By Mia Hanuska
Are you nerdy? Do you like learning about computers? Do you like museums? If the answer to any of those questions is “yes,” then I have the perfect afternoon activity for you.
Looking for things to do in the Bay Area that didn’t include the Winchester Mystery House, the Tech Museum, or the Municipal Rose Garden (or another place I hadn’t been before and wasn’t $50 per ticket) proved more difficult than I originally expected. Fortunately, when searching for museums in the area, I stumbled upon the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA. Open from 10 am – 5 pm most days, and with student discount tickets, the CHM found to be the perfect spot for an Easter outing. In fact, my parents found a 2 for $17 coupon on Groupon for the day, and we discovered upon arrival that entry was free for Bank of America cardholders!
Armed with a camera from Digital Photography, we set out to explore the exhibits immediately after arriving. Although we were informed by the front desk that there would be a tour at 2:00 pm, we opted to instead read almost every plaque and give ourselves a self-guided tour following the quite vague arrows on the floor.
The museum begins at the very beginning of computation, with the origins of calculators dating all the way back to ancient times. My parents enjoyed the section on slide rules, to which they exclaimed, “I remember everyone using these in college!” to my surprise (the rules seemed older than they actually were). In fact, I think that was my parents’ favorite phrase, as they kept finding more and more things they had “back in our day.” In this area, I liked the plaque about Napier’s Bones, a mathematical way to solve multiplication problems, a topic on which I once created a stop motion animation with my friend in elementary school!
The next three stops were on punch cards and early computers, introducing the company I had hardly heard of but would play an integral role in the creation of computers—International Business Machines. Beginning with punch card machines, International Business Machines, or IBM, helped to popularize and normalize what we call the computer today.
In this section, I particularly enjoyed the large differential analyzer on display (pictured above on the right), along with the humorous descriptions of how Vannevar Bush solved the general analog computer and of Nelson Lucas’ outfit:
As the timeline progressed, it became strikingly obvious how large a role war and military played in the creation of computers, programming, memory, and processors. So much innovation occurred simply from the need for better, more accurate weapons, such as guided missiles, and for cracking codes, such as the infamous Enigma machine from World War II.
Moving on in time, my parents appreciated the Fortran exhibit on the beginning of computer programming, reminiscing on their time learning the language in college. I had never heard of the language, but was delighted to learn more with the convenient explanation plaque above the showcase. This was a common theme throughout our time in the CHM, with my parents quite familiar with a lot of the material and machines, having lived through a large portion of the innovations, and my learning about each one both from their stories and the museum’s descriptions.
With 20 exhibits, there’s a lot to see at this museum. We spent around 2.5 hours just walking through and reading, and there was still a lot we just skimmed over. I found it fascinating to learn just how invested the Bay Area has been in the computer industry from the very beginning, and how scientists didn’t originally think silicone would be able to replace germanium—we could’ve been living in Germanium Valley! And despite the museum’s name, it isn’t just limited to computers; the timeline features all aspects of technology, such as storage processors, hard drives, video games, robotics, and more.
Plus, up until September 2026, the museum currently has a “50 years @ Apple” exhibit, showcasing exclusive one-of-a-kind prototypes of original Apple machines. From a Macintosh prototype using a 5.25” Apple II floppy disk drive (the actual machine was released with the 3.5” Sony floppy drive) to an iPod prototype with the tiniest screen ever, the exhibit is small but mighty. I found it more exciting to read the plaques for each machine, as my mom didn’t read them and found the exhibit underwhelming (tsk tsk). Regardless, it’s a rare opportunity to see these machines up close and I’d highly recommend visiting it before it closes!
Ultimately, I’m glad I was able to experience this museum before going off to college. I learned a lot about a topic I wasn’t super familiar with, and my parents had a great time. If you’re also interested in visiting, make sure to bring a sweater or light jacket; they absolutely blast the AC, and we got cold very quickly. The tour could be interesting, but just walking through and reading was also great, as the tour guide we ended up colliding with was a tad rude (the entire group just surrounded me while I was reading a sign, then when I was trying to back up to leave, someone was literally RIGHT behind me). There’s also an interactive area, but we didn’t spend much time here as we were pretty tired and it was quite busy, although I did beat my mom in a Wikipedia-themed Jeopardy game. They do demonstrations every so often as well, but they’re scheduled on specific days, so if you’re interested in seeing one, make sure to check their website beforehand. If you’re looking to try something new in the Bay Area, consider checking out the Computer History Museum—I guarantee you’ll learn something new! Find their website here.
Photo album:
(My mom got very excited to see that the Speak And Spell from her childhood made it in the museum three separate times)
(A Price is Right themed area of history)
(I never knew Apple used to make printers! Pictured on right)
(The newest addition, a section on AI and Chatbots)