The Museum of Computing in

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

is dedicated to preserving and displaying examples of early

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

s. It was the first

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

exclusively dedicated to the history of computing and opened in February 2003.

Aims

It aims to preserve the history of computing, to be used as a valuable educational resource and as an information repository for historians, collectors and the media, and to illustrate this history in an entertaining way.

Exhibits

The Museum includes working machines and interactive activities. The exhibitions have included the '' Pong to

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

'' exhibition. More than thirty computers were lent to

Gordon Laing Gordon Laing may refer to: * Gordon Laing (musician), British classical bassoonist, contrabassoonist, and pedagogue * Gordon Laing (cricketer), Scottish cricketer * Gordon Jennings Laing, American classical scholar See also * Alexander Gordon L ...

, a former editor of '' Personal Computer World'' magazine, in connection with the writing of his 2004 book ''

Digital Retro ''Digital Retro: The Evolution and Design of the Personal Computer'' is a coffee table book about the history of home computers and personal computers. It was written by Gordon Laing, a former editor of ''Personal Computer World'' magazine and c ...

''.

Notable events

The exhibition "''Calculators from the Abacus to the Microchip''", was launched by

Sir Clive Sinclair Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) was an English entrepreneur and inventor, best known for being a pioneer in the computing industry, and also as the founder of several companies that developed consumer electronic ...

in March 2006. In April 2007, the Museum was honoured by a visit from HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, patron of the

British Computer Society Sir Maurice Wilkes served as the first President of BCS in 1957 BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, known as the British Computer Society until 2009, is a professional body and a learned society that represents those working in infor ...

. The Museum moved to 6–7 Theatre Square in July 2009, between the library and the theatre. In May 2010, the Museum celebrated the 30th anniversary of the video game

Pac-Man originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...

with a real life Pac-Man game and special exhibition at the museum all day.Swindon celebrates Pac-Man's 30th anniversarySwindon Web
22 May 2010. March 2011, 'Gaming on the Go' exhibition, 35 years of the handheld games console.

Administration

The Museum of Computing is a not-for-profit organisation, run by a team of dedicated volunteers.

Supporters

The Museum is supported by the following organisations
BCS Wiltshire Branch

References

{{reflist

External links

Museum of Computing website

Museum of Computing The Museum of Computing in Swindon, England is dedicated to preserving and displaying examples of early computers. It was the first United Kingdom museum exclusively dedicated to the history of computing and opened in February 2003. Aims It a ...

Computer museums Computer museums in the United Kingdom Museums established in 2003 Museums in Wiltshire Science museums in England