Kids & Computer History
I took Mr. Busy to the Comptuer History Museum this Saturday to see a demonstration of the Babbage Difference Engine they have there.
Granted, I wasn’t expecting his 19 month old brain to really absorb anything from the experience, I mostly wanted to go by myself. So, we hopped on the bike, and rode down Stevens Creek Trail, got off on La Avenida, and made it to the museum by 1pm.
When we got there, Mr. Busy was pretty zonked out from the ride, so I put him up on my shoulders and listened to the first 20 minutes of the presentation and demonstration. Then, I started to hear whispers from him saying “outside” and “down” and I knew that he was getting a bit antsy and bored up there. So, he and I went out to the patio area right in the front of the museum. We sat, ate Goldfish Crackers & Apples, played in the leaves, ran around, and had a fun time.
We were scheduled to see a demonstration of the PDP-1 at 2:30, so we had a bit of time to walk around the “General Collection” that they have there (old computers). He actually had a really fun time walking around and looking at all the different hardware. The railings are low enough so that he couldn’t easily get through and accidentally touch things.
When it came time for the PDP-1 demonstration, he was getting a bit tired, and didn’t want to go into the conference room that had the machinery. He was antsy, it was hot & crowded, and there wasn’t anything interesting for him to look at, so he started to make some trouble, and we left the demonstration early, unfortunately.
All in all, we had a great time. I’d really recommend it as a kid-friendly way to spend the afternoon. There’s no entrance fee, which means that you can be in-and-out several times without worrying about cost or stamps, or whatever. The outside patio & garden area is beautiful, had some nice chairs, and was very pleasant, and has a great view of the traffic on Shoreline, so Mr. Busy was happy!
