Silicon Valley now has a museum dedicated to the human penchant for making objects to augment our already remarkable brains, in a continuum from the dawn of the abacus to the continuing evolution of the Internet.

"If you love baseball, you have Cooperstown; if you love art, you have the Louvre," said John Hollar, president of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.

"Now if you love computing, you have a place to go," said Hollar, who presided over the museum's permanent opening Thursday with an exhibition titled "Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing."

With more than 1,100 objects, video displays and other interactive offerings, spread over 25,000 square feet of exhibition space, Hollar said a quick browser could get the gist of the show in 45 minutes while the aficionado could spend hours poring over the exhibits....