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, Internet History Program
Where to? A History of Autonomous Vehicles
Thursday, May 8, 2014
When Robert Whitehead invented the self-propelled torpedo in the 1860s, the early guidance system for maintaining depth was so new and essential he called it “The Secret.” Airplanes got autopilots just a decade after the Wright brothers. These days, your breakfast cereal was probably gathered by a driverless harvester.
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From the Collection
IBM and the 1964 World’s Fair
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
From the Collection
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From the Collection
Microsoft MS-DOS early source code
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Rather than using IBM proprietary components developed for their many other computers, the IBM PC used industry standard commercial parts. That included adopting the Intel 8088 microprocessor as the heart of the computer.
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From the Collection
Microsoft Word for Windows Version 1.1a Source Code
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
The dominant word processing program for personal computers in the 1980s was DOS-based WordPerfect. Microsoft Word for DOS, which had been released in 1983, was an also-ran.
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Curatorial Insights, Internet History Program
Happy 25th Birthday to the World Wide Web!
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Twenty five years ago this month, Tim Berners-Lee first proposed what became the World Wide Web. Today it is living up to its ambitious name, serving three billion people with many more yet to come. To mark the anniversary, we’re telling the story of those early days in this article and in our annual issue of Core m
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Remarkable People
Gary Kildall and the 40th Anniversary of the Birth of the PC Operating System
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Late one afternoon in the fall of 1974, in the sleepy California seaside town of Pacific Grove, programmer Gary Kildall and electronic engineer John Torode “retired for the evening to take on the simpler task of emptying a jug of not-so-good red wine … and speculating on the future of our new software tool”.
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From the Collection
Interacting with Oral Histories: A New Year, a New Way
Thursday, February 13, 2014
The number one question I get asked about oral histories is: “When will the video be available online?” Not, will the video be available online, but when. With instant video sharing made possible by websites like YouTube and Vimeo, in addition to mobile apps like Vine, it’s no longer a question of capability, but of ti
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Guest Blog
The Very First ‘Stevenote’
Monday, January 27, 2014
On January 26, 2014, the Computer History Museum released this never-before-seen video of the first public showing of Macintosh. Thirty years ago, on January 30, 1984, Steve Jobs came to Boston to introduce his groundbreaking new computer to members of the world’s largest personal computer organization.
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Curatorial Insights
The Future of Computer Games: 25 Years Later
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
SpaceWar! the granddaddy of computer games, debuted in 1962. Since then games have evolved, both in the technology they use and in the role they play in the lives of people of all generations. New game sales surpass many other entertainment media and get press coverage to match.
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Guest Blog
Indigenous Circuits
Thursday, January 2, 2014
The Internet and computing have become an absolutely integral part of everyday life. Some would say too much so. As debates about whether we are too chained to our digital devices continue to flourish, historians and other humanists find themselves asking different questions. Where did these devices come from, whose