Computer History Museum, Mountain View
The Computer History Museum is a beautiful, modern museum. It is curated well, so that every room looks attractive, rather than just being a bunch of computers in cases. It covers the history of computering, from an abacus to AI technology. Most fun is seeing the old computers or video games you used to play at home or at your friend's house, and reminiscing about it. There are also old children's games, like handheld math or spelling games. In one room, you can play some arcade games, including Pacman. It's interesting to read about the history of computers and the different events that shaped technology throughout the 20th century. A colorful wall details the history of emojis as well. There are many objects on display from small to large. There aren't many interactive displays like flaps to lift or buttons to press for toddlers or preschoolers (it's better when they do this so that you can read the displays while your toddler presses the buttons), so come with kids of school age. It takes about an hour or two to see the museum. There is a cafe in the lobby where you can get a coffee and look out the big windows at trees outside. After, have a meal at Castro Street in Mountain View, a pedestrian-only street with flowers baskets, talented street musicians, and cafes with cuisines from around the world, especially Asia. It is a 6 minute drive south. Oren's Hummus is a good choice for a cafe.
On your way to the Computer History Museum, balance out your day by also checking out the art at Foster Museum- my kids said it was the best place we visited on our trip. It shows the work of one artist, and his adventures overseas and in the national parks. It is only a four minutes away from the Computer History Museum.
The merchant's table abacus served as a calculator and a shop counter.
Room displaying punch card solutions for taking a census.
Room about punch cards and card sorters.
The building is modern and pleasant.
The mouse has had many iterations.
Slide rules were invented in the 1600s.
Schickard calculator, a replica of the one built in 1623.
Curta calculator, which Herzstark refined during his time in a concentration camp.
In 1999, the earliest emojis were invented. Emoji is a Japanese word for "picture."
Punch card technology was used to make distribution maps of plants and flowers.
Punch card technology during World War II.
Nordsieck assembled an analog computer using World War II surplus supplies.
Planimeter.
Telefunken analog computer from West Germany, 1959.
UNIVAC I mercury memory tank, 1951.
Shipboard information system. Computers calculated the trajectory of high-speed projectiles.
Guidance system for rockets.
Norden Bombsight, 1945. Bombers used this device to gain greater accuracy from higher heights.
1945 issue of Popular Science magazine offered this diagram to show the operation of the Norden Bombsight.
Fantasia LaserDisc, Walt Disney Corporation. LaserDiscs were forerunners of the CD and DVD.
Display about delay lines.
LINC science lab computer, 1962.
Barbara Stephenson was one of the few female applications engineers in the 1960s.
Robots! Bottom right is the Andy Toy robot from 1982. It connected to Commodore 64 and Atari computers.
Furby.
Orm was an air-powered robot arm, from 1965.
MusicMate keyboard from 1964, which could be added to the Commodore 64 computer.
Music production and computers.
Apple II computer from 1977.
Boxes that software was sold in.
Touch and Tell education game for kids, by Texas Instruments, 1978.
Commodore 64! 1982.
Atari 800 computer and game console, from 1978.
The teapot became the perfect object to use when designing rendering software.
Personal computers from the past decades on display.
Video game called Adventure.
Pacman video game display.
You can play some arcade games.
Pacman arcade game.
Chess challenger on display.
The cafe with big windows in the lobby.
Texting gloves in the gift shop.
The gift shop.
Ulduar raid dungeon.
One of the last rooms in the museum has many screens blasting information at once, so I left quickly.
Frogs on the floor in the last room in the museum.
The wall about emojis in the lobby tells the story of Yiying Lu who invented the dumpling emoji!
Computer History Museum is located at 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd. Mountain View, CA 94043. There is a large parking lot and parking is free.
Open Wed-Sun 10-5. Closed Mon and Tues.
Admission is about $20, and $15 for students.
Last Updated: Tue, 08 Jul 2025 15:55:56 GMT
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