Ask HN: Places in the UK / Europe Related to computers

13 pointssailorganymede10mo ago17 comments

I’m interested in visiting some historic or special places related to this field as a way of rejuvenating my passion in the field again.

I’ve never been to Bletchley Park so I figured I might as well make a visit to see if I can get excited about something that doesn’t involve arguing about the merits of adding a column to a database.

Any other places people recommend / have been to ? Thank you!

17 comments

theGeatZhopa10mo ago

I wanted to tell you about computer museums in Germany, but then I've found a list of computer museums of the world at wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_computer_museums

In Germany we've quite a few more or less good equiped museums.. The one in Stuttgart, South of Germany, is located at the University and is quite interesting. May be the upper List will be of good inspiration for you!

digikata10mo ago

The Video Game Museum is a smaller museum in Berlin https://www.computerspielemuseum.de/, but it has a lot of fun early history personal gaming equipment, with playable units. And including a lot of euro gaming and (at the time of my visit) running demoscene items I knew little to nothing about.

theGeatZhopa10mo ago

especially the demos are (over-all) astonishing! I still remember the cracks made by phrozen crew and razor 1911 in the '90ties. They incorporated demos into their cracks of a few dozen Kb - that was awesome! What an audiovisual experience! That was my first time I heard about the demoscene :)

laurieg10mo ago

The National Museum of Computing (next to but completely separate from Bletchly Park) is fantastic.

Definitely book a tour if you go. Speaking to the volunteers about how they used the machines on display is a fantastic way to experience part of the living history of computing.

dcminter10mo ago

I'm not specifically recommending them as I haven't been (and I often find museum exhibitions lacklustre) but these are on my list to check out next time I'm in the UK in the appropriate areas:

Manchester is where the important early computer development in the UK occurred; Turing spent a lot of time working with the Manchester Baby: https://www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/whats-on/meet-ba...

Reading was Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)'s centre in the UK. While it was an American company they had a huge estate here. I have a soft spot for their machines so I'm curious to see what this small museum managed to pull together - I know they reached out in some of the relevant Facebook groups for personal stories of DEC and their machines: https://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/reading%E2%80%99s-...

gadders10mo ago

https://retrocomputermuseum.co.uk/ ?

thorin10mo ago

Not sure why this has been downvoted. This place is excellent and you won't be disappointed. Not far from Cambridge and Bletchley park in American terms.

dotcoma10mo ago

Ivrea for Olivetti

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1538/

bergie10mo ago

Berlin Museum of Technology has a Zuse Z1 replica among other things

Konrad Zuse finished his Z1 in 1938. The computer was freely programmable. It worked by controlling mechanical switching elements that pushed metal pins into two different positions: position “0” and position “1.” This binary principle is still the basis of every computer.

https://technikmuseum.berlin/en/exhibitions/permanent-exhibi...

rlupi10mo ago

In Switzerland, I recommend enter.ch. It has an extensive collection of consumer electronics, computing devices, and proper computers.

It reminds me of the computing museum near Google main campus in Mountain View, California.

gradschool10mo ago

The Science museum on Exhibition Road in London sometimes has interesting things related to computers. I don't know if it's still on display, but there was a working mechanical computer based on designs by Charles Babbage that wasn't built until relatively recently. It was made with modern machine tooling but with tolerances that would have been achievable during Babbage's time.

slartibardfast010mo ago

To add to the delight of tnmoc, https://computermuseums.eu/ might be of interest.

And from a more local angle & purely for a lovely day out, may I recommend a trip to Cork City and a wander through George Boole’s old stomping ground in UCC.

Enjoy reconnecting!

decide100010mo ago

HomeComputerMuseum, Helmond (Netherlands) is a very very very good one. They have hundreds of historical pieces, some very unique, WHICH YOU CAN PLAY WITH!

sloaken10mo ago

Bletchley park is great. Consider it a full day.

Cambridge has a bunch of computer stuff. I think Raspberry Pi started there.

rahimnathwani10mo ago

The (paid) PowerUp exhibit at the Science Museum in London:

https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/power

sebst10mo ago

I had a lot of fun here: https://www.homecomputermuseum.nl/en/

TartHint5410mo ago

Try the National Museum of Computing on the same site for live Colossus and Bombe demos and London’s Science Museum Information Age gallery for 200 years of communications tech

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

17 comments

theGeatZhopa10mo ago

I wanted to tell you about computer museums in Germany, but then I've found a list of computer museums of the world at wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_computer_museums

digikata10mo ago

theGeatZhopa10mo ago

laurieg10mo ago

The National Museum of Computing (next to but completely separate from Bletchly Park) is fantastic.

Definitely book a tour if you go. Speaking to the volunteers about how they used the machines on display is a fantastic way to experience part of the living history of computing.

dcminter10mo ago

I'm not specifically recommending them as I haven't been (and I often find museum exhibitions lacklustre) but these are on my list to check out next time I'm in the UK in the appropriate areas:

gadders10mo ago

https://retrocomputermuseum.co.uk/ ?

thorin10mo ago

Not sure why this has been downvoted. This place is excellent and you won't be disappointed. Not far from Cambridge and Bletchley park in American terms.

dotcoma10mo ago

Ivrea for Olivetti

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1538/

bergie10mo ago

Berlin Museum of Technology has a Zuse Z1 replica among other things

https://technikmuseum.berlin/en/exhibitions/permanent-exhibi...

rlupi10mo ago

In Switzerland, I recommend enter.ch. It has an extensive collection of consumer electronics, computing devices, and proper computers.

It reminds me of the computing museum near Google main campus in Mountain View, California.

gradschool10mo ago

slartibardfast010mo ago

To add to the delight of tnmoc, https://computermuseums.eu/ might be of interest.

And from a more local angle & purely for a lovely day out, may I recommend a trip to Cork City and a wander through George Boole’s old stomping ground in UCC.

Enjoy reconnecting!

decide100010mo ago

HomeComputerMuseum, Helmond (Netherlands) is a very very very good one. They have hundreds of historical pieces, some very unique, WHICH YOU CAN PLAY WITH!

sloaken10mo ago

Bletchley park is great. Consider it a full day.

Cambridge has a bunch of computer stuff. I think Raspberry Pi started there.

rahimnathwani10mo ago

The (paid) PowerUp exhibit at the Science Museum in London:

https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/power

sebst10mo ago

I had a lot of fun here: https://www.homecomputermuseum.nl/en/

TartHint5410mo ago

Try the National Museum of Computing on the same site for live Colossus and Bombe demos and London’s Science Museum Information Age gallery for 200 years of communications tech

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse