[HN Gopher] Computer History Museum Launches Digital Portal to I...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Computer History Museum Launches Digital Portal to Its Collection
        
       Author : ChrisArchitect
       Score  : 74 points
       Date   : 2026-01-28 17:54 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (computerhistory.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (computerhistory.org)
        
       | ChrisArchitect wrote:
       | Link: https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog
        
       | Robdel12 wrote:
       | This is realllly cool. I have a rabbit hole to go down into
       | tonight
        
       | JKCalhoun wrote:
       | I have come across (and enjoyed) many of the videos [1] they have
       | posted to YouTube.
       | 
       | [1] https://www.youtube.com/@ComputerHistory
        
       | frsandstone wrote:
       | Very cool stuff.
       | 
       | Vintage marketing of the future:
       | https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/curator-picks/vi...
       | 
       | Lectures:
       | https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/search-c...
       | 
       | Oral Histories:
       | https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/search-c...
        
       | ChrisArchitect wrote:
       | Related, of the more in-person variety:
       | 
       |  _Favorite Tech Museums_
       | 
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46504220
        
       | ricksunny wrote:
       | I'm a fan of CHM. That said there collections have
       | (understandably) a rather Silicon-Valley-legacy-centric view of,
       | erm, computer history. You'll find little mention, for example,
       | of these tantalizing early mentions of alternative computer
       | architectures (with pictures!) in NSA's predecessor OP-20-G, as
       | posed alongside the then-nascent von Neumann architecture (also
       | covered).
       | 
       | https://www.governmentattic.org/8docs/NSA-WasntAllMagic_2002...
        
       | davidmurphy wrote:
       | CHM employee here. Always great to see CHM on HN. Glad folks are
       | excited about this -- as are we! There's so much cool stuff in
       | the Collection.
        
       | runamuck wrote:
       | Ooh check out the Discovery wall! I see a Furby, a Power Glove
       | (call AVGN) and a Ninja Turtles NES Game:
       | https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/discovery
        
       | hoofedear wrote:
       | This is really awesome. The CHM is one of my favorite places in
       | the world. I had applied for a web developer position there not
       | too long ago, great to see them expand things online like this
        
       | belter wrote:
       | This one has always been a favorite:
       | https://computerhistory.org/blog/the-two-napkin-protocol/
        
       | Bukhmanizer wrote:
       | This place is great, but my work had a function here and I walked
       | around with one of our juniors and never have I felt so old. The
       | pure astonishment and confusion when looking at a "floppy disk"
       | aged me instantly.
        
         | ebruchez wrote:
         | I suppose that means the museum is doing its job then: educate
         | people totally ignorant of the history of computing. Next time
         | that younger person sees a floppy disk they will know what it
         | is.
        
           | Bukhmanizer wrote:
           | Absolutely!
        
       | jsphweid wrote:
       | I've been to this museum ~10 times. It never gets old. I take
       | everyone I know there. I like to see their reactions.
       | 
       | New portal looks kinda cool too.
        
       | mrandish wrote:
       | This is very welcome. Just a couple months ago I was down some
       | interesting retro-computing rabbit hole and there was a story
       | referenced in a couple articles and a book. The cited source was
       | an original document that's in CHM's collection but it wasn't
       | accessible on CHM's site nor was it available anywhere else
       | online. Frustrating but understandable. They must get mountains
       | of documents contributed from personal files of first-hand
       | participants who created this history.
       | 
       | Sorting, scanning, indexing and tagging all those loose files
       | must be a Herculean yet monotonously thankless chore. So thanks
       | to all the volunteers and donors for enabling this invaluable
       | resource to exist.
        
       | joshuamcginnis wrote:
       | If you're into this and you're ever in Bozeman Montana, check out
       | the American Computer and Robotics Museum. It's excellent!
       | 
       | https://acrmuseum.org/
        
       | tonymet wrote:
       | This is great, though every geek should visit this place in
       | person. It gets better every year. Especially on the days where
       | they demo the giant IBM 1401.
       | 
       | My buddy took me on a Silicon Valley tour when I lived there , we
       | hit up the HP Garage, Apple Garage, Intel Museum & the Computer
       | History Museum in one day.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2026-01-28 23:00 UTC)