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
The Homebrew Computer Club 2013 Reunion
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Before 1975, the computer was an exotic and expensive tool for engineers, scientists, and businesses. By 1985 the computer had been “democratized”, and anyone with the need, the interest, and a few thousand dollars could have one of their own.
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Guest Blog
Computer Pioneers: Photos from the Field
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
The vibrant social processes of science are dramatically visible at conferences, workshops, seminars, and other gatherings of researchers. The main events are typically presentations by invited senior speakers or aspiring young researchers who have won the approval of reviewers. The audience members listen and watch th
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Remarkable People
Who Invented the Transistor?
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Elizabethan philosopher, statesman, and scientist Sir Francis Bacon observed that “once the right path is followed, discoveries in limitless number will arise from the growing stock of knowledge.” This pattern was readily apparent in the history of the diode, it was repeated in the development of the next great leap fo
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Behind the Scenes, Guest Blog
Restoring the IBM 1401
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Is anyone willing to lead a project to restore an IBM 1401?” Mike Cheponis enthusiastically asked with a glint in his eye. I knew Mike after attending several of his DEC PDP-1 restoration sessions at the Computer History Museum. While most of my late night college hours were spent on DEC, UNIVAC, and SDS computers, I h
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From the Collection
Apple II DOS Source Code
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Unlike the Apple I, the Apple II was fully assembled and ready to use with any display monitor. The version with 4K of memory cost $1298. It had color, graphics, sound, expansion slots, game paddles, and a built-in BASIC programming language.
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Remarkable People
Who Invented the Diode?
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
The inventors of the transistor and the integrated circuit received Nobel Prizes. The engineering community marks anniversaries of their conception with conferences, banquets, and awards. Occasionally they are even celebrated in the popular media. So why has no one heard of the inventor of the diode?
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Curatorial Insights
A Curator’s Wish: The SynthAxe
Thursday, October 24, 2013
I’m often asked if there were one object in the entire world that the museum could acquire, what would it be? It’s a tough question, there are seminal machines that would be amazing to include in the collection. But in my heart, there’s one piece that I have searched for tirelessly which would be outstanding to have: T
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Behind the Scenes
Volunteers, start your laptops!
Monday, October 7, 2013
The race is on! The Computer History Museum was recently awarded a prestigious two-year federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to catalog 10,000 backlogged physical objects (hardware and ephemera). That’s a lot to accomplish in such a short time but we know we’ll cross the Finish Line with our
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Curatorial Insights, Internet History Program
MediaView: The nearly forgotten NeXT program that helped save the Open Web
Thursday, September 12, 2013
If Steve Jobs hadn’t gotten kicked out of Apple in 1985, the Web might look very different today. But not for the reasons most people might think.Angry and deeply hurt, the arrogant, hard-to-control young entrepreneur sent a pointed message with the name of his next company: NeXT, Inc. The matte black cube computers he
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From the Collection
SRI ARC Journal: A Record of Engelbart and his Team
Thursday, August 29, 2013
ARC was the laboratory started by Douglas Engelbart where the oNLine System (NLS), later Augment, was conceived.