California museum celebrates 2000 years of computing, from the abacus to the smartphone

A visitor at the Computer History Museum looks at a display of hand held computers on Jan. 19, 2011 in Mountain View, California. After a two year, $19 million renovation, the Computer History Museum re-opened its doors with a new 25,000 square foot exhibit called Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing. The exhibit features over 1,000 artifacts and 100 multimedia stations that explores every major aspect of the history of computing, from the abacus to the smart phone, and every step in between.

Wires and switches of a vintage supercomputer are displayed at the Computer History Museum.

A visitor at the Computer History Museum looks at a display of Reeves electronic analog computer.

A vintage mouse is seen in a display featuring the Xerox Alto personal computer at the Computer History Museum.

Vintage Apple and IBM computers are displayed at the Computer History Museum