On 1 April, 2023, my dad and I went to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA. The address of the museum is at 1401 N Shoreline Blvd, Mountain View, CA 94043. I had a great time geeking out on old technology. While most of the things I saw were way before my time (such as punch card programing), I had a great time seeing all of the Commodore computers, Apple computers, and the historic game consoles. I'm a total computer geek. 😂 It has been a decade since I went to this museum and I have been wanting to go again. I took cellphone photos at the museum, and the photos are split into 4 parts. I took way too many photos on this trip. I hope you enjoy viewing my photos.
Museum Tip: If you are a Bank of America customer and cardholder, you can visit many museums for free on the first full weekend of each month. You can find more information about the program here.
Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
This is part 4 of my cellphone photos from the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.
I actually have a lot more commentary in this blog post than my previous 3 because this part of the Computer History Museum starts getting into things that was pertinent in the era I grew up in.
Google "Noogler" Propeller Hat (2000s)
My dad works at Google, and had one of these Google "Noogler" propeller hats. He gave it to our family friend's daughter a few years ago. Interesting to see one at the museum.
Telegraph Sender/Receiver (1840s) & Morse Code Chart
While telegraphs are way before my time, I am an amateur radio operator. It reminds me of the Morse Code I hear getting transmitted over the air.
Western Union Telegraph Company Universal 3-A Stock Ticker (1875)
This was probably the first time I have seen one of these telegraph linked stock tickers in real life. I've only seen them on The Simpsons, in Mr. Burn's office, on the "The Old Man and the Lisa" episode.
Anderson Jacobson ADC300 Dial Up Modem (1968)
This was the first time I have seen an acoustic coupler dial up modem in real life. I have seen these a few times on YouTube watching videos about computer history.
Apple USB Dial Up Modem (2005)
I had no idea Apple made USB dial up modems. At first glance, I was wondering why they put an USB ethernet adapter inside the display. The last time I used dial up at home, I was still a child in China. I think the modem was built into the IBM PC. After coming to the US, I did use dial up a few times at different friend's homes, but I never got to take a look at the modem hooked up to their computers. After coming to the US, our home always had DSL, so I never used dial up again at home.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.0 Browser for Windows 95 (1995)
I think during my childhood, I had my fair share of time using Internet Explorer. Remember the days of toolbars, and toolbars that offered special cursors for your computer? Also remember how "tabs" weren't a thing yet, and every page you wanted to open, opened in a new window? That is the era I am from. 😂 I feel by the time I became a teenager, most of my friends and I switched over to using Firefox. The modern day joke is "The only thing Microsoft Edge is good for is for downloading Google Chrome". I feel the joke back then was "The only thing Internet Explorer is good for is downloading Firefox". I can't remember when "tabs" became a thing, but it was revolutionary. I feel "tabs" first became a thing on Firefox, but I could be wrong. I remember Firefox memory leaking like crazy, eventually crashing the browser, and having to restart it.
Butler Mascot for Ask Jeeves search engine (1999)
I can't remember using Ask Jeeves all that much during my childhood. I think in grade school, our teachers were teaching us how to use Yahooligans and InfoPlease. Then Google came along and took over the search engine market.
Adobe Photoshop 1.0 for Apple Macintosh (1990)
Being a photographer, I felt compelled to get a photo of the Adobe Photoshop 1.0 disk and box. 😁
Motorola Analog Cellphone (early 1990s)
I wonder how cancerous these early Motorola cellphones were. 😂
Nokia 2110 NHE-4NX GSM Cellphone (1994)
Motorola Digital Phone (early 1990s)(left), Handspring Treo Smartphone Prototype (2002)(center), T-Mobile myTouch 875T (2010)(right)
I guess this display is to show the evolution of the smartphone.
Sony Walkman (1970s)(left) & Portable RCA RP-2365RC CD Player (2000)
I think when I was a child, CDs and cassette tapes were still in, but I was too young back then to know very much. Also, China was a little bit behind in technology back in the day. By the time I became a teenager, most of us were using iPods. I had an iPod Nano I used when I was a teen.
Audible Music Player (1997)(left) & Rio Riot PMP300 Player (top)
I do know a little bit about the Audible Music Player, after watching a YouTube video a while back. They were their own company back then (before they got bought out by Amazon), and they had their own audiobook playback device.
Google Earth Explorer
Google Earth Explorer
Google Earth Explorer
Fun Fact: The "Google Earth Explorer" used to be in a Google lobby for employees. My dad works at Google, and I still remember when I'd go to this machine every time I visited Google campus just to play with Google Earth. There was also a fully functional "giant Android phone" in that same lobby that you can play with. My dad said he hasn't seen the "Google Earth Explorer" in the Google lobby for a few years now and he always wondered where it went. I guess we know now. 😂
Share Your Thoughts Whiteboard
I thought the feedback was kind of funny. 😅 I wonder if the museum brings in local middle school and high school students on field trips. 😂
Share Your Thoughts Whiteboard
This is all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing the photos! Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.
Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
