Computer History – Pastimespace

Bill Atkinson: Polaroids showing the Evolution of the Lisa GUI 📸

Bill Atkinson, known for designing the original MacPaint and helping pioneer the graphical user interface (GUI), shares his personal binder of Polaroid photos taken during the development of Apple’s Lisa computer.Show More

Bill Atkinson: Polaroids showing the Evolution of the Lisa GUI 📸

Bill Atkinson, known for designing the original MacPaint and helping [...]

Oral History of Lynn Conway

Interviewed by Dag Spicer, on February 24, 2014 in Mountain View, [...]

CHM Live | AI Decodes Ancient History: The Herculaneum Scrolls

[Recorded June 10, 2025] Discover how cutting-edge AI technology is [...]

[Recorded June 10, 2025]
Discover how cutting-edge AI technology is revolutionizing the study of ancient history. Join us for an illuminating discussion about the groundbreaking work that has helped decipher and translate fragile, burnt ancient Greek scrolls—texts once thought lost forever. Learn how advanced machine learning is unlocking secrets from the past and reshaping the future of historical research.

This program was made possible by the generous support of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation.

Speakers:
Federica Nicolardi, Assistant Professor of Papyrology at University of Naples Federico II
Federica Nicolardi is assistant professor of papyrology at the University of Naples Federico II and a member of the Centro Internazionale per lo Studio dei Papiri Ercolanesi "M. Gigante." Her research primarily focuses on the Herculaneum papyri, with a special emphasis on critical editions and virtual restoration techniques. Nicolardi collaborates with Brent Seales’ project on digital restoration of Herculaneum papyri at the University of Kentucky, supervising the local team imaging all the opened Herculaneum papyri preserved at the National Library of Naples. She is also the lead papyrologist of the Vesuvius Challenge.

Brent Seales, Stanley and Karen Pigman Chair of Heritage Science and Professor of Computer Science at the University of Kentucky.
W. Brent Seales is the Stanley and Karen Pigman Chair of Heritage Science and professor of Computer Science at the University of Kentucky. He is the founder of the Heritage Science research lab (EduceLab) at the University, which applies techniques in machine learning and data science to the digital restoration of damaged materials. Seales also cofounded the Vesuvius Challenge, an international contest with the goal to virtually unwrap Herculaneum scrolls. He has had notable success working with challenging, damaged materials, including the scroll from En-Gedi (Leviticus), the Morgan MS M.910 (The Acts of the Apostles), and PHerc.Paris.3 and 4 (Philodemus / Epicureanism). His breakthrough work on the scroll from En-Gedi received international recognition and was featured in Science Advances, The New York Times, Le Monde, and the Times of London.

Nat Friedman, Investor & Entrepreneur
Nat Friedman is an investor and entrepreneur. In 2023, he launched the Vesuvius Challenge with Daniel Gross and Brent Seales to encourage the community of scientists to decipher the Herculaneum papyri from high-resolution CT scans of the scrolls.

Moderator:
Russell Ihrig, Senior Producer and Manager of Programming, Computer History Museum
Russell Ihrig is a senior producer and manager of programming at CHM. He is the host and producer of the Museum's Decoding Tech podcast. Prior to joining CHM, he worked for the Cincinnati Art Museum for nine years, where he also produced the Art Palace Podcast.

Catalog Number: 300000095
Acquisition Number: 2025.0080Show More

Oral History of Peter Samson

Interviewed by Dag Spicer on 2024-10-01 in Mountain View, CA © [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Mike Berners-Lee

[Recorded on August 12, 2024] Environmental impact researcher Mike [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Pat Murphy

[Recorded on July 18, 2024] Sci-fi and fantasy author Pat Murphy, [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Arvind Narayanan

[Recorded on December 19, 2023] Computer scientist Arvind Narayanan, [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Lauren Kunze

{recorded on January 16, 2024] Pandorabots CEO Lauren Kunze, [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Thomas Wolf

[Recorded on January 11, 2024] Hugging Face co-founder Thomas Wolf, [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Manu Chopra

[Recorded on February 2, 2024] Karya equitable clickwork founder Manu [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Zoya Khare

[Recorded on May 3, 2024] Student and Khanmigo user Zoya Khare, [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Bernard Widrow demonstrates ADALINE

Neural networks trailblazer Bernard Widrow demonstrates his ADALINE [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Rodney Brooks

