Computer museum - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A computer museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

is devoted to the study of historic computer hardware

Hardware

Hardware is a general term for equipment such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, plumbing supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores....

and software, where a museum is a "permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates, and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment, for the purposes of education

Education

Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

, study, and enjoyment

Entertainment

Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation...

", as defined by the International Council of Museums

International Council of Museums

The International Council of Museums is an international organization of museums and museum professionals that is committed to the conservation, continuation and communication to society of the world's natural and cultural heritage, present and future, tangible and intangible.- Overview :Created...

..

Some computer museums exist within larger institutions, such as the Science Museum

Science Museum (London)

The Science Museum is one of the three major museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is part of the National Museum of Science and Industry. The museum is a major London tourist attraction....

in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

and the Deutsches Museum

Deutsches Museum

The Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of technology and science, with approximately 1.5 million visitors per year and about 28,000 exhibited objects from 50 fields of science and technology. The museum was founded on June 28, 1903, at a meeting of the Association...

in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

. Others, such as the Computer History Museum

Computer History Museum

The Computer History Museum is a museum established in 1996 in Mountain View, California, USA. The Museum is dedicated to preserving and presenting the stories and artifacts of the information age, and exploring the computing revolution and its impact on our lives.-History:The museum's origins...

in Mountain View

Mountain View, California

-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum in Paderborn

Paderborn

Paderborn is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader, which originates in more than 200 springs near Paderborn Cathedral, where St. Liborius is buried.-History:...

, and The National Museum of Computing

The National Museum of Computing

The National Museum of Computing is a museum in the United Kingdom dedicated to collecting and restoring historic computer systems. The museum is based at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, England, and opened in 2007...

at Bletchley Park

Bletchley Park

Bletchley Park is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England, which currently houses the National Museum of Computing...

, are dedicated specifically to computing. Some specialize in the early history of computing, others in the era that started with the first personal computers such as the Apple I

Apple I

The original Apple Computer, also known retroactively as the Apple I, or Apple-1, is a personal computer released by the Apple Computer Company in 1976. They were designed and hand-built by Steve Wozniak. Wozniak's friend Steve Jobs had the idea of selling the computer...

and Altair 8800

Altair 8800

The MITS Altair 8800 was a microcomputer design from 1975 based on the Intel 8080 CPU and sold by mail order through advertisements in Popular Electronics, Radio-Electronics and other hobbyist magazines. The designers hoped to sell only a few hundred build-it-yourself kits to hobbyists, and were...

, Apple II

Apple II

The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...

s, older Apple Macintoshes, Commodore International

Commodore International

Commodore is the commonly used name for Commodore Business Machines , the U.S.-based home computer manufacturer and electronics manufacturer headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania, which also housed Commodore's corporate parent company, Commodore International Limited...

s, Amiga

Amiga

The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...

s, IBM PC

IBM PC

The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...

s and more rare computers such as the Osborne 1

Osborne 1

The Osborne 1 was the first commercially successful portable microcomputer, released on April 3, 1981 by Osborne Computer Corporation. It weighed 10.7 kg , cost USD$ 1795, and ran the then-popular CP/M 2.2 operating system...

. Some concentrate more on research and conservation, others more on education and entertainment. There are also private collections.

The term 'museum' has expanded in common usage to encompass online collections, in much the same way other activities have made the transition ('Online shopping', 'Online Gallery' etc.). Online Museums range in type and quality from those that collate and preserve material to those that simply display photographs of hardware from other sources. They are distinct from traditional museums mainly in that the exhibits can not be physically touched or interacted with in the traditional sense.

Some notable museums and collections are shown below, however this is not a List of ... article. For known lists of computer museums or collections see the See also section.

Online museums

Bitsavers – Extensive software and document archive.
Bull computer History
Charles Babbage Institute
Charles Babbage Institute
The Charles Babbage Institute is a research center at the University of Minnesota specializing in the history of information technology, particularly the history since 1935 of digital computing, programming/software, and computer networking....
Computer History Museum
Computer History Museum
The Computer History Museum is a museum established in 1996 in Mountain View, California, USA. The Museum is dedicated to preserving and presenting the stories and artifacts of the information age, and exploring the computing revolution and its impact on our lives.-History:The museum's origins...
Columbia University Computing History
Early Office Museum – Bookkeeping, adding, calculating, tabulating machines.
ENIAC Museum, University of Pennsylvania
IBM Archives
Information Processing Society of Japan – IPSJ Computer Museum
Living Computer Museum
Living Computer Museum
The is a museum that primarily showcases vintage computers which provide an interactive session, either through time sharing operating systems or single-user interfaces...

– ...provides registered users with the opportunity to telnet into these devices and experience computing on “antique” mainframes.
old-computers.com – , it includes 935 computers, 84 console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...

s and 98 pong
Pong
Pong is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade video games such as Computer Space came before it, Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity...

s.
Russian Virtual Computer Museum
The Apple Museum – ...more than 350 Apple products listed
The Computer Collector
Virtual Museum of Computing
Virtual Museum of Computing
The Virtual Museum of Computing is an eclectic collection of links and online resources concerning the history of computers and computer science. It includes links to other related museums, both real and virtual, around the world, as well as having its own virtual galleries of information...

