Computer Museum (Valencia)

Posted on 2024-09-12

Earlier this month I visited the Museum of Informatics of the School of Informatics of the Universitat Politècnica de València which has a nice collection of older computer equiment including mainframes from the 60s, microcomputers from the 70s, early personal computers from the late 70s and 80s, and a few other interesting exhibits here and there.

The museum is housed by the university as part of the School of Informatics and it's not a typical museum in the sense that the exhibits are located all throughout the halls of the school rather than in dedicated room. Most of the exhibits are located within the same buiding, though.

I visited in early September before classes start and the halls were empty so I had the place to myself, but I suspect the experience is different when classes are in session and the place is packed.

Mainframes

The first thing I saw as I entered was this massive mainframe. I don't remember the exact model of this one, I think it was an "IBM System/370" or something like that. I do remember thinking this machine is very close to what Fred Brooks was designing when he wrote the Mythical Man-Month. These machines were still talked about when I started college, but I never really used anything like this.

Microcomputers and early personal computers

One of the most interesting exhibits for me was the one about microcomputers and early personal computers given that they reminded me so much of the first computers that I actually used as a teenager in middle and high school.

Below is a picture of a Commodore 64 which was probably the first computer I ever used. If I remember correctly these computers didn't come with a monitor, instead you hooked them up to a TV and the storage was via cassette tapes. I think BASIC was the programming language available for them. The "64" in the name was how much RAM it had: 64 KB.

There was a section about video games that I also found interesting despite the fact that I am not a gamer and have very little interest in video games. One of the exhibits at the museum highlighted how much the interest in video games was one of the reasons microcomputers made its way into peoples homes:

"These new personal microcomputers, designed with an 8-bit architecture, will find in the videogame sector an ideal field to offer the consumer a new amusement product, though always disguised as a tool of the future. However, this connection between videogames and the first home computers not only [did not prevent] the drive of computing, but also became the main reason for the demand explosion and development of new products, which finally led to the final implementation of the personal computer just as we know it today."

On the more "business" class of computers there were several machines that really captured the era that I grew up in. For example, below is an IBM System/23 Datamaster an "all in one" kind of computer. I never used a computer like this but I did see a lot of them. Notice that it came with an Intel 8085 processor and 256 KB of RAM (that's four times more RAM than the Commodore 64 above).

Below are two classical IBM PCs from the 80s. Notice how the first one has a 5¼-inch floppy drive and the second one has a 3½-inch floppy drive. The second one has also a more modern look, it's smaller, has a bigger monitor, and comes with a mouse! The cases were made out of metal in these machines, they were heavy and sturdy...and those keyboards, look at those keyboards!

I never owned an original IBM PC since they were way too expensive. I don't remember the brand of my first computer, but the one below reminded me so much of it. Notice that this one came with two floppy drives.

I still have memories of opening my first computer to add a second floppy drive and fudging with the switches to tell the computer which one was A: and which one was B:. Eventually I added a hard-drive and now I had a C: drive too!

Software

Another section in the museum was about software and they have a few exhibits showing software and training manuals from different eras. Below are a couple of pictures of how we used to get software in boxes and sometimes you had to buy it in the right floppy drive size if the box didn't include both formats (5¼-inch and 3½-inch).

After BASIC my next programming language was Turbo Pascal so it warmed my heart to see it represented (although I think I started with Turbo Pascal 3) but I had forgotten how big Borland software was at the time.

Bits en feminí

While I was there was an installation showcasing the role of women in computer science. This is how the designers of the piece describe it on the museum's web site:

"Bits en feminí is a graphic project with which some of the most important women in the world of computing are made known as a tribute, highlighting their contributions and professional achievements.

Through this installation, the advance of the female role in one of the sectors that continues to be affected by the gender gap, computer science, becomes visible. Through the elaboration of this project it has been possible to expand our network of knowledge in relation to the role of women in science. Inspired by the life trajectory of the protagonists of the mural, our intention is to encourage female participation in sectors that are not very equal in terms of gender, especially in those related to science and technology."

I knew of some of these women and their work (particularly Lovelace, Hopper, Hamilton, and Perlman), but there some many more that I have never heard of. Great learning experience.

Speaking of women in computers, I highly recommend the book "Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet" by Claire L. Evans. Great writting and fascinating stories.

See also

If you are interested in this kind stuff, see also my post on the Computer Museum in Paris, which I recently learned is sadly now closed.