[Recorded on December 11, 2023] Robotics trailblazer Rodney Brooks, [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Jakob Uszkoreit

[Recorded on April 24, 2024] Transformers co-inventor Jakob Uszkoreit, [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Timothy Kay

[Recorded on November 21, 2023] SmarterChild co-creator Timothy Kay, [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Harry Shum

[Recorded on January 22, 2024] Computer scientist and chatbot [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Eric Horvitz

[Recorded on March 18, 2024] Microsoft Chief Scientific Officer Eric [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Bernard Widrow

[Recorded on December 7, 2023] Neural networks trailblazer Bernard [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Lucy Suchman

[Recorded on December 8, 2023] Anthropologist and HCI researcher Lucy [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Eduardo Bunge

[Recorded on July 26, 2024] Psychologist and AI therapy entrepreneur [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Scott Densmore

[Recorded on August 1, 2024] GitHub CoPilot engineering VP Scott [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Victor Lee

[Recorded on August 1, 2024] AI-in-education researcher Victor Lee, [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Daniel Ambrosi

[Recorded on June 25, 2024] Artist Daniel Ambrosi, interviewed in [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Daniel H. Wilson

[Recorded on May 16, 2024] Science fiction author and robotics [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Dan Hendrycks

[Recorded on March 28, 2024] Director of the Center for AI Safety Dan [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Brewster Kahle

[Recorded on March 4, 2024] Internet Archive founder and AI [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Sal Khan

[Recorded on February 29, 2024] Khan Academy founder Sal Khan, [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Cindy Cohn

[Recorded on February 21, 2024] Electronic Frontier Foundation [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Sridhar Ramaswamy

[Recorded on February 1, 2024] Former head of Google Ads and search [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Matthew Kirschenbaum

[Recorded on January 26, 2024] English professor Matthew Kirschenbaum, [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Baby Rajaram Bokale

[Recorded on April 30, 2024] Karya clickworker Baby Rajaram Bokale, [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Adam Cheyer

[Recorded on April 5, 2024] Siri co-inventor Adam Cheyer, interviewed [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Emily Bender

[Recorded on February 7, 2024] Computational linguist Emily Bender, [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Gary Marcus

[Recorded on January 5, 2024] AI researcher and critic Gary Marcus, [...]

Chatbots Decoded Interview: Shawn Carolan

[Recorded on January 23, 2024] Venture investor Shawn Carolan, [...]

Oral History: Margaret Hamilton

Margaret Hamilton transformed software engineering as we know it — [...]

Oral History of Bill Yeager

Interviewed by Dag Spicer on 2025-03-06 in Mountain View, CA © [...]

Oral History of Bill Krause

Interviewed by Doug Fairbairn on 2025-02-04 in Mountain View, CA
© Computer History Museum

In this insightful interview, Bill Krause charts his unconventional path from an unfocused young man, candidly recalling his "four B's" era, to a pioneering Silicon Valley CEO and dedicated philanthropist. He was born in Philadelphia to a military family in 1942. As he grew, his family moved to Japan, Germany and other locations. He described his early years as those of a “misspent youth” with no hobbies or other activities which might give an indication of his future success. He said his focus at the time was four “B’s”….baseball, basketball, beer, and broads!

He went to college at The Citadel, a military school in South Carolina, which he described as a “godsend”, because it taught him discipline, perseverance, and that in order to succeed in life you needed to have goals to aspire to. He decided to major in Electrical Engineering because the dean of the school recommended it because Bill was good in math and there weren’t many students in the department.

Upon graduation in 1983, he began his two years of military service. He describes the experience there as being fundamental to his future career success. As he entered the workforce, he had a very clear plan as to how to approach his career. He figured he had 45 years of work ahead, so he broke it into three phases: learning about business, building a business, and finally giving back in some form.

His first two first significant employers were General Electric and Hewlett-Packard, both of which served a fertile ground for learning the many dimensions of business from manufacturing to sales. In addition, his time at HP served to build a rich and extensive network of executives which would serve him well in the future.

In 1980, he was introduced to Bob Metcalfe, inventor of Ethernet, who was looking for a CEO to join him in founding a company to market this exciting new communications technology. Krause was very impressed with Bob and excited about the opportunity to embark on the second phase of his career plan, that of building a company. Krause and Metcalfe were extremely successful, taking the company public in 1984 and exceeding $400M in revenue by the time he stepped down as CEO in 1993.

