CHM Blog
The CHM blog showcases ideas and insights from our vibrant community in Silicon Valley and around the world. We take you behind the scenes of our programming, collections, and exhibits. Connecting the past to the present and into the future, we decode technology for everyone.
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Curatorial Insights
Tools of the Trade: An historical look at technology and commerce
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Curatorial Insight
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From the Collection, Guest Blog
The Boston Computer Society Presents: 1981 Forum on the Future of Personal Computers
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
This is the first of five video releases of The Boston Computer Society (BCS) General Meetings, by the Computer History Museum.
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Guest Blog
Amiga Computing at the Computer History Museum
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
The Amiga computer celebrated its 30th birthday at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California July 25-26, 2015. For a dedicated group of users, its technical achievements were fondly remembered and recognized. Launched at the Lincoln Center in New York in 1985, the Amiga 1000 was the first affordable mult
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Remarkable People
2015 Computer History Museum Fellow Awards
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
The Fellow Awards are a long-standing tradition at the Computer History Museum, dating back to 1987 when the Museum inducted its very first Fellow, computer scientist and US Navy rear admiral Grace Hopper. The Fellow Awards are an opportunity for the Museum to celebrate the heroes of computing—men and women who have ma
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From the Collection
Electronic Arts DeluxePaint Early Source Code
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
By the mid-1980s, mass-produced personal computers had finally become powerful enough to be used for graphics. Apple had released their drawing program MacPaint [5] with the first Macintosh in 1984. But at $2500 the Mac was expensive, and it only displayed black and white images.
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Remarkable People
The Rise of TTL: How Fairchild Won a Battle But Lost the War
Monday, July 13, 2015
The rise of TTL to dominate the IC logic business established a pattern familiar to observers of the semiconductor industry with its succession of DRAM, Microprocessor, and Flash “Wars.” Battles for supremacy for their products raged for years between all major suppliers on technical features, manufacturing cost, and m
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Curatorial Insights, Internet History Program
If the Computer Fits, Wear It
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
People wear the technology of their time. The stone-working techniques that made weapons also shaped beads for the body. When weaving was new, the intertwined warp and woof that made water-tight baskets also formed clothes. Smelting produced daggers and bracelets alike. Some technologies started off wearable – Galileo’
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Curatorial Insights
Robots Are a Few of My Favorite Things by Chris Garcia
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
The 1980s: a decade when robots were as vogue as Madonna. They graced the covers of popular magazines and strutted their stuff across the silver screen. Having grown up in the ’80s, it’s no wonder why the Computer History Museum’s stellar collection of robots is my favorite.
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Behind the Scenes
Catalysts for Memory: Online Access to the vast CHM Collection
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Whether it’s a “Speak & Spell” educational game or an IBM mainframe computer, everyone finds something from their own lives on display at CHM — but there’s more to the museum than meets the eye. As the largest international collection of computing artifacts, the museum only displays a fraction of its over 100,000 ite
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Curatorial Insights
Algorithmic Music – David Cope and EMI
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
No area of computing holds more interest to me personally than computer music. While many see the changes computers brought to production and performance as the more impressive innovations, computers as composers offers incredible possibilities that are only now beginning to come to light.