The Computer Music toy was made in the late 1970s by the Japanese company Sankyo. The company started up following the Second World War and used the latest technologies to reduce manufacturing costs and to produce complex pieces of machinery including music boxes, cassette recorders and robotics.

Computer Music is based on the principle of traditional Swiss music boxes, and it is a good example of new technology being used to update a traditional toy. The battery-operated machine works by reading holes in the strips of paper as notes, which are then played aloud. The dial on the side controls the speed at which the machine reads the notes, thereby increasing or decreasing the tempo of the music. Included with the machine are pre-punched strips with popular tunes such as "Twinkle twinkle little star", as well as blank strips and a hole punch for children to compose their own tunes.