Computer History Museum — Best Videos According to Hacker News

lecture

Secret History of Silicon Valley

Computer History Museum

“my favorite introduction to the valleys history was Steve Blanks The Secret History of Silicon Valley. It's well worth the hour”

6 HN recommenders · 2010–2026

talk

OOPSLA Conference: Growing a Language

Computer History Museum

“In case anyone hasn't seen this most excellent talk on this topic, I highly recommend”

6 HN recommenders · 2020–2026

demo

Eric Bier Demonstrates Cedar

Computer History Museum

“Be prepared to be amazed with what Xerox PARC and others were doing”

3 HN recommenders · 2020–2025

interview

Avie Tevanian: CMU math whiz goes from Mach to NeXT to Apple Software Chief | Oral History Part 1

Computer History Museum

“Must watch recollection of the history of Mach and NeXT and Apple by Avie Tevanian.”

3 HN recommenders · 2017–2024

demo

Alto System Project: Dan Ingalls demonstrates Smalltalk

Computer History Museum

“have really been enjoying this two hour long interview / demo with Dan Ingalls on Smalltalk and the Alto”

3 HN recommenders · 2020–2025

interview

Morris Chang, in conversation with Jen-Hsun Huang

Computer History Museum

“here's a fascinating conversation from 5 years ago between Morris Chang (founder and chairman, TSMC) and Jen-Hsun Huang (CEO, Nvidia)”

3 HN recommenders · 2012–2023

interview

3dfx Oral History Panel with Ross Smith, Scott Sellers, Gary Tarolli, and Gordon Campbell

Computer History Museum

“This is a really great retrospective on 3dfx from four of the founders.”

3 HN recommenders · 2017–2023

talk

The Origins of Linux—Linus Torvalds

Computer History Museum

“There's a great (long) video about Linus and Linux history from 2001. Watch the whole thing if you can”

2 HN recommenders · 2008–2014

interview

Oral History of Donald Knuth Part 1

Computer History Museum

“It's a _really_ long interview, +7 hours. But it's also superb.”

2 HN recommenders · 2019–2022

interview

Oral History of Dave Cutler Part 1

Computer History Museum

“The Computer History Museum oral history interview with David Cutler is also very good”

2 HN recommenders · 2020–2024

lecture

NeWS: A Networked and Extensible Window System, lecture by James Gosling

Computer History Museum

“Here's James Gosling (you know, guy that invented Java) talking about it for an hour or so from 1990”

2 HN recommenders · 2020–2024

interview

CHM Live | Original iPhone Software Team Leader Scott Forstall (Part Two)

Computer History Museum

“The CHM interview tells Scott's”

2 HN recommenders · 2020–2025

interview

Oral History of Gary Davidian, part 2 of 2

Computer History Museum

“There’s an interview with him in the Computer History Museum archive.”

2 HN recommenders · 2022–2025

documentary

Commodore 64—25th Anniversary Celebration

Computer History Museum

“my favorite apple commodore exchange summing up the whole deal”

2 HN recommenders · 2012–2016

interview

Oral History of Chuck Peddle

Computer History Museum

“You might also like the Computer History Museum interview w/Bill Mensch”

2 HN recommenders · 2019–2024

interview

Oral History of John Backus

Computer History Museum

“Hearing concepts explained by those who pioneered them really brings them home”

1 HN recommenders · 2019–2026

talk

Ted Nelson's Eulogy for Douglas Engelbart

Computer History Museum

“Ted Nelson's emotional and moving eulogy for his friend Douglas Engelbart.”

1 HN recommenders · 2018–2025

talk

Steve Jobs Introduces the Macintosh

Computer History Museum

“The post-show is my favorite part[0]. It's just so personal. Almost feels like a meetup!”

1 HN recommenders · 2016–2024

demo

Alto System Project: Larry Tesler demonstration of Gypsy

Computer History Museum

“In 2017 Tesler recorded a demo with the Computer History Museum on their restored Alto”

1 HN recommenders · 2021–2025

interview

Oral History of William David "Bill" Mensch Jr.

Computer History Museum

“You might also like the Computer History Museum interview w/Bill Mensch”

1 HN recommenders · 2016–2021

demo

Yesterday's Computer of Tomorrow: The Xerox Alto │Smalltalk-76 Demo

Computer History Museum

“Dan Ingalls (one of the original authors of Smalltalk) in a 2017 demo of Smalltalk 76”

1 HN recommenders · 2020–2025

interview

Bill Atkinson: Polaroids showing the Evolution of the Lisa GUI

Computer History Museum

1 HN recommenders · 2025–2026

interview

Douglas Engelbart Interviewed by John Markoff of the New York Times

Computer History Museum

“Just yesterday I watched an hour-long interview [0] from 2002 with Doug Engelbart.”

1 HN recommenders · 2014–2018