Computer History Museum: A virtual visit Description of the event

The Computer History Museum has both an online and a 'real world' incarnation. It is a physical warehouse of different types of computers, a virtual catalogue of computer history throughout the ages, and also provides information about specific topics pertinent to computer history, such as the history of video games. The Museum contains artifacts such as the first calculators, 'punch cards' and online computers as well as information about their place in computer history. It makes a convincing case about the ubiquity of computers in everyday life from an early age, even though the contrast between the primitive nature of early computers and computers today is striking.

There is also a stark contrast between the functionality of early computers and computers today. The computers we use on a daily basis are multifunctional. People demand that their smartphones do everything from take pictures, surf the webs, and even hold applications that enable them to track their food and their movements. This is in stark contrast to the uni-functional computers of ages past. Although cumbersome and in some cases large as warehouses, early computers could only perform a few, basic tasks. Computers have grown smaller and vastly expanded their ability...

For example, some topics under the history of computing include 'mini' computers, digital logic, input and output, and artificial intelligence. The historical overviews enable readers to understand how different components of computing history evolved over time to create our present day reality, and makes significant developments in the field more comprehensible. There are also references to different events which were occurring in American history at the time, to contextualize computer development, spanning from everything from World War II to the miniskirt.
My personal interests

As someone grew up seeing the World Wide Web as ubiquitous, I was interested to read about the history of the Internet, the era before 'Google' was a verb. The topic section includes information on early attempts to catalogue information which stretch back to ancient times, shared computer terminals, and pioneers of the online world. The creation of Lexus-Nexus, Mosaic Netscape, and the dot.com bubble and burst are all chronicled.

What is so striking about the exhibit is the extent to which it shows the rapid development of…