The Centre for Computing History is a museum located on a small industrial park in Cambridge, England. It's home to an excellent collection of computer technology, with exhibits from the early days of computer technology.
For an 80's kid like me it's a great opportunity to go along and reminisce about the computers you grew up with. They've a large collection of home computers, from the everyday machines like the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrums, to the more obscure machines and clones that were around at the time. You can play them as well, so you can show off your Jet Set Willy moves to anyone that's interested!
They've got a collection of consoles and arcade machines to play, as well as examples of office computers, and tape based machines from the 60's. Something for all the family! It was great to see the Spectrum +2, C64, and VIC-20 machines that I grew up with.
It was a double-whammy when I visited, as well as their normal exhibits it was synthesiser weekend. The centre has a great collection of synthesisers, such as the Roland D-50, Yamaha SY77, and my favourite the Akai AX80, as well as visiting companies bringing along their latest machines to show off.
It was interesting to compare the old alongside the new, the new(ish) Behringer MS-1 was set up alongside the original Roland SH-101 so they could be compared side by side. It was also great to see the Yamaha CX5M music computer in action, which I hadn't seen since around 1989.
It's a little off the beaten track, but next time you're in Cambridge I'd recommend stopping by to check out their machines, if you're in any way tech minded it's a fun way to spend the afternoon...