– ...an eclectic collection of links and online resources

North American museums

American Computer Museum
American Computer Museum
The American Computer Museum is a museum of the history of computing located in Bozeman, Montana, USA. It was founded in May 1990 by Barbara and George Keremedjiev as a non-profit organization. The museum was originally intended to have been located in Princeton, New Jersey, but the location was...

(Bozeman, Mont.) – Claims to be the oldest that is currently operating
Charles Babbage Institute
Charles Babbage Institute
The Charles Babbage Institute is a research center at the University of Minnesota specializing in the history of information technology, particularly the history since 1935 of digital computing, programming/software, and computer networking....

(Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn.)
Computer History Museum
Computer History Museum
The Computer History Museum is a museum established in 1996 in Mountain View, California, USA. The Museum is dedicated to preserving and presenting the stories and artifacts of the information age, and exploring the computing revolution and its impact on our lives.-History:The museum's origins...

(Mountain View
Mountain View
-Canada:*Mountain View County, Alberta, a municipal district*Mountain View, Alberta, a hamlet in Cardston County*Mountain View, Ontario, a community in Prince Edward County*Mountain View No...

, Ca.) – Claims to be the largest
DigiBarn Computer Museum
DigiBarn Computer Museum
The DigiBarn Computer Museum, or simply DigiBarn, is a computer history museum in Boulder Creek, California, United States. The museum is housed in a 90-year-old barn constructed from old-growth Redwood in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which is adjacent to Silicon Valley...

(Boulder Creek
Boulder Creek
Boulder Creek may be:*A community:**Boulder Creek, California*One of several streams:**Boulder Creek in Santa Cruz County**Boulder Creek in San Diego County**Boulder Creek **Boulder Creek...

, Ca.)
iMusée (Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Infoage Science/History Learning Center
Infoage Science/History Learning Center
The Infoage Science/History Learning Center is a science center founded by Fred Carl that is located on the grounds of the former Camp Evans military base in Wall Township, New Jersey, approximately 30 miles from New York City, USA. Camp Evans is listed on the National Register of Historic Places...

(Camp Evans, New Jersey)
Intel Museum (Santa Clara, Ca.)
Microsoft Visitor Center (Redmond, Wash.) – ...vision, products, culture, and history of Microsoft.
Old Computer Museum (Mass.) – Private collection
Personal Computer Museum
Personal Computer Museum
The Personal Computer Museum is located in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, located in a former city building that is built from reclaimed bricks from the Brantford Opera House....

(Brantford, Ontario, Canada)
Rhode Island Computer Museum
Rhode Island Computer Museum
The Rhode Island Computer Museum is a vintage computer museum located in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA. On display are a number of personal microcomputers from the USA and UK, and mainframe computers...

(North Kingstown, Rhode Island)
Smithsonian Computer History Collection (Wash. D.C.)

European museums

Retro Computer Museum (Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

, England) – Regular open days and hands-on events.
ComputerMuseum–Muenchen (Muenchen, Germany) – With a division for Seymour Cray/CDC/Cray Research
FWT UNESCO Computer Museum (Padova, Italy)
Heinz Nixdorf Museum (Paderborn
Paderborn
Paderborn is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader, which originates in more than 200 springs near Paderborn Cathedral, where St. Liborius is buried.-History:...

, Germany) – Claims to be the largest.
House for the History of IBM Data Processing (Sindelfingen, Germany)
Museum of Computing
Museum of Computing
The Museum of Computing in Swindon, England is dedicated to preserving and displaying examples of early computers. It was the first United Kingdom museum exclusively dedicated to the history of computing and opened in February 2003.-Aims:...

(Swindon
Swindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...

, UK)
The Centre for Computing History
The Centre for Computing History
The Centre for Computing History is a museum in Haverhill, Suffolk, England, established to create a permanent public exhibition telling the story of the Information Age. It is believed to be the only museum in the United Kingdom dedicated to exploring the social impact of computers.The museum acts...

(Haverhill, Suffolk
Haverhill, Suffolk
Haverhill is an industrial market town and civil parish in the county of Suffolk, England, next to the borders of Essex and Cambridgeshire. It lies southeast of Cambridge and north of central London...

, UK)
The Jim Austin Computer Collection (York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

, England) – A private collection that can be visited by appointment.
The National Museum of Computing
The National Museum of Computing
The National Museum of Computing is a museum in the United Kingdom dedicated to collecting and restoring historic computer systems. The museum is based at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, England, and opened in 2007...

(Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England, which currently houses the National Museum of Computing...

, England) – Conserves and exhibits equipment associated with British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

code-breaking activities during the Second World War.
The technikum29 museum (nr. Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany) – A small museum of computer and communications technology that specializes in maintaining and demonstrating equipment in fully working order.
The UK National Archive for the History of Computing (Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, England) – Concentrates on the preservation of historical documents related to computing, rather than on the computers themselves.
Universiteit van Amsterdam – Computer Museum (The Netherlands)

Online museums

North American museums

European museums

See also

Further reading