you really have a desire to stand around and listen to more detail then your typical sign, I would say skip that and walk around on your own.
Don't miss the Babbage Engine demonstration however, because even though it broke down while I was watching, it was still neat for the 40 seconds it was going. A sight to behold for sure.
Over all if you like computers, this is your mecca. -
Review from Dan M.
Redwood City, CA
2/7/2012
This was really interesting, and kind of nostalgic for me in many ways. I'm definitely coming back with more friends in a few months!
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Review from Matthew P.
2/2/2012
I am a school teacher in Australia and during January 2012 I organised a trip for one of my classes to San Francisco. Being a computing class we couldn't go past the Computer History Museum during our visit. It was great that they provided complementary free tickets for school groups, and our docent-led tour was fantastic (including a demonstration of the Babbage Difference Engine). We organised lunch through the CHM Cafe who were more than happy to provide us with nice toasted sandwiches in individual boxes for our students. After that we headed back into the exhibit for some more self-exploring. Overall, a great afternoon. We'll be back when we visit San Francisco next time!
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Review from Allison A.
Seattle, WA
1/6/2012
This is a nice place, better than expected. Modern and fascinating, and the staff were great. Plenty of parking, not too far away (Mountain View). A nice way to explore the history of Silicon Valley.
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Review from Sean W.
Brooklyn, NY
12/25/2011 1 Check-in Here
The museum is rather small, which is to be expected considering the short span of computer history. Don't miss the demonstration of the Babbage Difference Engine! The museum definitely won't be that interesting if you're not a computer geek, so don't drag your friends and family along if they don't enjoy that kind of stuff.
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Review from Marc S.
San Francisco, CA
12/24/2011
On a visit to the American History Museum at the Smithsonian 10 years ago, I spent a good portion of time in the computer section. This museum is about 100x the coolness of that. I really learned a lot and enjoyed seeing all the artifacts and progressing through the history of technological development. Nice design, great parking lot. I allotted 3 hours and could have used 1 more before they closed. Worth the $15 entry fee.
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Review from Eric S.
San Francisco, CA
11/29/2011 1 Check-in Here
Came here over Thanksgiving Day weekend with my dad for a little father-and-son nerd bonding time. We arrived about noon and after a quick snack in the cafe (quesadillas that were not half bad but were not at all computer related. Note to museum staff: I recommend adding menu items like "Woz Bites" or "PDP-1 Poppers"), we started our self guided tour of the history of computing. Clearly engineers were involved in the planning process as it met my expectations for efficient exhibit flow: single path to follow with good object-to-text ratio. You start at the abacus, work your way through the UNIVAC, past the Cray supercomputers and end at personal computing, mobile, networking and video games. I made the mistake of spending a bit too much time on the early stuff so by the time I got to the final sections (more interesting to someone in their early 30s), I had a bit of museum fatigue. So I'd recommend either moving at a good clip through the beginning sections or plan to spend a leisurely few hours at the museum with perhaps a lunch break in the middle.
We also made sure to catch the talk on the Babbage Difference Engine. It's unclear how much longer this will be at the museum, so definitely see it while you can.
The only disappointing thing for me was the gift shop: it was just your standard nerd trinkets with nothing all that special or interesting. How about some silicon wafter sculpture or an Apple Newton coaster? Despite this, I'd highly recommend a trip to the CHM if you are a big time geek with a few hours to kill. -
Review from Farah S.
12/13/2011
I'm actually not a techie at all. Sure, I use computers, smartphones and ipods in my daily life, but I don't get a high from electronics. That said, I saw some pretty amazing stuff at this museum. Technology has an amazing history and this place presents it in a way that I think many people can understand. It's extraordinary to think how our lives, our culture, our government, our world has been affected by it for soooo long! Very well curated for all types of audiences. I loved the gaming and art exhibit. They had "Speak and Spell" on display! The short documentary on programming was very informative for a computer "dummy" like me. Very friendly staff and volunteers. The museum store is also very fun to peruse through. An enjoyable experience.
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Review from Ann J.
San Jose, CA
1/13/2012
I am a Electrical Engineer and this museum blew my mind. Who would have thought? I was really disappointed with the Intel company museum a few exits down the freeway, but wow, the Computer History Museum was great. I can't wait to bring my dad there.