Now it was time for the third phase of his career, which has lasted over 30 years. He and his wife decided to focus their philanthropy on education. They are the largest donors to the College of Education at Penn State and among the top three donors at The Citadel. At the latter, he has spearheaded the founding of the Krause Center for Leadership and Ethics. Krause has also served on the boards of 16 public companies and 20 private ones. He loves working with entrepreneurs and helping them build their businesses.

* Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102809064

Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/ for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.

Collection number: 102809065
Acquisition number: 2025.0003Show More

Oral History of Cristina Morgan

Interviewed by Doug Fairbairn and Steve Smith on 2025-03-25 in [...]

Interviewed by Doug Fairbairn and Steve Smith on 2025-03-25 in Mountain View, CA
© Computer History Museum

Cristina was born in 1952 in Italy and raised in a military family. As a result, she moved frequently and mastered the challenge of being the “new kid” in school and learning how to integrate herself quicky into a new environment. She attended Arizona State University, initially as a psychology major. However, a wise counselor advised her to change her major to business, as that was much more likely to lead to a job. She took the advice and stayed at ASU long enough to earn not only a bachelor’s but an MBA as well.

Upon graduation in December 1976, she looked for jobs locally but found the opportunities unattractive. Fortunately, a recruiter referred her to an opportunity in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she eventually landed a job at Memorex in finance. Although the company was going through hard times and downsizing, it was a valuable experience as more and more work fell on her shoulders as others were leaving. She moved on to Itel in 1978, and then on to Qume, a printer company.

She took a break with her husband to go to Italy and when she returned, she was recruited for a job at Hambrecht & Quist, an investment banking and venture capital company, in October 1982. She joined as a research/analyst, but after learning the business, she moved up the management ladder very quickly. She eventually assumed the role of head of high tech banking in 1992. She stayed with H&Q as it was later purchased by Chase and then JPMorgan, where she retired as Vice-Chairman of JPMorganChase in 2023. For 40 years she made a major impact on the investment banking industry, taking hundreds of companies public, and working out of the same offices through all these transitions. Quite a record of achievement and stability in an ever-changing industry

* Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/300000012

Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/ for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.

Collection number: 300000013
Acquisition number: 2025.0035Show More

Oral History of Saydean Zeldin

Bert Monroy: MacPaint

In 1984, Bert Monroy first used MacPaint on the Macintosh 128, marking [...]

CHM Live | Character Building: Bridging Code and Culture through Unicode

[Recorded May 13, 2025] While many of us can seamlessly text and type [...]

RAMAC Restoration Panel

Interviewed by Bruno Marchon on 2024-04-11 in Mountain View, CA
© Computer History Museum

The RAMAC was the very first disk drive ever made. It was invented, fabricated, and commercialized in San Jose by a team of fifty or so IBM engineers in the mid-1950s. It allowed for the first real-time record transactions of large data sets, enabling computerized banking, airline reservation, inventory management, and many other applications. This RAMAC was a great commercial success for IBM, and it spurred a multibillion-dollar hard disk-drive industry that is powering today's internet and cloud storage. In 2001, Dr. Al Hoagland, then Electrical Engineering professor at Santa Clara University, and himself a former IBM RAMAC engineer, undertook an ambitious project to bring back to life one of the few still existing RAMACs. He lobbied IBM to procure one from their archives, and he put together a team of students and former IBM engineers. In less than ten years, the team was able to mechanically restore this RAMAC, read and decode all the still-existing data off the disks, build a controller and write the software to operate the read/write arm assembly and simulate read operations. This RAMAC has now been on display at the Computer History Museum for over 14 years, with weekly live demonstrations for the public to enjoy. In this interview panel are four of the key people that made this possible: Patrick Connolly, who was one of Dr. Hoagland's former students, with David Bennet, John Best, and Joe Feng, all IBM retirees and former engineers who dedicated a lot of their time to this project.

* Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102808985

Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/ for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.

Collection number: 102808986
Acquisition number: 2024.0054Show More

Oral History of Chuck Geschke, part 2 of 2

Interviewed by David C. Brock on 2018-10-26 in Mountain View, CA
© Computer History Museum

This oral history captures the life and career of Charles “Chuck” Geschke, co-founder of Adobe Systems, as recorded by the Computer History Museum in 2018. Born in Cleveland in 1939, Geschke grew up in a working-class Catholic family where education, religion, and politics were central. Originally aspiring to become a Jesuit priest, he spent three years in seminary before realizing his path lay elsewhere. He returned to Cleveland, worked briefly in a valve factory, and pursued higher education, earning a bachelor’s in Latin and a master’s in mathematics from Xavier University.

