In today’s world of smartphones, tablets and MacBooks, it’s easy to forget that these computers evolved from machines that filled entire rooms. But they did!

The Living Computer Museum, located in Seattle, Washington, is dedicated to preserving, maintaining, and displaying working examples of the computers that have led us to the information technology we enjoy today. (You can even interact with the computers there!)

The collection was assembled by Microsoft cofounder Paul G. Allen as a way to preserve the history that put him and Bill Gates on the path to founding the company, and presents the milestones in the evolution of computers and how people use them.

For our April Meetup, Bob Barnett from the Living Computer Museum will be joining us to talk about the museum, computers, and how we got to where we are today. We first met Bob when he came to eBay Portland to talk to our team, and we thought what he shared was so interesting we wanted to bring him back for all of you. (Also, he made us laugh, and we like people who make us laugh.)

Here's a short bio Bob put together at our request:

"After spending 4 years in the Air Force, Bob was accepted into the Computer Science program at Hughes Aircraft in El Segundo, California. After completion of the program he joined the Operating Systems group and then moved on to set up the Hughes Network in Arizona and California.

Bob later took a job with aerospace company, TRW where he joined the RODS project to write the first Real Time Operating system in the US for The Bonneville Power Administration in Vancouver, WA.

After writing a Microwave Communication System, Bob worked with the Portland Police Dispatch System design team while working at Boeing Computer Services.

In the mid-70s, Bob joined Pat Terrell to grow a chain of Byte Shops in the Northwest.

Bob has an entrepreneurial side and, as such, has founded a software company and joined several start-ups over the course of his career. His most recent venture has been joining forces with his longtime friend, Paul Allen, to start the Living Computer Museum in Seattle, WA."

Whether you nerd out over computers, or you’re just interested in spending an evening learning something new, (or hearing from someone new), you’ll want to join us on Tuesday the 28th.

RSVP now!

• Pizza and sodas will be provided

• Doors open at 5:45pm, Presentation begins at 6:30pm

• The main lobby doors lock at 7pm. Someone will be available to let you in after 7pm, but please plan accordingly.