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Review from christine c.
San Francisco, CA
9/18/2011
Amazing things to see here. Lots of wonderful exhibits and really dense things, but still, it's really big and well-organized. You can skip over sections that might not interest you and head toward something more interactive, like the games- where you can play PacMan and Pong, or you know, look at some of the original 16 and 32-bits and old floppies bigger than your face...
You get the idea.
The space is gorgeous, too. Anyone interested in computers, technology, the history of, etc. should come try this place out. Reasonably priced (I think at $15, too). Really amazing stuff. Truly.
A must see, if you can get down to Mountain View. Plus, it's down the street from Google, so that's always worth a drive-by. -
Review from Craig D.
Pacifica, CA
8/30/2011 2 Check-ins Here
If you are at all interested in computers and technology this is a museum you should visit. It's small enough that you can do it in a few hours, but detailed enough that you really can see a complete view of the course of computer technology.
It starts simple with an abacus, and then scales up to the giant computers of old that were business/government only, and ends in the modern age. Gamers will get a kick out of seeing the video game section (I didn't feel bad that I could identify all of the consoles based on where I first played them) and the robots/toys are interesting too.
It's geeky, but not too geeky. You can do it at your own pace, and it's very family friendly. Given how predominant computers are in our lives, this place is filled with things you should know about even if you currently don't.
I will say that it's not expansive enough to justify a trip out to the area just to visit the museum, but if you are here for any reason, it's worth the stop for sure. -
Review from Todd K.
7/12/2011 1 Check-in Here
I was here for a meeting that took place in one of their upstairs conference rooms. After the meeting, I got to tour the museum. They are located in the old Silicon Graphics building. They are open 10AM-5PM Wed-Sun and the general admission is $15.
I didn't have a lot of time to explore the museum and could have easily spent many hours browsing through all of their exhibits, which are divided by themes not chronological order. The old calculators are amazingly ingenious. While wandering around I felt alternately nostalgic or very old - remembering some of the computers and toys from when I was a kid or seeing the old computers (Cray supercomputer, NeXT, LISA, etc.) that I used as a student.
I will definitely need to come again and take my time going through their entire collection. -
Review from Nikki B.
Lincoln, NE
7/31/2011
So cool! I used an abacus, listened to Don Knuth, and got my picture taken with a piece of ENIAC. I saw robots, punch card sorters, primitive mice, and found my old computer! I just wish I had a turn at Pong on the big screen.
Loved it! -
Review from Ron B.
Cupertino, CA
5/8/2011
This museum has a very impressive collection of early "computers" and machines; everything is displayed nicely along with some facts and demostrations.
My main complaint is that it doesn't explain *how* anything actually *works*! For example, there's a whole section about punch cards - you can see the machines, some puppets putting cards in, some punched-cards, etc. But nowhere does it explain how these cards basically worked. If you want to learn that - you'll have to do what I did and read about it on Wikipedia later on...
Same thing with vacuum tubes... I heard about these things many times before, but didn't really understand how they worked compared to modern-day computers (I do understand how modern-day computers basically work). I was dissappointed that this museum did not help me understand any of these very basic things.
I also thought that the price was too high: $15/person seems steep for what you get. A $5 or $7 fee seems more appropriate for this kind of place.
For me, the most interesting section was the one showing very early forms of calculators. The Babbage Difference Machine was also very very cool.
Overall, worth a visit, but don't expect to learn much about how stuff works. -
Review from James H.
Redwood City, CA
Having visited the museum a few years ago before they renovated, it's pretty amazing how much it's transformed (for the better)!
The exhibits are super informative, and cover literally centuries of everything from the abacus, to calculators, to video games, the web, programming languages, supercomputers, and more. If you're interested in technology in any capacity, you'll learn some neat stuff here. And the museum's been upgraded to include at least a couple hours worth of video material in total sprinkled across different stations, along with some interactive displays thrown in throughout.
One tip - if you don't have much time to spend there, plan ahead by picking out the areas that most interest you and head there first. Otherwise it's easy to lose track of time - we went there intending to kill about 90 minutes and ended up staying over an hour longer. And we only left because they were closing for the day! -
Review from Kenny P.
5/12/2011
I went here a couple weeks ago for a private Motorola Mobility event where they showcased their newest product lines and had a keynote speech given by the VP of Product Management about how the company has changed and grown over the years and what they plan to do next. At the forefront of the product demos were the Atrix 4G and the Xoom. They had appetizers and refreshments available and as always some were better than others.
The Motorola Xoom I had used once before, and I was again disappointed with the low touch sensitivity of the on screen buttons and screen glare. Not sure if this can be adjusted but since they were first to market on this Honeycomb based tablet, there may be some issues to work out. I'm still looking forward to the release of the Samsung 8.9 Galaxy Tab, as it maybe a better tablet.
I'd have to say that the Museum had a modern atmosphere that fit the event well, too bad I didn't have a chance to actually see much of the Museum exhibits are they seemed mostly closed at the time. I should come back here if I'm in the area and actually go through the exhibit experience. Then I can actually write a review about the Museum itself and not the Motorola event. -
Review from Ashley A.
San Francisco, CA
5/27/2011
My husband is a techie programming geek and I love him, so I brought him here one weekend as a surprise. We planned to spend a few hours and ended up having to be shooed out as they closed!
It's a good museum. The admission isn't really reasonable if you're not into this sort of thing- we paid about $25 for his "geek package" including pin and T shirt (zeros and ones, he loves it) and $10 for me just to go in. We had a great afternoon walking around, this stuff is really interesting if you care about computer science and/or modern history.
Bottom line, if you're a geek go early, spend the whole day, you will love it! If you're not a geek (or love one), don't even think about it! -
Review from Elena E.
Mountain View, CA
3/21/2011
After living a mile from it for over 5 years, this weekend I finally went to the Computer History Museum (thanks to a CouchSurfing visitor - one more reason to love CouchSurfing).
And it was simply *fantastic*. I got shivers over and over as I was moving through the exhibits.
I must admit I am a computer geek, but I think this will be fascinating to pretty much anyone. There were quite a few kids there and they were watching and listening with eyes wide open. We spent almost three hours there, and could have easily stayed longer, time permitting.
The layout was good, the "artifacts" were well arranged and explained, the visuals (lots of interactive displays, screens with looping videos, magnifying glasses for better views of the small items (you can imagine they have quite a few of those in the more recent section)) were diverse and interesting.
Make sure to take one of their free tours - they last about 40 minutes and I was skeptical at first, since ours started a bit slow, but at the end I wished it could have been twice as long. You'll learn things not written on any of the story panels and it's a good way to get introduced to the museum so you can explore more efficiently on your own later.
Also, there was a chess-related exhibit that you could visit for free without paying for museum admission, but we didn't make it there. Next time.
I've added this museum to my "must take visiting friends here" list and I hope to return many times. -
Review from kathryn b.
Mountain View, CA
2/23/2011
Wow! What a change! I went to the museum about a year ago. It was cool back then, but it's amazing now.
The museum is divided into about 15 sections. Here are a few that I remember: AI and robotics, early calculators, video games, early computers, communication. Each section has an abundance of devices to view and read about. There are also many videos. You could spend hours at the museum watching all the videos and reading all the information! My husband and I spent 2 hours here, and a friend of mine spent 7!!
One thing that makes this museum great is that is has pretty much every major device in the history of computer, gaming, and robotics. You're bound to find a device that you remember from years gone by, whether you're 20 years old or 60. I was happy to find the Commodore 64. :) Brought back some fond memories.
One thing to note: the museum used to be free. This has changed: it costs $15 per adult now. You can also buy a $25 dollar ticket that comes with a t-shirt and pin with CHM spelled in binary. -
Review from Jenna G.
Santa Clara, CA
5/19/2011
Top of the line new Revolution exhibit. You can spend days, and I do mean days, in here. They have something for everyone. Like to learn by watching video? They have it. Like to learn the tradition museum way with the plaques? They have it. Like hands-on learning? It's here. Great for the whole family.
My boyfriend is the one who likes tech stuff, but I liked the stories about the scientists and inventors. You get to know who they were as people, and I found it fascinating. -
Review from Amy C.
