The Computer History Museum deserves at least 4 stars for its content and intent to educate. I took off two stars since the staff did not honor the Bank of America weekend discount when I attended on this Saturday, January 5, 2019. While one of the younger staff members was trying to resolve the ticket issue, two other team members behind the counter did not even try to address my concerns. Still very educational for a younger audience in particular. If you attend, consider the many promotions via Bank of America and otherwise. read more

This place is absolutely amazing especially for tech people and some kids would really like it. If a little kid went there they wouldn't be that bored, and I think some adults will really like seeing the old computers and stuff and I really recommend it read more

Been here once for a company party and once just for fun. It's great to get a docent-led tour and hear the stories about all the olde-schoole computers if you weren't old enough to remember those days. :D It also makes you feel old as hell to see your childhood compies in a museum!! read more

Well, considering that I am a nerd of sorts, I was pretty surprised at how short my visit to this place was. I came here for only about an hour and a half. Their main exhibit is currently under renovation, and I think will open late 2010, so it may be better when that is finished. It is free, but nevertheless. They had a Babbage engine, history of Computer chess exhibit, and Innovation in the Valley exhibit. We took the tour, which goes through the history of the personal computer. It was interesting, but there wasn't too much to see. read more

Wow. This place is a computer geek's wet dream. The new exhibit is completely extraordinary -- even for someone like me who really doesn't care much for machinery (except for all the cool photography of computer parts and chips and stuff). When we bought our tickets, the dude warned us not to spend too much time in one part, but to look through the whole thing, then loop back around to spend time in the areas that interested you the most. Probably should've listened to his advice. I left completely computered out, which translates to that the museum did it's job - gold star! read more

So cool! I used an abacus, listened to Don Knuth, and got my picture taken with a piece of ENIAC. I saw robots, punch card sorters, primitive mice, and found my old computer! I just wish I had a turn at Pong on the big screen. Loved it! read more

Awesome place to go if you are a computer geek like I am! Although its quite a huge place, you'll want to make sure you take your time and go through each exhibit. The tour guide is a nice touch to get an overview of a few of the galleries but definitely go back and check out the rest. You get a nostalgic feeling as you peruse through home computers and video game consoles. Its a great place to learn new things about the history of computers and its origins. Only thing I wish it would have are more hands on things. Everywhere you go its hands off but I understand the machines are old and shouldnt' be touched but you are so close you can't help but want to reach forward. hahaha I would definitely go back and check all the exhibits. read more

This should be a must visit place in silicon valley. They have a Google car on display. Among many other early computer designs and models, they also have old video game console and handhelds. They have tons of parking and very friendly staff. I could not find early tab and pad designed by Xerox Parc. read more

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Fantastic museum with such interesting and curated exhibits. The history presented here is very thorough, and you can easily spend hours going through the whole museum. Don't forget the smart car on the second floor! read more

Computer History Museum - "I love you" in punch card - Museums Near Me - Mountain View, California

Lovely little museum with interesting stuff. There are a lot of volunteers who can help you. Very interesting, we had a fun!

Really fun day trip for tech geeks. : ) They even have a vintage Enigma machine from WWII on display!!! read more

Ok, I'm definitely NOT a tech. geek, but found this place pretty interesting. Want to hear something funny? The PS1 and Nintendo were both included in the Visual Storage display! How weird is that? Are they so ancient to be placed in a museum? (makes me feel old) lol. Also, the Speak and Spell. Do you all remember that? Well, if you're a techy fan, this place might be a place for YOU! It's kinda cool to see how far we've come in the techy world. What you'll see..a huge laser printer, ancient sci calculators & computers, robotic arms, robots, etc., oh, and the best part crazy/smart engineers arguing about how the babbage engine actually worked! What the heck is the babbage engine?! jk.. http://www.computerhistory.org/visit/ -- see for yourself. : ) read more

This is the place to go if you're into high-tech and you want some serious nostalgia waves. Everything from the original Apple I to an Atari 2600 dev station, a piece of ENIAC and even Babbage's Difference Engines No. 1 and 2. There are many, many other pieces of computer history here, some key software from history on display and at the time of our visit, they had a section dedicated to chess technology and how Kasparov and Big Blue squared off. There's even a hard drive the size of a bicycle wheel, as well as several CRAY machines and some of the earliest Intel processors (kind of funny how much we paid for that 386DX back in the day!). The staff is exceptionally educated in their subject matter, as noted before, and they give friendly tours for the museum and they have many stories to tell, from the early abacus all the way to the tube computer and their use in wartime, and technology beyond. As for the Babbage's DE No. 2, if you want to want to see a thing of beauty in motion, you need to visit! read more

This place is really cool. If you want to actually learn more about computers come WITHOUT your kids so you can take the time to read everything. Thank goodness kids are at least free!!! read more

Computer History Museum - I had one of Hess when I was a kid!!! So cool- I wonder if it's somewhere in my parents garage still??! - Museums Near Me - Mountain View, California

