Exploring St. Petersburg: Yandex Museum of Vintage Computers

Located on Nevsky Pr. 68A, which is not far from ITMO’s Lomonosova 9 campus, Yandex Museum is a tiny but really cool venue. Originally a store aimed at acquainting people with several of the company’s technologies and selling some of its products – with the addition of a small exhibition of old computers, it eventually became more associated with the latter. Nowadays, if you were to come to St. Petersburg’s Yandex Museum, you’ll most probably find more visitors at the far corner that’s packed with old computers and consoles than in the much more spacious area with the company’s actual products.

The museum’s collection features a few dozen items, mostly old digital devices plus several mechanical ones. Among them are such famous computers as the 8-bit Commodore 64 (the best-selling computer model of all time, according to the Guinness World Records, with over 15 million items sold), Atari 800XL (the most popular product by Atari that can be called one of the first gaming computers), and ZX Spectrum (a legendary device that still has a huge following), as well as old gaming consoles. Mechanical devices are represented by old adding machines. Apart from the permanent exhibition, the museum also does temporary ones; for example, the currently running exhibition showcases a collection of various pointing devices.

So, what makes Yandex Museum a place that you’d want to write about? Despite its miniscule size (the entire exhibition takes up an area that is less than that of an average classroom), there’s actually a lot to do there.

First off, all of the exhibits are not just operational and running – you are encouraged to try them out. Which is a true blessing for anyone interested in how things work, or those simply frustrated with all the “do not touch” signs in regular museums. Working a bit on a computer that was produced before you were even born is quite a unique experience, something that gives you a feel of computer technology as it was at the dawn of the Digital Age – and tracing its development by going from one model to another shows you how something that was once almost magical gradually became something completely mundane. 

Another great thing about being able to try all these old models is getting a totally different user experience, in terms of both hardware and software. Typing on a few old keyboards made me want to get one for myself, and looking at how neat and concise old operating systems were encouraged me to start reading into digital decluttering. Seriously, all those old designs make you wonder why contemporary computers look so unoriginal and simply boring.

About a third of the exhibited devices have games running, which is yet another of the museum’s attractions. Same as with the machines themselves, this gives you a good opportunity to take a look at what games used to be and how they developed – or simply enjoy yourself by completing a few levels of an old gaming classic. By the way, some of the consoles have two controllers connected, so you can even try playing something with a friend – or against any other visitor.

Finally, there’s one thing I recommend doing last, just before you leave the museum. A bit away from the core exhibition is a single stall with mechanical adding machines. Ask the museum’s staff (most of them have a good command of English) to show you how to work with one – interesting as it will seem, this demonstration will also make you feel really grateful for how easy computing has now become. 

To sum up, Yandex Museum is definitely a place worth visiting. For further information as well as the schedule of temporary exhibitions and events, check the museum’s website and VK community (in Russian).