January 28, 2026
Open the vault, lose your weekend
Computer History Museum Launches Digital Portal to Its Collection
CHM opens its vault online—and the internet waves goodbye to its weekend
TLDR: The Computer History Museum launched OpenCHM, a free online portal to its vast collection, funded by the Moore Foundation. Commenters are gleefully plotting all-night dives—split between streaming CHM videos, exploring curated finds, and even planning real museum trips—united by one theme: goodbye, free time.
The Computer History Museum just flung open the doors to its past with OpenCHM, a free digital portal funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Think: a treasure room of tech history you can raid from your couch—complete with smart search, curator picks, a “discovery wall,” make‑your‑own albums, and even a developer corner.
But the real show? The comments. One user dropped the catalog link like a mic‑drop, while another declared, “there goes my night,” promising a fresh rabbit hole to fall into. Fans pointed straight to CHM’s binge‑worthy YouTube channel and a glossy time capsule of “vintage marketing of the future”, turning the launch thread into a choose‑your‑own‑adventure of retro ads, lectures, and nerdy delights.
The mild drama? A playful split between Team Sofa (stream the talks, scroll the artifacts) and Team Field Trip, with a nudge to an in‑person “Favorite Tech Museums” thread for those who want the IRL goosebumps. No flame wars here—just a flood of excitement and “send help, I’m not sleeping tonight” energy. If the portal’s goal was to “unlock the collection,” mission accomplished: commenters are already bookmarking, album‑building, and planning their next history binge. OpenCHM isn’t just an archive—it’s the internet’s newest time sink, and the crowd is happily drowning.
Key Points
- •CHM launched OpenCHM, a digital portal that provides global access to its computing history collection.
- •The project is funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and other donors.
- •OpenCHM features advanced search with smart filters, curator picks and stories, highlights, and a discovery wall.
- •Users can create and share custom “My albums,” and developers can access APIs and sample code via a portal.
- •The launch marks a significant milestone in CHM’s multi-year digitization initiative to make technology history broadly accessible.