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Ask HN: Do you remember Computer Chronicles?

20 points by chatterhead ↗ HN
Was the best show about technology! Watching it now isn't just a trip down memory lane it's also insightful as to what we are still working on that we thought we had nailed then. (VR!)

Oh, and you can still watch it - all for free!

https://archive.org/details/computerchronicles?tab=collection

17 comments

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rudolfwinestock
Also available on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/user/ComputerChroniclesYT

I admit that your archive link may be a better source.

retrocryptid
According to Cheffet, all the CC content on YouTube is pirated. Only the archive.org content is properly licensed.

Don't worry though, I made the same mistake a few years ago, but Stuart was nice enough to tell me not to share YT links of the content without being overly dramatic about it.

classichasclass
As a kid, yeah. Most of it went way over my head at the time, but it's great to watch it knowing what I know now.
01100011
I'm sure most nerds over 40 remember this show. I didn't watch it religiously but I do remember it fondly. It seemed more targeted towards business users and didn't cover much for hobbyists(i.e. commodore, apple ii, etc). I love the mellow energy of that show.
classichasclass
There were some episodes on home computers, but yes, not the majority. They got more consumer-oriented as time went on though.
stolenmerch
I was so incredibly hungry for any and all personal computer content as a kid in the 80s that I'd stay up for Computer Chronicles on Sunday nights just to sit through 20 minutes of dry discussions of financial software to catch a 30 second B-roll of some guy dialing into a bank with their Compaq Portable. It was sublime.
EamonnMR
I don't remember it, but it's the sort of thing I run across.
Wevah
I was only introduced to it in the past few years, though I would have absolutely been in its target audience.
retrocryptid
I absolutely remember Computer Chronicles, Stuart Cheffet and Gary Kildall. When I was a kid monkeying with home computers, I knew home computers were a thing because there was a TV show about them.

I watched a few episodes on archive.org a few years ago. Thx for reminding me they're all still there.

vparikh
Yea - I watched them as a kid every week. It was so inspiring. I'll never forget the day they compared the Commodore Amiga, Atari ST. That was they day I knew computers will change not only business but music industry, movies and entertainment in general.

That was the day I decided I was going to buy an Amiga and spent the next three years cooking up all kinds of schemes to make money - mowing lawns, paper routes, worked weekends at the movie theater and odd jobs around the neighborhood.

I took me three years to muscle together $1800 ($4300 in today's money) in in 1989 to buy my Amiga 2000HD. My parents thought I was crazy but let me do it. It led me to my love for programming and the career and lifestyle I lead today.

Amazing show - too bad we don't have shows like this today!

sys_64738
The American version of Micro Live.