Computer Chronicles

Last updated
Computer Chronicles
Computer Chronicles.jpg
Computer Chronicles logo from the early 1990s
Created by Stewart Cheifet
Presented by Gary Kildall
Jim Warren
Stewart Cheifet
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes428 [1] (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerStewart Cheifet
Running time30 minutes
Original release
Network PBS
Release1983 (1983) 
2002 (2002)

Computer Chronicles (also titled as The Computer Chronicles from 1983 to 1989) is an American half-hour television series that was broadcast on PBS public television from 1983 to 2002 [2] . It documented and explored the personal computer as it grew from its infancy in the early 80's to its rise in the global market at the turn of the 21st century. [3] Episode reviewed a variety of home and business computers, including hardware accessories, software and other consumer computing devices and gadgetry. Often a news-like segment of the show reported on new developments and announcements in the computer industry. A wide range of computing topics were showcased and demonstrated, ranging from anything to business, education, gaming, digital music creation and editing, to the networking and online telecommunication.

Contents

History and overview

Logo as The Computer Chronicles from 1983 to 1989 The Computer Chronicles logo (1983-1989).svg
Logo as The Computer Chronicles from 1983 to 1989

The series was created [4] by Stewart Cheifet (later the show's co-host), who was then the station manager of the College of San Mateo's KCSM-TV (now independent non-commercial KPJK). The show was initially broadcast as a local weekly series beginning in 1981. The show was, at various points in its run, produced by KCSM-TV, WITF-TV in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and KTEH in San Jose. It became a national series on PBS in 1983, running until 2002, with Cheifet as host.

Gary Kildall, founder of the software company Digital Research, served as Cheifet's co-host from 1983 to 1990, providing insights and commentary on products, as well as discussions on the future of the ever-expanding personal computer sphere. After Kildall left the show, Cheifet would serve as solo host from 1991 onward. After Kildall's death in 1994, the show paid tribute to him in a special episode.

Computer Chronicles had several supporting presenters appearing alongside Cheifet, including:

Format

The Computer Chronicles format remained relatively unchanged throughout its run, except perhaps with the noticeable difference in presenting style; originally formal, with Cheifet and the guests wearing business suits (with neckties) customary in the professional workplace in the early 1980s, it evolved by the 1990s into a more relaxed, casual style, with Cheifet and guests adopting the "business casual" style of dress that the Silicon Valley computer industry arguably helped pioneer.

Beginning in 1984, the last five minutes or so featured Random Access, a segment that gave the viewer the latest computer news from the home and business markets. Stewart Cheifet, Janelle Stelson, Maria Gabriel and various other individuals presented the segment. Random Access was discontinued in 1997. The Online Minute, introduced in 1995 and lasting until 1997, gave the viewers certain Web sites that dealt with the episode's topic. It featured Giles Bateman, who designed the show's "Web page" opening sequence that was used from that period up until the show's end.

The opening graphics were changed in 1989, and the show was renamed "Computer Chronicles", omitting the word "The". The graphics were redesigned again in 1995, with the "Web page" graphics designed by Giles Bateman, and redesigned again in 1998 to show clips from the show in a "multiple window" format.

The theme tune from 1983 to 1989 was "Byte by Byte" by Craig Palmer for the Network Music Library. [8] From 1990 until the show's end, the theme song was Zenith, composed for OmniMusic by John Manchester. [9]

Another feature on the show was Stewart's "Pick of the Week", in which he detailed a popular piece of software or gadget on the market that appealed to him and might appeal to the home audience.

From 1994 to 1997, the show was produced by PCTV, based in New Hampshire in cooperation with KCSM-TV. Starting in the fall of 1997 and continuing to its end, the show was produced by KTEH San Jose and Stewart Cheifet Productions.

Availability

The show ended its run in 2002. Almost all episodes of Computer Chronicles have been made available for free download at the Internet Archive. [1] There is also an unofficial YouTube channel with episodes. Many episodes of the show have been dubbed into other languages, including Arabic, French and Spanish.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Kildall</span> American computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur (1942–1994)

Gary Arlen Kildall was an American computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur. During the 1970s, Kildall created the CP/M operating system among other operating systems and programming tools, and subsequently founded Digital Research, Inc. to market and sell his software products. He is considered a pioneer of the personal computer revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CP/M</span> Discontinued family of computer operating systems

CP/M, originally standing for Control Program/Monitor and later Control Program for Microcomputers, is a mass-market operating system created in 1974 for Intel 8080/85-based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc. CP/M is a disk operating system and its purpose is to organize files on a magnetic storage medium, and to load and run programs stored on a disk. Initially confined to single-tasking on 8-bit processors and no more than 64 kilobytes of memory, later versions of CP/M added multi-user variations and were migrated to 16-bit processors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Workstation</span> High-end single-user computer