His fascination with problem-solving and abstract thinking led him to begin a Ph.D. in mathematics at Case Western Reserve while teaching at John Carroll University. A chance encounter with a former student introduced him to computer programming in FORTRAN, sparking a passion that led him to pursue a Ph.D. in computer science at Carnegie Mellon. There, under the mentorship of Bill Wulf, Geschke helped develop the BLISS programming language and an optimizing compiler, setting the stage for his groundbreaking work in software systems.

He later joined Xerox PARC, where he played a key role in systems programming and the development of the Mesa language. Recognized for his leadership, he was tasked with creating the Imaging Sciences Laboratory, where he hired John Warnock. Their partnership led to the founding of Adobe Systems, a company rooted in values of innovation, diversity, and collaboration. Geschke’s journey reveals a blend of rigorous education, technical excellence, and a deep commitment to building meaningful, human-centered technology. Adobe products have since become global standards for graphics, text, website design, and photography.

* Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102740447

Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/ for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.

Collection number: 102740448
Acquisition number: X8568.2018Show More

Oral History of Chuck Geschke, part 1 of 2

Interviewed by David C. Brock on 2018-04-04 in Mountain View, CA
© Computer History Museum

This oral history captures the life and career of Charles “Chuck” Geschke, co-founder of Adobe Systems, as recorded by the Computer History Museum in 2018. Born in Cleveland in 1939, Geschke grew up in a working-class Catholic family where education, religion, and politics were central. Originally aspiring to become a Jesuit priest, he spent three years in seminary before realizing his path lay elsewhere. He returned to Cleveland, worked briefly in a valve factory, and pursued higher education, earning a bachelor’s in Latin and a master’s in mathematics from Xavier University.

His fascination with problem-solving and abstract thinking led him to begin a Ph.D. in mathematics at Case Western Reserve while teaching at John Carroll University. A chance encounter with a former student introduced him to computer programming in FORTRAN, sparking a passion that led him to pursue a Ph.D. in computer science at Carnegie Mellon. There, under the mentorship of Bill Wulf, Geschke helped develop the BLISS programming language and an optimizing compiler, setting the stage for his groundbreaking work in software systems.

He later joined Xerox PARC, where he played a key role in systems programming and the development of the Mesa language. Recognized for his leadership, he was tasked with creating the Imaging Sciences Laboratory, where he hired John Warnock. Their partnership led to the founding of Adobe Systems, a company rooted in values of innovation, diversity, and collaboration. Geschke’s journey reveals a blend of rigorous education, technical excellence, and a deep commitment to building meaningful, human-centered technology. Adobe products have since become global standards for graphics, text, website design, and photography.

* Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102740311

Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/ for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.

Collection number: 102740312
Acquisition number: X8568.2018Show More

CHM Live | Making News with Data: Tech and the Future of News

[Recorded April 16, 2025] From data journalism, which uses data [...]

[Recorded April 16, 2025]
From data journalism, which uses data analysis and visualization to uncover and explain news stories, to AI, technology continues to reshape the future of news. Since 2022, CHM has convened a diverse range of journalism and technology leaders for a series of Tech and the Future of News roundtables and public forum events from New York to Silicon Valley. In the dynamic news environment of 2025, computing technology continues to enable better reporting.

Join us for a dynamic and timely public forum on tech and the future of news, featuring top newsmakers, experts, and changemakers.

What You’ll Experience
-Learn the secret of how Cofounder of 404 Media Jason Koebler and his colleagues have built one of today's hottest new media startups reporting on uses and misuses of technology.
-Hear directly from Marian Chia-Ming Liu, The Washington Post's projects editor of special newsroom initiatives and partnerships, on innovative, multitechnology approaches to storytelling.
-Explore how Alex Reed, lead data analyst for Mapping Black California, works at the intersection of data and storytelling.

FEATURED PARTICIPANTS
Moderator
David Yarnold
Pulitzer Prize-winning former Executive Editor of The San Jose Mercury News
David Yarnold is a Pulitzer Prize-winning former executive editor at the San Jose Mercury News and the author and primary photographer of The Geography of Hope: Real-Life Stories of Optimists Mapping a Brighter Future. Previously, he led a turnaround as CEO of the National Audubon Society and was executive director of the Environmental Defense Fund, where he helped create the first carbon trading project in China.

Speaker
Jason Koebler
Cofounder, 404 Media
Currently the #2 most cited reporter on Techmeme's Leaderboard of "the most influential and prolific writers in technology," Jason Koebler is a cofounder of 404 Media, a journalist-founded digital media company exploring the ways technology is shaping—and is shaped by—our world. A year after its launch, 404 Media received the 2024 EFF Award for Fearless Journalism. Jason writes about consumer rights, generative AI, privacy, internet culture, and public records. Jason previously was editor-in-chief of VICE's Motherboard and was an executive producer on Netflix's Encounters, a documentary series about humanity's search for alien life.

Speaker
Marian Chia-Ming Liu
Projects Editor of Special Newsroom Initiatives and Partnerships
The Washington Post
A Pulitzer-winning multimedia journalist, Marian Chia-Ming Liu is a projects editor at The Washington Post focused on new initiatives, which includes Lede Lab, The Post’s storytelling R&D team, and other strategic initiatives. She works with partners across the company to identify and realize opportunities to expand the reach of Post journalism. Liu previously was with CNN, The Seattle Times, and the San Jose Mercury News, among other publications. She also serves as national vice president of civic engagement for the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).

Speaker
Alex Reed
Project Manager and Lead Data Analyst, Mapping Black California
Alex Reed is project manager and lead data analyst for Mapping Black California and provides support as a data researcher and visualizer for its initiatives. She works at the intersection of data and storytelling and as a data activist has addressed issues ranging from disparities in health and education to social justice and civil rights for a variety of institutions, including The Andy Warhol Museum, Carnegie Mellon University and WorldStage, Inc.

Catalog Number: 300000018
Acquisition Number: 2025.0042Show More

Oral History of Peter Groel

Interviewed by Tom Gardner on 2017-10-12 in Superior, CO
© Computer History Museum

Peter Groel is a German-born engineer whose career spans four decades in the tape storage industry. After graduating from engineering school in Mannheim, Germany, Groel began his career at Siemens in 1974, working on magnetic tape drives. His exposure to StorageTek during a year-long assignment as a Siemens representative in Colorado transformed his approach to engineering. This experience led him to immigrate to the United States in 1981, where he worked at NBI before joining Aspen Peripherals.

At Aspen, Groel developed compatible tape drives for the IBM 3480 format, making significant contributions to the industry through innovative and cost-effective designs. After StorageTek acquired Aspen in 1989, Groel co-founded Mountain Engineering, focusing on contract engineering for tape drive development. His company developed compatible tape drives for clients including Cipher Data, Overland Data, and Victor Data Systems, consistently delivering products at competitive price points.

Throughout his career, Groel created increasingly integrated designs, pioneering the combination of tape drive and controller in a single unit. His technical expertise enabled the development of multiple generations of compatible tape drives, including advancements in the 3490 and LTO formats.

In later years, Groel's company transitioned to developing specialized products like tape erasers and the VeriTape diagnostic system. His collection of performance data from over a million LTO tapes provides unique insights into media reliability. As one of the last independent tape drive developers, Groel's career encompasses the evolution of tape storage from its mainframe origins to its current role in large-scale data archiving.

* Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102740241

Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/ for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.

Collection number: 102740242
Acquisition number: X8366.2018Show More

Oral History of Erik Solhjell

Interviewed by Tom Gardner on 2018-06-26 in Larvik, Norway
© Computer History Museum

This oral history interview captures the five-decade career of Erik Solhjell, a key figure in tape storage technology who helped pioneer innovations that shaped the industry from the 1970s through the 2000s. Solhjell's career at Tandberg and its successor companies parallels the evolution of tape storage from 20 megabytes to 2 terabytes.

The interview was recorded at Solhjell's summer home in Larvik, Norway

As one of the founding members of the Quarter-Inch Cartridge (QIC) standards committee, Solhjell played a crucial role in establishing industry standards that created interoperability among tape drives from competing manufacturers. His technical innovations include streaming tape technology, which dramatically improved tape drive efficiency by eliminating start-stop operations, and edge-seeking technology, which significantly improved track positioning accuracy.
Under Solhjell's technical and later executive leadership, Tandberg secured major OEM contracts with IBM, Compaq, and other industry leaders, at one point capturing 28% of the half-height LTO drive market. His engineering teams successfully transitioned from QIC technology to Linear Tape-Open (LTO) standards as storage needs evolved.

