Computer History Museum 3774

I went to the Computer Museum in Boston three or four times. The first shortly after it opened. Again some years later after it was well established. I think one more time, but that was more becuase I happened to be nearby and didn't spend much time there. And the last time for a lecture by Dennis Ritchie or Ken Thompson (I can't recall which one now, but I do recall it was interesting and amusing). That last time I took a quick look around and noticed there was a fully operational mini, in a spot I apparently missed on earlier visits, set up in a clbuttical computer room. Raised floors, glbutt wall to the hallway, and even a guy with a crew cut in a white short sleeve button down shirt, black pants and wing tips with a pocket protector sitting at the console reading listings and banging away at the keyboard. The only thing missing were black horn rim glbuttes. A real guy, mind you, not a manequin. I never did find out if he was always (or usually) there or maybe just made a special show of it in honor of the Ritchie-Thompson visit but it was pretty impressive.

I seem to remember taking my kids to the Science Museum some years later and finding that a few of the exhibits from the Computer Museum were in there, or maybe I'm remembering that from one of my visits to the Computer Museum itself. Since I rather hate driving in Boston we tended to make very long days of it and go to more than one place on a trip if we could arrange it.

- Bill