I only came here because my work paid for the admission. If you are a geek, this is a place for you. You can see all the cool old ass computer/gaming stuff in the past 30 years. So considering it totally fits my age criteria , I somewhat enjoyed it. I only gave 3 stars because going through the museum sober is somewhat dull. I think if you had some liquor in your body and a beer in your hand while strolling around, i think it could be more enjoyable. But if you want to see all the cool old computer stuff, good time to chill. If I was a kid going there, it really wouldnt be that fun, its like telling a kid who owns a xbox 1 or ps4 to go outside and play with rocks. read more

This museum was much larger than I expected and was full of gems! The volunteers are extremely knowledgeable and friendly and were able to answer some tough questions. We spent about 3.5 hours there, including a 1 hour tour, and this was not enough time to see all that we wanted to see. They also have a gift shop and a small cafe. read more

Awesome place to visit if you're in Nor- Cal :) If you go, get in on one of those tours! :) It was pretty informative :). The store had a ton of punny shirts :). read more

So interesting! Educational, entertaining trip down memory lane. Plan for more time than you might think.

In a long and arduous search for the perfect wedding venue, we knew instantly we had found it when we stumbled across the Computer History Museum. Aside from the interactive exhibits and an extensive and amazing collection of artifacts, the Museum's modern, sleek architecture and interiors made it our hands-down pick for our wedding. The CHM has a number of spaces available to host events. We initially planned to hold our ceremony in the outdoor courtyard, but when it just so happened to rain on the big day, Valerie accommodated us with several choices of other options to move the ceremony. We ended up draping off part of the Grand Hall for the ceremony, and held cocktail hour in the main lobby and reception in Hahn Auditorium upstairs. The only hiccup was a single employee who--instead of checking with Valerie or other appropriate person, decided to interrupt photo sessions and delay access to rooms included in our rental under the guise of "just doing my job". This did add some unneeded irritation and stress starting in the morning and persisting until 10 minutes before the ceremony. Aside from those brief moments, we received the utmost in care and accommodation from all staff at the museum. The venue was everything we thought it would be. They worked well with all our other wedding vendors and provided useful recommendations when requested. When no other events were scheduled that weekend, they even allowed early access to the facilities to ease set up. I cannot recommend this unique venue enough for a wedding! Valerie and her staff are professional, courteous, and most of all, accommodating. read more

This place is a heaven for geeks. I saw a Difference Engine in action last time, and I saw a PDP-1 in action today, and the demo was run by the legendary MIT hacker Pete Samson who originally worked with the machine in 60s. There is no other place in the world that you can see that! read more

Computer History Museum - PDP-1 in action - Museums Near Me - Mountain View, California

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Had a blast here! Well organized and interesting thing to do in the Bay Area! The price is relatively cheap and there is currently a groupon. Really enjoyed looking at the way technology evolved. read more

Oh man, this place was AWESOME! I popped in here for an afternoon with my fiancee, and we didn't get to everything before they closed. We happened to make it in on one of the days when they booted up an old PDP-1 and we got to play Space Wars! The staff was incredibly nice and informative and eager to answer our questions, the exhibits were fascinating, the food was good, the store was neat, all in all a great day! We'll be back to finish seeing everything soon! read more

A true silicon valley museum dedicated to that of which is computing from the abacus to the iPhone. A great way to see computing history from the large supercomputers to the first mainstream video games. My favorite sections and artifacts were the WW 2 era machines including the Enigma. The failed personal kitchen computer is a great artifact to see I also really enjoyed seeing data storage devices over the years and the navigation/guidance computers from the Apollo space missions and the computer from the MIR Space Station. Don't miss the Gaming exhibits or the Apple and Google sections either! 5 stars goes out to my favorite local museum that anyone who uses a device remotely associated with modern electronics should become familiar with! read more

Hands down the best museum I've ever attended. Expertly curated. Visiting this celebration of great and astounding things we accomplished so long ago is incredibly humbling. The fact that so long ago one person crafted the difference engine in his head is mind boggling. Must visit of you find yourself in the area, and have any interest in history whatsoever. read more

Computer History Museum - Merlin? Flashback! - Museums Near Me - Mountain View, California

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REPEATED break-ins & theft out of vehicles in the parking lot! No museum is worth loss of everything out of your car and a broken window. It's quite appalling they don't have security guarding their lot when they know this is a common occurrence! read more

I love this place. I've been twice and I want to go again. They have pieces of ENIAC there, as well as an old Cray-1 and Honeywell kitchen computer (LOL) and Google's first server rack. I'm not a big computer geek or anything, but it's pretty amazing to see how far things have come since the beginning. It's pretty nicely laid out and great location too. Lots of rare computers on exhibit with laid out history on each and every one. read more

Excellent customer service from Jesse in the gift shop. Very interesting museum with lots of history. I especially liked the games.

