Computer History Museum

nutballchamp

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The Computer History Museum just re-opened in Mountain View and I checked it out today. Really cool and a must for anyone into arcade games or computers. It's only minutes away from CA Extreme.

PDP-1.
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Al Alcorn's Pong #1
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Lots of gigantic computers.
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Spent 2.5 hours there and can't wait to go back.
 
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I had been hearing about that place for years... Thought it was already open. I need to go next time in the valley for work. Looks pretty kick ass and right up my alley.
 
Thanks for sharing! I cant believe how big that last one is! I'm sure tyhere are many that filled rooms back in the day but that thing looks cool!! What did that one do, do you know?
 
I've heard about this place for years. Didn't realize that it wasn't previously open. Next time I hit the west coast I'll have to stop by. I always find place like this cool! Maryland as got something similar but not anywhere as tied into it called "The National Electronics Museum". It's cool but nothing compared to that!
 
Here's your room size computer gottifour. Tons of transistor tubes. There were explanations of what all the computers did but I don't remember them all. They had lots of videos and write up's that you could easily spend all day there.
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Lots of cool robots in the AI section.
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The Kitchen Computer.
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Google's first server.
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This was incredible. Charles Babbage designed a mechanical computer in the 1800's but never built it or knew if it would even work. Some engineers built it using his designs and got it working.
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Don't miss this if you're coming out to CA Extreme.
 
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Not sure how long the museum has been open, but it opened for the first time to the public last weekend.

If you're talking about the Computer History Museum I'm thinking you are, it's not in San Jose, it's in Mountain View. It's actually in the old Silicon Graphics headquarters.

http://www.computerhistory.org/

It's been open to the public for a long time. I was there last in the Summer of 2008 and they had the two player Computer Space and a couple Galaxy Games but they weren't behind glass like that, just some railing. That video game display looks new as last time I was there it was just a rack of a few consoles. They're always adding more stuff. The personal robots were all in their own glass cubes when I last visited. Maybe the new video game display just opened or they re-opened to the public after a couple months for schools and organizations only? Nice to see the Babbage difference engine is still there. Are they still giving demonstrations of its operation? The interesting thing about that machine is it was constructed using materials and methods accurate to the time in which Babbage attempted construction, proving that it could have been done.

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Pay no attention to the dork in the middle of the Cray-1.

There's a lot there to check out. They have an Enigma machine, some early prototype mice, an Apple I. You really can burn a few hours there easy.
 
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I never heard of it until I saw it on the news last weekend where they mentioned it just opened to the public. Maybe it was re-modeled as everything seemed new? Yea, it's next to Google and Shoreline Amphitheater.

They said they're having a PDP-1 demo next month which I don't want to miss.



If you're talking about the Computer History Museum I'm thinking you are, it's not in San Jose, it's in Mountain View. It's actually in the old Silicon Graphics headquarters.

http://www.computerhistory.org/

It's been open to the public for a long time. I was there last in the Summer of 2008 and they had the two player Computer Space and a couple Galaxy Games but they weren't behind glass like that, just some railing. That video game display looks new as last time I was there it was just a rack of a few consoles. They're always adding more stuff. The personal robots were all in their own glass cubes when I last visited. Maybe the new video game display just opened or they re-opened to the public after a couple months for schools and organizations only? Nice to see the Babbage difference engine is still there. Are they still giving demonstrations of its operation? The interesting thing about that machine is it was constructed using materials and methods accurate to the time in which Babbage attempted construction, proving that it could have been done.

ComputerMuseum001.jpg


Pay no attention to the dork in the middle of the Cray-1.

There's a lot there to check out. They have an Enigma machine, some early prototype mice, an Apple I. You really can burn a few hours there easy.
 
I never heard of it until I saw it on the news last weekend where they mentioned it just opened to the public. Maybe it was re-modeled as everything seemed new? Yea, it's next to Google and Shoreline Amphitheater.

They said they're having a PDP-1 demo next month which I don't want to miss.

It's very possible they remodeled since a lot of the pictures you posted look like stuff is in new display cases. Before almost everything was either in wall mounted cases or behind pipe railings. I'll have to check out that PDP-1 demo for sure.
 
It's very possible they remodeled since a lot of the pictures you posted look like stuff is in new display cases. Before almost everything was either in wall mounted cases or behind pipe railings. I'll have to check out that PDP-1 demo for sure.

Just did a search and it reopened last week after a $19 Million 2 year renovation.
 
Wow, that looks like an amazing museum! The layout/exhibits looks very sleek and modern. Seems like they have a bunch of really cool stuff as well. My favorite piece (from your pictures at least) is the original prototype PONG. Just too cool!
 
I visited a few years ago when they first opened the Babbage exhibit. They had an engineer on hand to hand crank and operate the difference engine. It was really amazing. The rest of the museum was also truly incredible.
 
Very jealous - I was just in the bay area for a week on a project. Next time I'm definitely carving out a day for this. I'm guessing this is the place:

Computer History Museum
1401 N. Shoreline Blvd.
Mountain View, CA
http://www.computerhistory.org

Thanks for sharing the pics. I did at least get to cruise by the old Atari Inc. addresses and Cisco campus (down the street) while I was in the area.

Pete
 
Very jealous - I was just in the bay area for a week on a project. Next time I'm definitely carving out a day for this. I'm guessing this is the place:

Computer History Museum
1401 N. Shoreline Blvd.
Mountain View, CA
http://www.computerhistory.org

Thanks for sharing the pics. I did at least get to cruise by the old Atari Inc. addresses and Cisco campus (down the street) while I was in the area.

Pete

Hard to miss the Cisco campus.... Seems like the take up 10% of the valley with all those buildings...
 
Love the Museum.. I was out there 3 years ago and it was open to the public. They have an amazing collection, only a small portion of which is on display. The remainder will be shown on their website in the near future.

From a recent video with Steve Russell, this is NOT the original PDP-1 he programmed Space War on. At the time I visited, he was coming in alternating Saturdays and demoing Space War and taking on all challengers. Check out their website and see if that's still the case.

M.O.
 
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