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The Information Age: A day out for grown-up children?

Will the Science Museum's new gallery keep the kids quiet this Xmas?

Missing links

If you're feeling adventurous, you can also try your hand at network planning, siting cell towers in London and trying to get the best coverage in the time allowed, while elsewhere you can see the sort of tickers that relayed the details of the Wall Street Crash, or learn about the use of radio to assist the Titanic, and the apprehension of the first criminal via telegraph.

Try your hand at planning a cell network, in a race against the clock

Try your hand at planning a cell network in a race against the clock

Each individual part of the exhibition is pretty well organised; there's a good mix of the social, the technical and the historical, and plenty of things to press or play with. There's plenty of context, and it's about as far from being a collection of dusty old objects as it can be.

And, at least in the Cell, Web and Exchange sections I found plenty of nostalgia. The phone we had on the wall in the 1970s seems an insubstantial thing now; I'd completely forgotten about some of the mobile tech that was on display, and the array of home computers brought back many memories.

Speaking peace unto the nation: this was 2LO

As a kid, this seemed like a substantial piece of kit – it's the lightest handset I've picked up for ages (left) and my teenage years, mounted on a wall in a museum (right)

Above the main space, a walkway runs through all the zones, with a display in each on that explains how information is transmitted in each of the networks. But – and it's a point made by one of the other visitors – by and large, the individual zones aren't linked. Yes, they can tell their own stories to a great degree, but they can also be linked – the role of satellites isn't just TV and GPS.

For example, they are crucial to telephony and some data networks, while cables are still fundamental to high speed internet, the technology of which is revolutionising broadcast news-gathering, and so on. Drawing those threads together would, I think, make the exhibition even more interesting.

Plan your trip

I managed to spend two hours easily in the gallery, and I don't think I pressed every button, listened to or watched every bit of media. So, there's plenty to do. But I suspect that it will hold the interest of older visitors rather more than of children, something borne out by my chats to other visitors. The museum site lists it as for 11+, though I'm not sure how many teens, for example, will want to sit down and listen to stories about working for Lyons.

InfoAge+ app, features four creative challenges to help you get more from your visit

InfoAge+ app features four creative challenges to help you get more from your visit

The accompanying app, with its tasks and games based on the exhibits, will help with that – but that too is something that could perhaps be signposted better to those who just wander in. For schools, there are also related activities, including a coding workshop, and one on building radio, which both tie in to the national curriculum.

Over all? For the Reg reader looking for a day out, it's a great addition to the Science Museum; if you're taking the kids, download the iOS or Android app in advance. ®

Bootnote: We have a fair few fans of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop reading El Reg, and the second floor also currently hosts a much smaller exhibition, Oramics to Electronica, focusing on Daphne Oram's work on her Oramics machine, with some other exhibits from the workshop on show too. ®

The Information Age is a free, permanent exhibition, open seven days a week from 10:00-18:00 (last entrance 17:15). More information at the Science Museum.

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