The narrative captures the business challenges of competing in the global storage marketplace, the importance of cross-company collaboration through standards organizations, and the tensions between technical innovation and financial management. Solhjell's career illustrates how a relatively small Norwegian technology company maintained global competitiveness through technical excellence and innovation, ultimately shipping millions of tape drives that provided critical data backup capabilities for global computing infrastructure.

* Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102740401

Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/ for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.

Collection number: 102740402
Acquisition number: X8699.2018Show More

Oral History of Nicholas F. Garcia

Interviewed by Dag Spicer on 2024-12-02 in Mountain View, CA
© Computer History Museum

This oral history documents the remarkable life and career of Nicholas F. Garcia, a Mexican-American engineer whose journey mirrors the rise of Silicon Valley and the American aerospace industry. Born and raised in Sunnyvale, Garcia worked during high school in farming communities along with his family to earn extra income, later joining the Air Force during the Korean War. After graduating from Fremont High School, he pursued mechanical engineering, sparked by a formative summer job at IBM where he contributed drafting work to the pioneering RAMAC project. This early exposure to collaborative, concept-driven engineering shaped Garcia’s career. He went on to work at Lockheed, where he led mechanical design on critical Cold War and space programs, including reentry vehicles and the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint for the International Space Station. Early on at Lockheed, Garcia had also completed a Masters degree in Applied Mechanics at Santa Clara University as part of their before-work “Early Bird” professional development degree program. Garcia’s expertise in deployable mechanisms played a key role in satellite and space station design. His career reflects a deep commitment to engineering integrity, innovation, and perseverance in the face of institutional challenges. Spanning over four decades, Garcia’s story is not only one of personal advancement, but also a testament to the contributions of underrepresented communities to America’s technological and aerospace legacy. His experiences offer a valuable perspective on engineering culture, mentorship, and the evolving identity of Silicon Valley.

* Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102809049

Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/ for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.

Collection number: 102809050
Acquisition number: 2024.0209Show More

CHM Live | The Great Chatbot Debate: Do LLMs Really Understand?

[Recorded March 25, 2025] Chatbots based on large language models [...]

[Recorded March 25, 2025]
Chatbots based on large language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT, answer sophisticated questions, pass professional exams, analyze texts, generate everything from poems to computer programs, and more. But is there genuine understanding behind what LLMs can do? Do they really understand our world? Or, are they a triumph of mathematics and masses of data and calculations simulating true understanding?

Join CHM, in partnership with IEEE Spectrum, for a fundamental debate on the nature of today’s AI: Do LLMs demonstrate genuine understanding, the “sparks” of true intelligence, or are they “stochastic parrots,” lacking understanding and meaning?

FEATURED PARTICIPANTS
Speaker
Emily M. Bender
Professor of Linguistics, University of Washington

Emily M. Bender is a professor of linguistics and director of the Computational Linguistics Laboratory at the University of Washington, where she also serves as faculty director of the CLMS program, and adjunct professor at the School of Computer Science and Engineering and the Information School. Known for her critical perspectives on AI language models, notably coauthoring the paper "On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots," Bender is also the author of the forthcoming book, The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want.

Speaker
Sébastien Bubeck
Member of Technical Staff, OpenAI

Sébastien Bubeck is a member of the technical staff at OpenAI. Previously, he served as VP, AI and distinguished scientist at Microsoft, where he spent a decade at Microsoft Research. Prior to that, he was an assistant professor at Princeton University. Bubeck's 2023 paper, "Sparks of Artificial General Intelligence: Early experiments with GPT-4," drove widespread discussion and debate about the evolution of AI both in the scientific community and mainstream media like the New York Times and Wired. Bubeck has been recognized with best paper awards at a number of conferences, and he is the author of the book Convex Optimization: Algorithms and Complexity.

Moderator
Eliza Strickland
Senior Editor, IEEE Spectrum

Eliza Strickland is a senior editor at IEEE Spectrum, where she covers artificial intelligence, biomedical technology, and other advanced technologies. In addition to her writing and editing work, she also hosts podcasts, creates radio segments, and moderates talks at events such as SXSW. Prior to joining IEEE Spectrum in 2011, she oversaw a daily science blog for Discover magazine and wrote for outlets including Wired, The New York Times, Sierra, and Foreign Policy. Strickland received her master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.

Catalog Number: 300000014
Acquisition Number: 2025.0036Show More

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