museum

Museum of Pocket Calculating Devices

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The Museum of Pocket Calculating Devices showcases a diverse collection of calculators and related tools, including slide rules, addiators, and abacuses from various brands such as Casio, Hewlett Packard, Texas Instruments, and Sharp. The museum highlights the history, technology, and evolution of pocket calculators and scientific computing devices, featuring vintage models with LED, LCD, and solar functionalities, reflecting their significance in scientific and everyday calculations.

https://www.calculators.de/

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Andrew Warkentin

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The Virtual OS Museum is a comprehensive collection of over 1,700 pre-installed and pre-configured operating systems and standalone applications running on emulators within a Linux VM compatible with QEMU, VirtualBox, or UTM. Spanning from the earliest stored-program computers of 1948 to modern OSes, it offers an accessible way to explore historical operating systems without complex setup, featuring a custom launcher with snapshot capabilities and covering a vast range of platforms from mainframes and Unix variants to personal computer and mobile OSes.

https://virtualosmuseum.org/

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The Listening Museum — 36 Keyboards, Sound-Mapped

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The Data Drop presents “The Listening Museum,” an interactive collection of 36 mechanical keyboards and switches spanning over 40 years and 8 switch families, featuring more than 500 audio samples. Users can click on any keyboard card to explore detailed information, then type on their own keyboard to hear corresponding sounds, offering a curated audio experience sourced from the open mechanical keyboard community to illustrate the diverse acoustics of different keyboard designs.

https://sheets.works/data-viz/keyboard-sounds

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Large Scale Systems Museum / Museum of Applied Computer Technology

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The Large Scale Systems Museum (LSSM) in New Kensington, PA, celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2025 as a public museum dedicated to the history of computing, focusing on minicomputers, mainframes, and supercomputers from the 1950s onward. As a physical, living museum, it features fully restored and operational computer systems maintained by experienced volunteers for demonstrations, education, and research, highlighting computing’s profound impact on modern life.

https://www.mact.io/start

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50 Years of Apple Innovation

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The Apple Museum in Utrecht, Netherlands, showcases 50 years of Apple’s innovation through a curated collection that traces the company’s history from the original Apple I computer to modern devices like the Apple Watch. Opened in 2026, the museum offers visitors an immersive experience highlighting key moments and iconic products that have shaped personal computing and technology.

https://applemuseum.nl/

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Fav Tech Museums

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Marcin Wichary shares his love for technology history through a photo essay detailing his favorite tech museums. He reflects on the significance of exploring the past for inspiration and learning. He highlights six standout museums visited, like Taiwan’s National Railway Museum and Spain’s Museu de la Tècnica, praising their creativity, craftsmanship, and engaging exhibits. Wichary also mentions other noteworthy museums, offering insights into their unique qualities and experiences, while critically assessing a few he found lacking. His enthusiasm for tech history and importance of well-curated exhibitions resonates throughout the narrative.

https://aresluna.org/fav-tech-museums/

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Celebrating Mobile History at the Mobile Phone Museum

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The recently launched Mobile Phone Museum is a fascinating online collection and archive celebrating the evolution of mobile technology over the past 40 years.

Exploring the Virtual Museum

With over 2,700 unique handsets spanning over 250 brands, the museum offers an unparalleled look at mobile phone history. You can browse by year to see significant design shifts or search for your own old devices. Curated collections also highlight topics like James Bond movie phones, fashion phones, and mobile firsts showcasing technology innovations.

Some favorite oddities I discovered include the Nokia 7280 “lipstick” phone, the tiny RAZR-esque Motorola AURA from 2008, and the two-sided Samsung Folder from 2006. Part of the fun is stumbling across the weird and wonderful experiments alongside the iconic devices we remember.

New Physical Exhibition

In addition to the virtual museum, a physical “Going Mobile” exhibition was launched in partnership with the Museum of Global Communications in Cornwall. Spanning 40 years of mobile history, it features over 70 landmark devices, from early transportable phones to recent foldable smartphones.

Preserving Mobile Heritage

What I love about the Mobile Phone Museum is its dedication to preserving the physical artifacts and stories behind mobile innovation. As we rapidly adopt new technologies, an archive like this keeps our tech history from being forgotten. Beyond just nostalgia, it serves an educational purpose to inspire future engineers and designers.

So next time you want a reminder of how far mobile tech has come, take a trip through the decades at the Mobile Phone Museum! Let me know in the comments if you have any favorite retro mobile memories.

https://www.mobilephonemuseum.com

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