Computer History Museum Goes High-Tech

The Computer History Museum debuted its updated version last week. Improvements ran to $19 million and included a permanent space for the institution in Mountain View, California. It also included a push to upload the rest of the museum’s collections and exhibits online by March of this year.

The museum focuses on the development of not just computers but computing – including languages, theory and philosophy of computing. The museum has fellows, capturing the most elusive and important material in computing and its ultimate inspiration, the human mind. Fellows include Tim Berners-Lee, Vinton Cerf, Grace Murray Hopper, Steve Wozniak and Linus Torvalds.

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The physical aspects of the museum illustrate, among other things, the miniaturization of computers, from great, barking, basement-filling things to stamp-sized iPods.

Current physical exhibits and events at the museum include the following.

• Revolution: The First 2,000 Years of Computing on “the history of modern computing, everything from the abacus to the smart phone”
• Lecture series that features “(l)eading innovators, industry giants, engineers and scientists (sharing) their personal insights and stories about developments and discoveries that have shaped our world”
• Tours and programs for students and educators

Current online exhibits include the following.

• The Babbage Engine on the 19th century theoretical mechanical precursor to the electronic computer
• Selling the Computer on the history of marketing the devices to business and consumers through brochures
• PDP-1 Restoration on the restoration of a ground-breaking 1959 computer
• Internet History on the major milestones in its development from 1962 to 1992

The move from spare space at Silicon Graphics’ headquarters to the dedicated 120,000 square foot museum has doubled the exhibit space to 25,000 square feet and allowed the opening of both a gift shop and café.

Other sources: New York Times

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