My first impression of the Computer History Museum was that everyone there was dressed formally and most of the people there were men in suits. There were a few women there as well and they were also wearing suits, however there weren’t many of them. The Museum is also pretty small and you have to walk out of one exhibit and then walk to the other side to go to the other exhibit, usually a museum would connect the two exhibits through a walkway.
A new object I learnt about was the Nordsieck Differential Analyzer built by physicist Arnold Nordsieck in 1950. It’s a web of spinning discs, wires and gears working together to solve complex mathematical equations. Nordsieck’s version sets itself apart from other fully mechanical analyzers as his version used electrical connections called synchros to link its components, which made it faster and more compact. Its complexity insinuates that the budget for creating such a machine would be expensive, however the reality is quite the opposite. It was created using the $700 surplus from WWII parts. Interestingly, it also used less power than a toaster.
My favorite object from the Computer History Museum is the Tomy Crackbot. He’s a tiny toy robot from the early 1980s. Its design is round which makes it look cute and full of personality. Though it stays still in the museum, it can actually move, make noises and react to touch which replicates how a pet would react. He wasn’t built for computation but for companionship. His purpose was to make people feel warm by being designed to feel alive, which is the very essence of interaction design.