Computer History Museum

I went to the Computer History Museum last week. They were recently remodeled and look completely different on the inside. If you haven’t been there in a while, you seriously need to go back. They have a mind-boggling selection of computer related items from your past. The Marketing Manager, Carina Sweet, told me that they have a mere 2% on display of what they own! That’s just incredible. The current exhibition is called “Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing.” Inventors some of the items in the exhibit stop by to visit quite often. Some of the classic older games, like Pong, are out so visitors can play them. Carina told me that she’s seen young children playing a game against the inventor of the game and the child had no idea that he was playing against the inventor. As far as the games go—they cover everything from Pac Man and Pong to Angry Birds. The have the original Pong from 1972 that was placed inside Andy Capps in Sunnyvale. It was outrageously popular back in ‘72 and kept getting stuffed with so many quarters that it wouldn’t work. As soon as the coin box was emptied it would get filled up again. That was a good indication of what was to come! Eventually gaming would evolve into online Team Deathmatch against people from all over the world.One part of the museum addresses the controversial question “Who invented the computer?” Carina explained to me that the museum is passionate about preserving computer history so we can advance faster. I like that they believe in preserving the losers as well as the winners, so the display is very honest and gives an accurate depiction of the Silicon Valley. They’re right here in our backyard and as residents of Mountain View, we need to know a little something about how our area changed from junk yards and orchards to the most amazing city in the Bay Area. I love Mountain View.