I didn't bring my son to a museum to look at screens

Here are the key themes from the Hacker News discussion, along with supporting quotes:

Decline of Hands-On and Tangible Exhibits

A central theme is the perception that museums, particularly science museums, are moving away from physical, hands-on exhibits in favor of screens and digital displays. This shift is seen as a loss of engaging, tactile learning experiences.

• “It’s not just museums. Schools today also face the challenge of limiting screens in favor of hands-on activities.” - divbzero
• "Mistletoe: Our science museum has dumbed everything down to where truly only a child could enjoy it and they don’t even seem to like it much. When I was a child the exhibits were so different and really interesting to both ages. Now it’s the most homogenized crap imaginable." - Mistletoe
• "I didn't bring my niece to a museum to look at a screen..." - Theodores
• "My favourite museums are those that are a huge pile of old shit with some labels telling you what you are looking at. This whole 'hundreds of screens with some odd artifact inbetween' style is just boring." - clausecker
• "Honestly though, I think these kids do want to interact with the real world but lack the chance to. Screens are seductive and safe, but nothing beats the thrill of making something move with your own hands and actually seeing the physics happen." - natalie3p

The Role and Perception of Science Museums vs. Art Museums

A significant part of the discussion revolves around the perceived difference in how science museums and art museums are treated and designed. Many users feel science museums are increasingly infantilized and geared solely towards children, while art museums are often seen as more serious or for adults.

• "One of my longstanding peeves is that art museums are treated as serious places for grown-ups but science museums and zoos are treated as places for kids." - parpfish
• "vel0city: Just for clarification, are you upset that art museums tend to be less kid-focused, or that science museums and zoos tend to be overly kid focused? Both seem to be things to be potentially concerned about IMO."
• "kccqzy: I didn't understand art as a kid. You need experience, culture, history, and often at least a cursory understanding of religion to understand art. Art is an expression by the artist. It is necessary to understand the milieu of the artist first. Science is universal. It crosses time and language barriers. The underlying physical principles are immutable. Kids can be expected to understand science museum exhibits after a few minutes of explanation. You can't explain the historical and social context behind a painting in just a few minutes to a kid."
• "badgersnake: Same, not everything should be for kids. It’s become pretty evident that the adult population doesn’t know science."

"Adults Only" Nights as a Symptom of the Problem

The trend of "adults only" nights at science museums is discussed as a way to inject adult appeal, but many feel this is a superficial fix that doesn't address the underlying issue of exhibits themselves being "dumbed down." The addition of alcohol is seen as a way to cater to an adult audience without providing adult-level content.

• "greyb: I get the economics of it for science museums, but at least science museums in major cities tend to have adults-only nights now."
• "MarkusQ: Where the adults get to act like kids and drink. They don't add substance to the exhibits, they don't attempt to educate, they just attempt to tap an adjacent market for the same dumbed down slop."
• "parpfish: Agreed. They make it into a space for adults by simply removing kids and adding beer. It’s good for a casual date, but you don’t actually get adult level content."
• "Tl;dr You could get drunk while you’re watching Zoboomafoo, but that doesn’t suddenly make it it for adults the way that an Attenborough documentary is." - parpfish
• "UtopiaPunk: I've seen a few different science museums and the like have a special day of the week where they stay open later and are 21+. Booze is involved. I've never been, but it seems like it could be a fun time."
• "IAmBroom: Pittsburgh's Science Center has over-21 events all the time. They're very popular."

The Challenges of Maintaining Physical Exhibits and the Rise of Screens

Several users highlight the practical difficulties and costs associated with maintaining interactive physical exhibits, suggesting this is a primary driver for the increased use of screens. Screens are perceived as potentially cheaper to maintain and easier to update.

