It had to happen sooner or later. It was inevitable, and so a trip to Silicon Valley Virtual Reality Expo for Digital-Den provided the perfect opportunity, Yes, that long-overdue visit to the Computer History Museum (CHM) in Mountain View, CA finally took place!
BTW If you’re not already familiar with the history of CHM and it’s older incarnation in Boston, be sure to check out the page about it on this site.
It was every bit as impressive as you would expect. The majority of the computers are part of the Revolution Exhibit which covers the entire history of computing from ancient times to the present.
It was so massive, it was overwhelming. Of course, I took hundreds of pictures. However, for you to get a good sense of it, it is best to watch this 40 minute long YouTube video tour by Chris Garcia, a Computer History Museum curator, and none other than Steve Wozniak (Woz).
The video was made back in 2010, but it does a good job of giving a sense of the experience. Here’s a link to the PC World story where I learned about the video.
Steve Wozniak shows us around the Computer History Museum’s first full-blown permanent exhibit: Revolution: First 2000 Years of Computing (Harry McCracken, PC World)
Here’s my close-up of the Apple I exhibit. Notice Woz’s signature!
Of course, I took a few minutes to bond with the robot exhibit.
Then there was the chance to actually see the Utah Teapot with my own eyes, and yes, it is a different shape than it looks in the 3D models!
Then there was also a mandatory stop into the PDP-1 Restoration Room.
Overall, it was an amazing visit. Then the trip came to a very unexpected conclusion. Guess who I met at the airport waiting for the plane home?
Yup, that actually happened!
What an amazing coincidence, as well as a perfect conclusion to the journey. Of course, I’ve got a lovely new little artifact for the collection as well 😉
New Computer Museum 