If there is one certainty in my touristy life, I love a good museum. However, combining a museum with a walk down memory lane for computers is truly special. What makes these museums so special is that they are preserving, for all time, part of the history of how we got to where we are today.
The computers you’ll discover in these museums helped lay the groundwork that enables you to read this article on the World Wide Web. They are also the same computers that helped put a man on the Moon and set the stage for your Amazon package to be ordered and delivered within 48 hours.
With these thoughts in mind, let’s look at some of the most iconic computer museums you must visit when you have an opportunity.
Computer Museum of America
Located in Roswell, Georgia, the Computer Museum of America offers one of the East Coast’s largest collections of old and retro computers. Over the last 40 years, this museum has created a comprehensive collection that preserves and showcases the history of our computing world. They also do great pop-up exhibits, like The History of the PC and the Apple Pop-Up.
Best of all, there is no shortage of upcoming events so that you can plan your trip based on some of these happenings. Whether it’s a tech talk with a former computer engineer or a tech trivia night, there is always something you can do.
Computer History Museum
You rightfully expect a computer museum to be special in the heart of Silicon Valley. After all, this is where much of the early computing work began to take shape. As a result, the Computer History Museum was born in Mountain View, California. Offering more than 1,000 artifacts, the museum does a lot to help celebrate its locality.
For this reason, the museum recently created an entire celebration in honor of Apple’s 40th anniversary. Apple helped drive the idea of personal computers in the 1970s and 80s before the iPhone, introducing some of the greatest dynamics of computing, like the mouse and user interface.
American Computer & Robotics Museum
The next time you find yourself in Bozeman, Montana, you owe it to yourself to make a pitstop at the American Computer & Robotics Museum. It is an unusual location for one of the best computer museums in America. Still, it is a location where you can learn about 4,000 years of human history related to computing.
Everything from the first cuneiform tablets to personal computers, cracking the Enigma code, the Space Race, and quantum computing are all things you can learn about in Montana. What’s so great is that this location celebrated 30 years of wowing visitors in 2020, and they are hoping to make the next 30 years even more informative for those who stop by.
Rhode Island Computer Museum
The Rhode Island Computer Museum is among the most passionate computer museums in the United States. This small but mighty state hosts this special museum where you can learn all about the history of computers. Everything from the microcomputer gallery to the large systems gallery will wow you.
Of course, you can make a pitstop in either the video game collection or the minicomputer space for even more retro computing fun. The Rhode Island Computer Museum also hosts a special collection of small computers manufactured in the United Kingdom.
System Source Computer Museum
The System Source Computer Museum is located in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Founded by just two individuals in 1981 and originally known as ComputerLand, the two founders began storing old computers in a vault downstairs, as the building they occupied had once been a bank. In a twist of fate, this enabled them to create an extensive collection of over 5,000 objects on display.
Among the exhibits are the Xerox Alto, Apple 1, Apple II, Apple III, and Apple Lisa, as well as the Cray-1, Cray-2, and Cray T90. Even DEC computers have the PDP-5 and the PDP-8, to name a few. Of course, don’t forget to stop at the System Source Computer Museum without seeing the Charles Babbage Relay Tic Tac Toe machine known as MENACE or the Matchbox Educable Noughts and Crosses Engine.
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