Skip to main content
DaftnDirect
Honored Contributor
June 27, 2018
Question

BBC Computer Literacy Archive released - TV Programmes & Software from a magical past

For anyone who lived through the home computer revolution of the 80s, particularly in the UK, you'll probably be like me and fondly remember programmes like Making the Most of the Micro & Micro Live etc.

Well all that computer literacy stuff has been made available, 267 TV programmes in total, along with BBC Micro programmes

….and you can run 166 BBC Micro software programs that appeared on the shows... in your browser! I'm transported back to my teens :)


https://computer-literacy-project.pilots.bbcconnectedstudio.co.uk/programmes

    16 replies

    LZoltowski
    Inspiring
    June 27, 2018
    Wow, amazing .. thanks for the link.
    Edit: Moved it to Off-Topic
    Core i7-7700k @ 4.9 Ghz | 32 GB DDR4 Corsair Vengeance @ 3000Mhz | 2x 1TB Samsung Evo | 2x 4GB WD Black ASUS MAXIMUS IX HERO | MSI AERO GTX 1080 OC @ 2000Mhz | Corsair Carbide Series 400C White (RGB FTW!) Be kind to one another :)
    DaftnDirectAuthor
    Honored Contributor
    June 27, 2018

    Yep, hopefully the TV programmes aren't region locked to the UK, somewhere in there are interviews with a certain Bill Gates and Steve Wozniak amongst others.


    They're full of optimism of what computers could and would be able to do... loved that stuff.

    13700K, RTX 4070 Ti, Asus ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming, Corsair H150i Capellix, 64GB Corsair Vengence DDR5, Corsair 5000D Airflow, 4TB Samsung 870 , 2TB Samsung 990 Pro x 2, DK2, CV1, Rift-S, Quest, 2, 3, Pro, Windows 11 Pro 24H2 (10.0.26100)
    Tadin
    Up and Coming
    June 27, 2018
    Got my BBC Micro when i was 13. I think that more than anything else set the course for the rest of my computer nerdy life :smiley:

    DaftnDirectAuthor
    Honored Contributor
    June 27, 2018


    Tadin said:

    Got my BBC Micro when i was 13. I think that more than anything else set the course for the rest of my computer nerdy life :smiley:




    I had a Speccy which I loved to bits, but I think I was secretly a bit jealous of the Beeb's proper keyboard.... so much easier for programming,  and of course Elite, jealous at least until it appeared in ZX form. Who knew it would have been reimagined from that BBC origin as one of the most popular VR experiences.

    13700K, RTX 4070 Ti, Asus ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming, Corsair H150i Capellix, 64GB Corsair Vengence DDR5, Corsair 5000D Airflow, 4TB Samsung 870 , 2TB Samsung 990 Pro x 2, DK2, CV1, Rift-S, Quest, 2, 3, Pro, Windows 11 Pro 24H2 (10.0.26100)
    lensmandave
    Honored Contributor
    June 27, 2018
    Great heads up! Cheers. I remember clearly watching one episode on graphics and being boggled by a 3D wire frame image of a box spinning on the screen :)
    Intel Core i7 6700K @ 4.5GHz. Asus-Z170-PRO MB - Nvidia RTX 3080 ti - 16GB DDR4 2666MHZ HYPERX SAVAGE.
    DaftnDirectAuthor
    Honored Contributor
    June 27, 2018

    lensmandave said:

    Great heads up! Cheers. I remember clearly watching one episode on graphics and being boggled by a 3D wire frame image of a box spinning on the screen :)



    There's a wireframe rotating house under the software tab on that website... maybe it was that.


    Incidentally the browser emulator doesn't seem to work on IE but is ok in Edge, haven't checked Chrome.

    13700K, RTX 4070 Ti, Asus ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming, Corsair H150i Capellix, 64GB Corsair Vengence DDR5, Corsair 5000D Airflow, 4TB Samsung 870 , 2TB Samsung 990 Pro x 2, DK2, CV1, Rift-S, Quest, 2, 3, Pro, Windows 11 Pro 24H2 (10.0.26100)
    Zenbane
    Zenbane
    Honored Contributor
    June 27, 2018
    Really love this stuff!

    Going to hijack the topic a bit,

    In the first video (The Silicon Factor) they demonstrate the emerging power of the computer as a tool that can be used to help Industry. They give a very simple and practical example with the beginnings of the Word Processor.

    A secretary simply types a letter and the computer looks up every employees data and automatically inserts their information, auto-creating the mailing label or salutation for each employee that these letters will go out to.

    After presenting this example - which illustrates how computers can make daily life easier - we have a quote from someone saying that, "The computer is going to become one of the most powerful pieces of technology on Earth."

    In hindsight we can see that they were correct. Word Processors and everything else related to Home Office Suite software (including Tax Software) is something that can be used globally and daily both for major industry and personal use. It's what makes computers "essential" as part of the Global Infrastructure.

    There's much more to the Global Infrastructure than mere Office Suite technology, but the point is that "Entertainment" isn't what drove the interest nor the global predictions. This is why I'm always harping on about how: VR is not just for video games; VR does not need a Killer App; Entertainment alone is not what is going to cause VR to thrive globally as a daily tool.

    The cellphone took the same approach. It made the daily act of communication so much easier (no different than how a Word Processor makes printing hundreds of thousands of individual mailing labels easy). It began with making Phone communication mobile, then it made it simple (i.e. Text Messaging).

    The interesting thing about these BBC vids is that they do stress how computer technology had already been around for years up to this point. But once their practical application grew to something that we can now see as the Global Infrastructure, suddenly the rise to power of the PC was born.

    Anywho, great stuff. I plan to watch them all over time. I love to have stuff like this going while writing code. Thanks for sharing this, DnD!

    DaftnDirectAuthor
    Honored Contributor
    June 27, 2018
    I remember when our design office started moving into the digital age... CAD software was regarded is absolute wizardry and we had a very early McDonnell Douglas GDS system.
    It wasnt until a few years after that we started getting PCs on our desks and there were a few of the older brigade who were quite resistant to having to do there own typing! How things have changed.
    13700K, RTX 4070 Ti, Asus ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming, Corsair H150i Capellix, 64GB Corsair Vengence DDR5, Corsair 5000D Airflow, 4TB Samsung 870 , 2TB Samsung 990 Pro x 2, DK2, CV1, Rift-S, Quest, 2, 3, Pro, Windows 11 Pro 24H2 (10.0.26100)
    Zenbane
    Zenbane
    Honored Contributor
    June 27, 2018
    Love that example, DnD. Even though I don't see it talked about much in VR groups, last year I saw commercial developers (e.g. people who design and construct physical office buildings) demo'ing VR extensions to CAD software. I forgot which vendor it was, but anyone can Google "CAD VR" and see it as an already functional technology.

    Random example:

    Anonymous
    June 27, 2018

    DaftnDirect said:


    Tadin said:

    Got my BBC Micro when i was 13. I think that more than anything else set the course for the rest of my computer nerdy life :smiley:




    I had a Speccy which I loved to bits, but I think I was secretly a bit jealous of the Beeb's proper keyboard.... so much easier for programming,  and of course Elite, jealous at least until it appeared in ZX form. Who knew it would have been reimagined from that BBC origin as one of the most popular VR experiences.




    All the best people owned a Speccy back in the day! B)
    Show more replies
    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement