I asked the new Microsoft Bing a few simple questions, the same question in German, English, and French. The answers vary depending on the language. If you repeat the questions, the answers sometimes differ greatly. Most of the time they are poor, seem random and arbitrary, often wrong and nonsensical. In general, the results are very unsatisfactory, unreliable, often unusable. The references are not very systematic, often Wikipedia is given.
Which are the leading computer museums in Europe?
Enumerated depending on the query: Musée Bolo, Lausanne, The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC), Bletchley Park, Technikmuseum Berlin, Heinz Nixdorf Museumsforum (HNF), Paderborn, Oldenburger Computermuseum, Computerspielemuseum Berlin.
Welches sind die führenden Computermuseen Europas?
Depending on the test are listed: Computerspielemuseum Berlin, Binarium, Dortmund, HNF, Paderborn, Enter, Solothurn, TNMOC, Bletchley, Museum of Computing, Swindon, technikum29, Kelkheim (Taunus).
Quels sont les principaux musées de l’informatique en Europe?
Bing finds 2x no museums, 1x appears the Musée Bolo, Lausanne. Then the museums Bolo, HNF and TNMOC are mentioned.
What are the world’s leading computer museums?
Several times cited: Computer History Museum (CHM), Mountain View, TNMOC, Bletchley, Nexon Computer Museum, Jeju Island, South Korea, HP Garage, Palo Alto, HNF, Paderborn.
Welches sind die weltweit führenden Computermuseen?
CHM, Mountain View, TNMOC, Bletchley Park, HNF, Paderborn. In further queries appear for example the Museum of Computing, Swindon, Nexon, und HP Garage.
Quels sont les principaux musées de l’informatique dans le monde?
CHM, Mountain View, Musée de l’informatique Pionnière Belgique, HNF, Paderborn, TNMOC, Bletchley Park, Musée Bolo, Lausanne. Depending on the trial, the Musée Bios, Rouen, the Apple Museum, Prague, and Nexon also appear.
Please tell me about the most important European technology and science museums.
Despite several repetitions you get only the Deutsche Museum, München, and the Museo nazionale della scienza e della tecnologia, Milan. In other trials, the National History Museum, London, and the Swiss Museum of Transport, Lucerne, are cited.
Bitte nennen Sie mir die bedeutendsten europäischen Technik- und Wissenschaftsmuseen.
Deutsches Museum, München, Technoseum Mannheim, Technikmuseum Berlin, Technisches Museum Wien, Technorama, Winterthur, Musée des arts et métiers, Paris, Science Museum, London, Museo nazionale della scienza e della tecnologia, Milan. In other tests appear the Deutsche Meeresmuseum, Stralsund, the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, Washington, D.C., the National History Museum, London, the Air Force Museum, Ohio. The results are chaotic. Technorama has not been a museum for many years.
Veuillez me citer les musées techniques et scientifiques européens les plus importants.
The result is largely nonsensical: Le Louvre, Paris, British Museum, London, Musée de la reine Sofia, Madrid, Colisée, Rome. Further in other trials: Deutsches Museum, München, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Museo de las Ciencias-Principe-Felipe, Valence, Palais de la découverte Paris, Musée des arts et métiers, Paris, sometimes also museums in Estland and Rumänien.
Are there any technology and science museums in Europe with significant computer collections?
Only one museum appears: National Museum of Science and Technology, Stockholm. Further attempts mention the computer museum NAM-IP, Namur, Belgium, the Apple Museum, Prague, and a Danish museum.
Gibt es in Europa Technik- und Wissenschaftsmuseen mit bedeutenden Computersammlungen?
The result is poor: Deutsches Technikmuseum, Berlin, Enter, Solothurn. Every now and then, only the Deutsches Museum, Munich, is listed.
Existe-t-il en Europe des musées techniques et scientifiques abritant d’importantes collections d’ordinateurs ?
3x no information is available, 1x the Musée des arts et métiers, Paris, is mentioned. 1x Bing invents a Musée national des ordinateurs et la technique, Solothurn. This museum is private and moves to Derendingen.
Why are there so few German-speaking Turing laureates?
No solution.
Warum gibt es so wenige deutschsprachige Turingpreisträger?
No solution. In another case, Peter Naur, Denmark, is mentioned.
Pourquoi y a-t-il si peu de lauréats germanophones du Prix Turing ?
No solution.
Among Europe’s leading technology and science museums are the Science Museum in London, the Deutsches Museum in Berlin, the Musée des arts et métiers in Paris, and the Technisches Museum Wien. These four museums also have significant computer collections. The Computer History Museum in Mountain View and the Heinz Nixdorf Museumsforum in Paderborn are considered the world’s largest computer museums. The National Museum of Computing in Bletchley Park is also very important. The Arithmeum in Bonn also should be mentioned. Microsoft Bing names partly unusual and completely unknown museums, important museums are missing. The only German-speaking Turing award winner is Niklaus Wirth (ETH Zurich).
References
Herbert Bruderer: Milestones in Analog and Digital Computing, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, Cham, 3rd edition 2020, 2 volumes, 2113 pages, 715 illustrations, 151 tables, translated from the German by John McMinn, https://www.springer.com/de/book/9783030409739
Bruderer, Herbert: Meilensteine der Rechentechnik, De Gruyter Oldenbourg, Berlin/Boston, 3. Auflage 2020, Band 1, 970 Seiten, 577 Abbildungen, 114 Tabellen, https://www.degruyter.com/view/title/567028?rskey=xoRERF&result=7
Bruderer, Herbert: Meilensteine der Rechentechnik, De Gruyter Oldenbourg, Berlin/Boston, 3. Auflage 2020, Band 2, 1055 Seiten, 138 Abbildungen, 37 Tabellen, https://www.degruyter.com/view/title/567221?rskey=A8Y4Gb&result=4
Herbert Bruderer (herbert.bruderer@bluewin.ch; bruderer@retired.ethz.ch) is a retired lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich and a historian of technology.
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