[SCC_Active_Members] The Economist mentions the Computer History Museum

[Paul McJones]

http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_RQNDDRD

Technology anniversaries
Bits of memory

Dec 13th 2006 | SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA
 From The Economist print edition
What the sudden mania for anniversaries says about the computer industry

THE iPod is five years old this autumn. It already has its own 
biography*, by the journalist Steven Levy, who considers the gizmo an 
icon of modern times. Its birthday generated glowing tributes in 
newspapers from India to Egypt to Brunei. And this is just one of the 
many anniversaries that the computer industry has seen fit to celebrate 
this year.

Last month the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California 
hosted a symposium commemorating the 35th anniversary of Intel's 4004 
microprocessor, which revolutionised computing by combining disparate 
functions into a single chip and was Intel's first step towards becoming 
the world's biggest chipmaker. Other notable dates this year include the 
25th birthday of the IBM personal computer, the 50th anniversary of the 
first hard-disk drive and the 60th anniversary of the first 
general-purpose digital electronic computer, the ENIAC (Electronic 
Numerical Integrator and Computer), which weighed 27 tonnes and 
contained over 19,000 vacuum tubes. Never before has the computer 
industry seemed so preoccupied by such historical milestones.

“History”, said Cicero, “illuminates reality, vitalises memory, provides 
guidance in daily life.” By that measure, there is a lot of illumination 
and guidance going on in Silicon Valley. Any excuse to celebrate an 
anniversary is seized upon and milked for all it is worth. Why?

The desire to commemorate past achievements seems especially peculiar in 
the computer industry, given its obsessive focus on the future, its 
mania for constant improvement and the speed with which its products 
become obsolete. But the industry seems to be coming to terms with the 
fact that it is no longer as young and sprightly as it once was. Many of 
the pioneers who laid its foundations are now old men.

Celebrating the industry's past highlights the extraordinary impact of 
their achievements and provides an opportunity for calm reflection in a 
constantly changing field. It acknowledges and demonstrates that the 
industry has grown up. And, of course, it is great marketing. Describing 
the industry's earliest efforts—the first hard-disk drive was the size 
of a cupboard and stored a mere five megabytes—emphasises the amazing 
strides it has made since. Hence all the popping of champagne corks in 
Silicon Valley—a term coined, incidentally, by Don Hoefler, the editor 
of Electronic News, exactly 35 years ago this year.

* The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, and 
Coolness. By Steven Levy. Simon & Schuster; 304 pages; $25