Awesome Computer History

Description
A curated, community-maintained list of resources on the history of computing, focusing on videos, audio, texts, source code, and websites that document key events, people, and technologies in computer history.

Website
https://github.com/watson/awesome-computer-history#readme

Category
Themed Directories

Tags
history · computer-science · resources

Maintainer / Brand
Maintained by Thomas Watson (GitHub: watson).

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Features

1. Curated Computer History Collection

• Focuses specifically on the history of computing and related folklore.
• Curated and maintained as an “awesome list”–style repository.
• Accepts community contributions via pull requests.

2. Video Resources

Organized into multiple subcategories:

• Old Recordings
  Historic footage and early educational or promotional films, including examples such as:

  • United States Navy training media on fire control computers (1953).
  • "Timesharing: A Solution to Computer Bottlenecks" (1963).
  • "The Mother of All Demos" (1968).
  • Early Xerox PARC / Alto–related material.

• Documentaries
  Longer-form explorations of computing history, major companies, people, and technological shifts.

• Reflective Interviews
  Interviews with pioneers and key figures in computing, reflecting on systems, inventions, and industry changes.

• Talks & Lectures
  Conference talks, academic lectures, and presentations that discuss or contextualize computing history.

• Movies
  Films and dramatizations that portray computing or significant historical events in technology.

• Commercials
  Historic computer and technology advertisements showing how computers were marketed and perceived over time.

3. Audio Resources

• Podcasts
  Audio series and episodes focused on the history of computing, major events, people, and companies.

4. Text Resources

• Folklore
  Written accounts, anecdotes, and stories about notable events, culture, and personalities in computing.

• Announcements and Memos
  Historic documents such as internal memos and announcements that mark important milestones (e.g., product launches, foundational design documents, or organizational decisions).

5. Source Code

• Links to historically significant source code repositories and releases.
• Showcases original or early versions of key systems and software as primary historical artifacts.

6. Websites

• Curated list of websites and online archives dedicated to computer history, including museums, timeline projects, and reference collections.

7. Open Contribution Model

• Public GitHub repository where:
  • Contributions are welcomed via pull requests.
  • Guidelines are available in CONTRIBUTING.md.
• Community-driven expansion and refinement of the list over time.

8. Licensing

• Distributed with an explicit license (see LICENSE in the repository) that governs reuse of the list content.

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Pricing

• Free
  The resource list is a public, open GitHub repository and can be accessed at no cost.