1/13/2011
Attended the grand opening today, and was very impressed. The displays were very informative, but not overly technical to the point that only in-industry people could understand it. Classic video games like Pong and Adventure were available. I'm absolutely lousy at Pong, and lost about a dozen times in a row. But that's okay, no one was waiting. Though I'd imagine that under more crowded conditions, say once people really start showing up like they should, it'd be hard to get a turn.
My one difficulty was figuring out the order of the exhibits; without arrows on the ground or anything directional to guide me to the next chronological exhibit, I got a little turned around. Granted, my sense of direction is weak at best. For $12 admission, this is absolutely worth a visit. Probably not a great place for kids, unless they're geniuses or savants or something, but I believe they get in for free.
Side note: the walls have code in varying languages hanging from the ceilings, and since I certainly programmed in the years long after Prolog and Pascal, I had a lot of fun trying to decipher it. They also have a display that shows the evolution of programming languages. My dad used punch cards back in the day. I definitely have to bring him here. So I guess there's some technical stuff, so it's good for everyone.
Sorry. Is my nerd showing? -
Review from Nancy C.
Los Altos, CA
2/22/2011
Haven't been to the newest exhibit yet, but I have dropped in in the past before and found it to be pretty neat.
This review is for a small, private gathering we had here. It was great, organized, everything went off without a hitch, and all were impressed by the museum they've lived so close to yet never had the chance to see! I think everyone will be back to visit the exhibit sometime soon. -
Review from Dan A.
Los Altos, CA
8/31/2011
Really enjoyed my visit here. Brought some other techies from out of town. Made me very nostalgic and had a few flashbacks to childhood when viewing the Atari games and other exhibits from 70's and 80's. Unfortunately, it needs a bit more thought put into the organization and flow (IMHO), but incredible collection!
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Review from R J.
San Jose, CA
8/19/2011 1 Check-in Here
This was a fun museum! I'm glad I had the chance to go. It is great for families as well and saw lots of couples with children there. They also have a cafe with nice menu for lunch. It took us about 2-3 hours to fully cover all the exhibits. There is plenty of free parking as well.
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Review from Harry S.
Sunnyvale, CA
1/18/2011 1 Check-in Here
Amazing!
Coming here was a few years in the making. It seems that every time we had an opportunity to go, it was either closed or being remodeled. This last weekend, however, we were fortunate to attend their recent "R|evolution" renovation.
Nothing short of mind-blowing. For a nerd, this was a perfect trip. -
Review from L N.
Spangle, WA
7/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
A fun place to visit. Lots of old technology.
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Review from tinna h.
8/6/2008
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.]Listed in: Yelp-Related, "YES" List
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Review from Flor D.
8/8/2008 1 Check-in Here
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. -
Review from Candice T.
San Jose, CA
5/16/2008
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. -
Review from Judi S.
8/27/2009
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. -
Review from Robin K.
Hayward, CA
7/21/2009 1 photo
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. :)Listed in: Feelin' Nerdy?
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Review from Random J.
San Francisco, CA
10/2/2007
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. -
Review from Amy L.
San Francisco, CA
11/8/2006 7 photos
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 -
Review from Aspasia s.
San Francisco, CA
3/10/2009
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.Listed in: food for the intellect
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Review from Laurie H.
San Jose, CA
8/16/2008
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. -
Review from James G.
Foster City, CA
8/6/2008
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! -
Review from Jeff K.
Mountain View, CA
2/24/2008
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. -
Review from Mona W.
11/9/2009
This museum is a must see if you are into technology or computer. Even if you are not, it is still worth visiting at least once.
I had a very interesting experience here. Our company held annual event at the museum. Me and date were there early and after a couple of drinks we decided to go for a walk and check out all those exhibits. We ran into the curator of the museum. He was such a charming guy and was so enthusiastic to give us a private tour of the museum. We chatted for almost 3 hours. Time flies when you are having a good time. At the end, I missed the ENTIRE company party. I didn't get to socialize with any of my coworkers or sample any of the food. Oh well....
Could you imagine what the world would be like if the transistor that store just 1 bit is as big as a queen size bed? After that tour I really appreciate how much the technology had advanced. I even feel like I really contributed to the world as an engineer. It makes me really proud of what I do. =)Listed in: Culture Vultures
