--- title: Computer says hello - computer history at Industriemuseum in Ghent canonical: https://0110.be/posts/Computer_says_hello_-_computer_history_at_Industriemuseum_in_Ghent markdown_url: https://0110.be/posts/Computer_says_hello_-_computer_history_at_Industriemuseum_in_Ghent.md id: 590 published_at: '2026-11-11T00:00:00Z' updated_at: '2026-11-11T22:02:38Z' author: Joren tags: - name: GhentCDH markdown_url: https://0110.be/tags/GhentCDH.md - name: Harde waren markdown_url: https://0110.be/tags/Harde%20waren.md - name: Presentation markdown_url: https://0110.be/tags/Presentation.md - name: UGent markdown_url: https://0110.be/tags/UGent.md --- # Computer says hello - computer history at Industriemuseum in Ghent On 14 November, the Industriemuseum in Ghent opens [Computer says hello](https://www.industriemuseum.be/nl/agenda/expo-computer-says-hello), a temporary exhibition on computer history. It covers seventy years of computers and their influence on our lives and work, with particular attention to Belgian companies and stories. Expect machines, software, games and sounds, from early computers to the smartphone. I served on the advisory board for the exhibition. It was interesting to see how an exhibition takes shape and to follow the process from the other side. My fellow board members and I suggested plenty of ideas, most of which promptly ended up on the pile marked "interesting, but...". My main interest is computing for music, so I nudged things a little in that direction. Surprisingly, the idea survived the idea bloodbath, and some music computing hardware found its way into the exhibition. The [NeXTcube I restored at IPEM](https://0110.be/posts/Electronic_Music_and_the_NeXTcube_-_Running_MAX_on_the_IRCAM_Musical_Workstation) is part of the exhibition, together with the Ariel ISPW soundcard. This combination was one of the first commercially available systems capable of generating and processing CD-quality sound in real time. Developed at IRCAM, the hardware and an early version of MAX, a graphical programming environment for music, formed the IRCAM Musical Workstation. It allowed musicians to build interactive instruments in software, with sound responding as they played. The exhibition also features an influential early digital synthesizer: the Yamaha DX7 from [IPEM's collection of electronic music instruments](https://xrhil.ugent.be/projects/#heritageinstruments). It is nice to see these instruments become part of a wider story about computing.
Computer says hello exhibition campaign image
Fig: Computer says hello. Campaign image by Victor Verhelst and Corbin Mahieu.

Anyhow, the exhibition runs until **26 September 2027**. If you are in Ghent, go have a look! See the [exhibition page for practical information and tickets](https://www.industriemuseum.be/nl/agenda/expo-computer-says-hello).