• "AndrewLiptak: This is probably the key reason why there are so many screens in this particular museum: he answers his own question. Physical items, especially things with motion, will degrade with time and use, and maintenance can get really expensive."
• "randycupertino: Exactly. It's easier and cheaper for the museum to change exhibits when they just update the screen vs swapping out a hands on exhibit. Screens also use floor space and are easier to maintain."
• "crazygringo: To be fair, that's what I remember children's museums being like in the 1980s as well. A significant number of exhibits would be temporarily out of order on any given day. I don't think screens are responsible for that. Maintaining physical exhibits that can survive constant physical contact with kids is hard."
• "dcminter: Yup. Tim Hunkin went for a last look around his Secret Life of the Home exhibition¹ at the London Science Museum and quite a few things were out of order; this may be because the exhibit was imminently closing, but my impression is that that's just the deal with mechanical exhibits - they break more often than the digital ones. Very likely it's one reason the screens are at the forefront."
• "kylestetz: The truth is that the traveling exhibits (Body Worlds, Harry Potter, etc.) make a lot more money for them and do not require the ongoing maintenance burden. They have a reduced ability to design the exhibits as precisely as they used to and the physical stuff takes a tremendous amount of work and expertise to do well."

The Nature of Content and Information Delivery

There's a critique of how science is presented in museums, particularly the shift towards "pop-science" or superficial facts over deeper explanations. The quality of signage and the lack of curated, in-depth information are also points of contention.

• "parpfish: ...I want the actual exhibits and content to be able to teach things to adults and not just signs with “wacky trivia” meant to engage kids for two seconds while they sprint to the next thing that has a button for them to push (e.g., one of the worst genre of “wacky facts” are stupid size comparisons about how things are bigger than X football fields or Y school busses)." - parpfish
• "kridsdale1: I really soured on the whole “wow can you believe this crazy science fact” targeted for adults kind of media when Instagram and Subreddits like “I Fucking Love Science” got massively popular."
• "cogman10: What you need if you really want an education is a tour by a curator that can dive into the exhibits in age appropriate levels (and maybe even answer some questions). It often seems like these adult themed exhibits are generally just a bunch of signs which are copy/pasted from wikipedia."
• "dcminter: It drives me absolutely bananas that the "interpretation" (fancy museum word for "signs") at science museums is so parsimonious. Some fascinating device vital to the history of an important branch of science will have a brief paragraph about the person who invented it, nothing about what it's for, and then just a date and the device name."

The Role of Technology and Screens: Nuance and Implementation

While many lament the prevalence of screens, some users acknowledge that technology can have a place if implemented thoughtfully and serve a purpose beyond mere flashiness. The key is how well these digital elements are integrated and whether they enhance or detract from the core mission.

• "OkayPhysicist: Sure, a tesla coil is flashy and a pretty awesome (in the biblical sense) demonstration of man's harnessing of electricity, but they don't really tell you much about how electricity works. A simple snap-together circuit with a battery, some wires, and some incandescent light bulbs does a much better job of that."
• "theodores: ...My 8 year old crash test dummy still enjoyed the screens, which was no surprise given that she is addicted to her tablet."
• "AndrewLiptak: ...But you have to make sure that you're calibrating for your audience: most of the people using that likely won't have her experience or knowledge, and digging deeper and deeper into detail might be lost on most of their audience."
• "AndrewLiptak: ...digital interactives can also be swapped out quite a bit more quickly: if you have a new exhibit that you're putting in for a short amount of time, it might make more sense to have something that doesn't cost a lot if it's only going to run for months, rather than years."
• "theogainey: I have personally made several interactive displays/exhibits for work. Yeah there are plenty of poorly made ones out there, but speaking from experience a good one truly does turns a museum into something a child is excited to visit."
• "A4ET8a8uTh0_v2: ...That was genuinely well done and awe-inspiring. The rest of the stuff that is basically just a lame tablet app is a waste of my ( and my kids )time and, well, money."
• "smj-edison: A bit of a tangent, but has modern maker culture made it easier to make and maintain exhibits? Things like 3D printing, version control, Arduinos, etc."