I went here on a field trip, and once I entered, I was amazed at how many things there were to look at. The museum is split into different parts of the history of computers and has actual antiques. Overall, this museum was somewhat worthwhile and interesting, but I left looking for something more. If there was more to see, I would go here again. read more

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This museum is huge. It will take you several hours to take in everything it has and wow, what a blast from the past. You may even get teary eyed by some of the memories the old electronics will invoke. It's educational and incredibly fascinating. You don't need to be a techy geek to enjoy it. Everyone will recognize something in it. Some of it's crazy, from a Nazi decoder to a kitchen computer for the 50s house wife to keep track of her recipes. There's a nice little café with coffee, soda, water, snacks and sandwiches. There is also a pretty good size gift shop with some fun things. This is my top ten best museums of the bay area list. read more

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The Computer History Museum is a nice place to get some back ground on the computer industry, especially in the Silicon Valley. They have a lot of interesting displays, historic information and big, old computers. A visit starts with a short film, then you walk through the museum. The path through the museum follows a time line, starting with ancient manual calculators and working up to the 1990s or so. They have a family tree of programming languages on the wall that I found very interesting. read more

1 - If you are in relation with computers and know the history you will REALLY enjoy this and will need at least a day. 2 - If you are technopreneur/ similar minded person, this can inspire you like anything. All cool stuff built over centuries under one roof. 3 - Really informative videos about the artifacts. WARNING: Do not visit with your girlfriend unless she is geek! read more

Amazing exhibits at this museum. I remember the punchcards and the Commodore 64! Very informative chronology of events and instruments. I wish we had more time to view all the exhibits more closely but had to rush back to the City for dinner. We plan to come back with our other computer geek family and friends. read more

You need the hole day to read and explore everything in this amazing place! If you are into computers and technology in general, it's a must see!!! Awesome machines, you can interact with some... I wish I had more time inside this museum. Their store has so many interesting things, it's impossible to enter and leave the place without buying anything. read more

Since I'm a middle school student, I got to go there on a field trip.It was more than an educational trip because the gift shop was "closed" to us. Anyway, the displays are amazing, got to see cool stuff, but, there were stuff out in the open and I couldn't touch them( I need to touch stuff!!!). It was very interesting to see how our math tools have changed over the years. I got a punched card and the paper that said what the punch card says( since I'm a student). Would love to go there multiple times( well, not really.). read more

Computer History Museum - The souvenirs I got from our field trip. - Museums Near Me - Mountain View, California

If you are interested in the history and evolution of technology, this is a must- see. The museum has interesting items and information-- ranging from calculators to a self-driving car. If you have a chance, definitely get a tour with a guide. The person with us gave us interesting information from his years in the tech industry. However, do not rely on the tour alone. I would say to get a good handle on everything in the museum, you need 3 hours minimum (including the hour tour with the guide). The design of the museum is a bit confusing through the history area (there are paths off of the main one!) but don t just follow the main path! Some of the most interesting information is off to the side! read more

Had a blast in this museum. Fun for all ages, even little kids will enjoy some of the exhibits. It is amazing how much technology has evolved over time, and this museum captured the nostalgia. I found myself taking pictures of old cellphones, Sony Walkman, early computers, etc. The place is super clean and organized. Highly recommended. read more

This place was even more fun that I expected. It's not just computer artifacts, but a journey that you are taken on. Take the guided tour. The tour leader is full of intriguing stories and tidbits. read more

Amazing museum! If you would like to learn -- no, EXPERIENCE -- the evolution of computers, then this is the museum for you! This is great for adults and children. Current exhibits include exhibits on self-driving cars, robots, video games and, of course, computers. read more

Came here over Thanksgiving Day weekend with my dad for a little father-and-son nerd bonding time. We arrived about noon and after a quick snack in the cafe (quesadillas that were not half bad but were not at all computer related. Note to museum staff: I recommend adding menu items like "Woz Bites" or "PDP-1 Poppers"), we started our self guided tour of the history of computing. Clearly engineers were involved in the planning process as it met my expectations for efficient exhibit flow: single path to follow with good object-to-text ratio. You start at the abacus, work your way through the UNIVAC, past the Cray supercomputers and end at personal computing, mobile, networking and video games. I made the mistake of spending a bit too much time on the early stuff so by the time I got to the final sections (more interesting to someone in their early 30s), I had a bit of museum fatigue. So I'd recommend either moving at a good clip through the beginning sections or plan to spend a leisurely few hours at the museum with perhaps a lunch break in the middle. We also made sure to catch the talk on the Babbage Difference Engine. It's unclear how much longer this will be at the museum, so definitely see it while you can. The only disappointing thing for me was the gift shop: it was just your standard nerd trinkets with nothing all that special or interesting. How about some silicon wafter sculpture or an Apple Newton coaster? Despite this, I'd highly recommend a trip to the CHM if you are a big time geek with a few hours to kill. read more

The museum staff are very accomodating, friendly and helpful, very informative and the lay out of the museum is well thought of. It's a good thing I got tickets online at the goldstar website which gave me a huge discount rather than paying full price. The museum location is easily accesible and spacious. They have some food stores or fast food restaurant as well as coffee shop nearby or within the area. However, they have the Icloud cafe meals which are priced right, tasted good and prepared well. They have a gift shop is fun and packed with goodies and souveniers which are very nice and unique. Educational toys and gadgets are also offered. read more