Summary (by AI): I was absolutely fascinated by my visit to the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge, a brilliant museum that perfectly captures the local tech legacy and nostalgic retro hardware from my childhood.
Blog: What a great find this was. It was actually brought to my attention by one of my friends, Rich, who was joining me for a couple of days during the ABC tours. Rich and I go back years, and he has a very analytical, scientific bent, much like I do. He popped into my inbox one day and asked, "Hey, what about this place?"
To be honest, I hadn't come across it in my research, but it turned out to be the Centre for Computing History, and it is absolutely brilliant. As a couple of 80s computer nerds, we loved every second of it.
The location itself is a bit unusual—it’s tucked away in a light industrial unit on the outskirts of Cambridge. It’s nowhere near the city centre, but the drive is nice and parking is easy, which is always a plus. The museum's design feels a bit like it’s geared toward school kids, but it definitely resonates with anyone who grew up in the 80s.
Walking through, you quickly realize just how much computing history emanated from the Cambridge area. You have the giants like Sinclair (with the Spectrum) and Acorn, as well as the major chip manufacturers like ARM. It’s all right there.
The first thing that hits you when you walk in is this fabulous "Megaprocessor." It’s basically a massive, open-air processor they’ve built, full of flashing LED lights, and it was actually playing a very primitive game of Tetris. It’s quite difficult to describe, but once it gets going, you’re effectively watching data flow across a giant computer board. Even though the logic is flashing away far too fast to actually follow, it gives you a real visceral understanding of just how much data is moving around inside a machine.
They also have a fantastic collection of vintage hardware—everything from the early Apples to the ZX81s and ZX Spectrums I was particularly fond of. They even track the evolution through to modern times with a complete collection of mobile phones. It really makes you stop and think; you still tend to categorize mobile phones as "modern," but then you see the early Apples or the Motorola flip phones from 25 years ago and realize they are already museum pieces.
We spent a good amount of time in the retro gaming section, of course, playing everything from the absolute classic Pong all the way through to Space Invaders.
One thing that really interested me was the history of J. Lyons and Co. I don’t think I’d fully grasped that Lyons—a company legendary in UK industrial folklore—was actually one of the first ever users of computers for business. They developed a system called LEO (the Lyons Electronic Office), and it was a real treat to see that history preserved.
I 100% recommend a trip to this place. If you’re an 80s geek who grew up in a world of Spectrums, BBC Micros, and Sinclairs, you’ll find it absolutely fascinating.
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