Decline in Overall Quality and Maintenance

Beyond the screen issue, there's a sentiment that many museums have simply declined in quality and maintenance, leading to broken exhibits and a general feeling of neglect.

• "Theodores: ...I took my niece around the Natural History Museum in London recently, taking in the new 'Darwin' extension first. It was a liminal space of sorts with lots of broken screens. The tech had not been updated in a decade or more so you had Adobe Flash Player running, complete with the crash pop-up messages to let you know what version of Flash they were updated to."
• "Theodores: ...we did go to the earthquake room. It is modelled on a Japanese shop and shakes every few minutes. Shakes is being kind. A garden swing or any wheeled vehicle does a better simulation, clearly the hydraulics have lost some of their zest."
• "Theodores: ...But we did go to the earthquake room. It is modelled on a Japanese shop and shakes every few minutes. Shakes is being kind. A garden swing or any wheeled vehicle does a better simulation, clearly the hydraulics have lost some of their zest."
• "amatecha: Same thing at Science World, luckily they have a lot of tangible artifacts, but a ton of computers/displays. Last time I went (<6mo ago) a bunch of displays/stations in the most-hyped exhibit were non-functional due to hardware faults. :\"

Vandalism and Destruction of Exhibits

A more severe issue raised is the intentional destruction or abuse of exhibits by visitors, sometimes driven by sheer curiosity or malicious intent, contributing to the wear and tear of physical displays.

• "mandevil: I was a tour guide at the National Air and Space Museum for a dozen years. I still remember seeing the exhibit plans the curators had, which called for a then 90-year old airplane (a Curtiss JN-4) to be mounted such that people could look down over it from the balcony. All of us docents who saw that immediately said "what about the kids who will drop pennies onto that precious canvas and wood thing to break it?" Six months after the exhibit opening the Jenny was removed from that location, never to be returned to that exhibit. Because sometimes museum guests aren't just pushing things too hard, they are actively taking steps to destroy things, just to see if they can get away with it."
• "AndrewLiptak: ...Can confirm. badlibrarian: It's rampant in art museums as well."

The Changing Economics and Business Models of Museums

The financial pressures on museums and the adoption of business models that prioritize revenue, such as traveling exhibits or concessions, are seen as influencing the shift in exhibit strategy.

• "kylestetz: The truth is that the traveling exhibits (Body Worlds, Harry Potter, etc.) make a lot more money for them and do not require the ongoing maintenance burden...The museum is run by people who care deeply about science education and the proliferation of touch screens is something they are sensitive to." - kylestetz
• "elric: 1. Money. Most museums have no money. They either run on donations, on subsidies, or at the whim of wealthy patrons. They are very costly to run, especially the big ones. They are often in prime real estate areas, many require tight climate control, many also require specialised lighting to protect art etc."

Nostalgia and the Evolution of Audience Expectations

Users express nostalgia for past museum experiences and highlight how audience expectations, particularly from younger, digitally-native generations, are influencing museum design and content.

• "Theodores: ...Then you look inside and there are screens everywhere. The brief for the new wing was to have scientists doing classification of specimens in such a way that they were on show, a 'working museum'. But nobody wanted to work in goldfish bowl conditions under the gaze of hordes of kids."
• "AndrewLiptak: Finally, there's nostalgia at play here: I have a ton of fond memories of visiting museums with interactives and huge displays, and I'm glad that I can take my kids to them as well. But I'm also happy to see that these museums aren't stuck in the past and the only thing that they're doing is rehabilitating old exhibits that are decades old or out of date: they still have some of those things, but they're also making sure to bring in new interactives, looking at new scholarship and best practices for museums (because museums aren't static organizations or fields!) to change as audiences change. Like it or not, there are a lot of people who use screens as a way to take in information: museums have to keep abreast of those trends, because if we don't deliver information to people in familiar and accessible ways, they probably won't come in."
• "frozen_Flame: It's disappointing to see but it feels as if to keep a futuristic theme and to provide almost an 'edutainment' environment that a museum feels as though it must implement screens to keep up with the times."