Sunday, June 22, 2014

American Computer Museum

Bozeman, MT   High Too Cold – Low Way Too Cold

Jim and I took time for another museum visit after Katie was finished competing. I do get tired of museums but not those that are very unique – like the Mountain Man and now the computer one.

The GPS must have taken us to a previous location but we eventually found it up near the college.

Lots of interesting information starting with writing on tablets and progressing to the smart phone of today.

This museum involved a lot of reading but I took a couple of pictures.

Anybody remember punch cards?

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This circuit board has a total memory of 32,768 Bytes.

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The first Apple Computer - 1976

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They even have Robby the Robot who was a movie star during the mid-1950’s.

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Need a Smartphone? 1994 – the first smartphone with address book, calendar, notepad, sketchpad, calculator, fax and e-mail capabilities.

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If you like computers, you need to make a stop at this place.

18 comments:

  1. Now that would be a fun visit for sure.

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  2. That would definitely be something I would be interested in. I started working with computers in 1978. There has been a huge leap forward.

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  3. I learned how to key punch those cards in high school. Never used it. They we obsolete before I graduated I think!!

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  4. Dave would enjoy this museum; lots of memories there. He and his brothers built punch card towers from cards their mother brought home from work. I started working with computers in 1975 so I have bit of history there, too, but not the level of interest Dave has.

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  5. I was working in Washington, DC in 1994, and I didn't know anyone who had any kind of cell phone, much less a Smart Phone. I still don't have a phone that lets me do anything but talk. I guess I could take a photo if I wanted to, but I like a camera for photography. And email for texting.

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  6. My first calculator was a slide rule and my first computer had 64 K of memory. How things have changed.

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  7. We all hate our computers but they are so necessary in this life.

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  8. Being a retired technology coordinator for our school district, I would love this museum. Yes, I am a nerd! Not sure we will ever get in that area again, but if we do, I will drag Paul there. Thanks for the tour.

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  9. Man, technology is in such rapid change...I bet that was a very interesting museum to visit.

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  10. I'd love to visit this museum. In 1964, when I first began working with computers, I spent more days than I want to remember standing in front of an IBM 083 machine sorting 80 column punch cards!

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  11. This must be an interesting place to visit, especially for the younger generation.

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  12. Amazing changes in a relatively short period of time.

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  13. Did they have Rick's picture on display there? :cD

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  14. I worked with that punch card machine on my first computer job. I guess that really shows my age. I will have to check out this museum for sure.

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  15. I'm not much of a museum person, but I'd enjoy that one. I remember working at Varian Associates in the Stanford Industrial Park in Palo Alto - my boss took me on a tour of the "computer room." OMG - the computers were HUGE! And I think they had those punch cards. And it was loud in there. I was an Executive Secretary to a Director of the company, and had a new Selectric typewriter with those font balls, remember those? I love typing on it. Fun memory. :)

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  16. Bob graduated from Iowa State where the Atanasoff–Berry computer (ABC) was developed in the 1930s. It was the first automatic electronic digital computer, an early electronic digital computing device that has remained somewhat obscure. Here is more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atanasoff%E2%80%93Berry_computer

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  17. I also learned keypunch back in the late 70s! So funny! Looks like a fun place.

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Thanks for visiting today. I look forward to reading your comments. Have a beautiful day.