A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by a single user, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. The term workstation has been used loosely to refer to everything from a mainframe computer terminal to a PC connected to a network, but the most common form refers to the class of hardware offered by several current and defunct companies such as Sun Microsystems, Silicon Graphics, Apollo Computer, DEC, HP, NeXT, and IBM which powered the 3D computer graphics revolution of the late 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital Research</span> Defunct American software company

Digital Research, Inc. was a privately held American software company created by Gary Kildall to market and develop his CP/M operating system and related 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit systems like MP/M, Concurrent DOS, FlexOS, Multiuser DOS, DOS Plus, DR DOS and GEM. It was the first large software company in the microcomputer world. Digital Research was originally based in Pacific Grove, California, later in Monterey, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CP/M-86</span> Discontinued computer operating system for x86 processors

CP/M-86 is a discontinued version of the CP/M operating system that Digital Research (DR) made for the Intel 8086 and Intel 8088. The system commands are the same as in CP/M-80. Executable files used the relocatable .CMD file format. Digital Research also produced a multi-user multitasking operating system compatible with CP/M-86, MP/M-86, which later evolved into Concurrent CP/M-86. When an emulator was added to provide PC DOS compatibility, the system was renamed Concurrent DOS, which later became Multiuser DOS, of which REAL/32 is the latest incarnation. The FlexOS, DOS Plus, and DR DOS families of operating systems started as derivations of Concurrent DOS as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Osborne</span> British computer designer (1939–2003)

Adam Osborne was a British author, software publisher, and computer designer who founded several companies in the United States and elsewhere. He introduced the Osborne 1, the first commercially successful portable computer.

The Screen Savers is an American TV show that aired on TechTV from 1998 to 2005. The show launched concurrently with the channel ZDTV on May 11, 1998. The Screen Savers originally centered on computers, new technologies, and their adaptations in the world. However, after it was taken over by G4, the show became more general-interest oriented and focused somewhat less on technology. The final episode of The Screen Savers aired on March 18, 2005. Repeat episodes continued to air until March 25, 2005, when its replacement program Attack of the Show! began three days later on March 28, 2005. Two spiritual successors to The Screen Savers, This Week in Tech on the TWiT Network with Leo Laporte and Tekzilla on Revision3 with Patrick Norton, were started after the original show concluded. On April 19, 2015, Leo Laporte announced The New Screen Savers, which began airing on TWiT network May 2, 2015.

<i>RobotWar</i> 1981 video game

RobotWar is a programming game written by Silas Warner. This game, along with the companion program RobotWrite, was originally developed in the TUTOR programming language on the PLATO system in the 1970s. Later the game was commercialized and adapted for the Apple II and published by Muse Software in 1981. The premise is that in the distant future of 2002, war was declared hazardous to human health, and now countries settled their differences in a battle arena full of combat robots. As the manual states, "The task set before you is: to program a robot, that no other robot can destroy!"

<i>Click</i> (TV programme) 2000 British TV series or programme

Click is a BBC television programme covering technology news and developments in the world of technology and the Internet, presented by Spencer Kelly and Lara Lewington. It was created by then-BBC presenter Stephen Cole.

KQED is a PBS member television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The station is owned by KQED Inc., alongside fellow PBS station KQEH and NPR member KQED-FM (88.5). The three stations share studios on Mariposa Street in San Francisco's Mission District and transmitter facilities at Sutro Tower.

KQEH, branded on-air as KQED Plus, is a PBS member television station licensed to San Jose, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The station is owned by KQED Inc., alongside fellow PBS station KQED and NPR member KQED-FM (88.5) in San Francisco. The three stations share studios on Mariposa Street in San Francisco's Mission District and transmitter facilities atop Sutro Tower; until January 17, 2018, KQEH's transmitter was located atop Monument Peak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stewart Cheifet</span> American television presenter, producer and journalist

Stewart Cheifet is an American television presenter, best known for his work presenting and producing Computer Chronicles and Net Cafe. He has also worked in other reporting positions for PBS and ABC, and others. Raised in Philadelphia, he attended Central High School and graduated from the University of Southern California in 1960 with a degree in Mathematics and Psychology and went on to graduate from Harvard Law School. Cheifet taught journalism classes at the Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno.

CNET Video is a San Francisco and New York based network showing original programming catering to the niche market of technology enthusiasts, operated by Red Ventures through their CNET brand. CNET Video originated as the television program production arm of CNET Networks in the United States, producing programs starting in the mid-to-late 1990s. It was CNET Networks' first project. Technology-themed television shows produced by CNET Video also aired on G4 in. CNET Video is a 2012 Technology People's Voice Webby Award Winner.On July 24, 2013, CNET Video launched a new CNET Video+ app for ,and Xbox SmartGlass.

Bits and Bytes was the name of two Canadian educational television series produced by TVOntario that taught the basics of how to use a personal computer.

Net Cafe was a US television series documenting the internet boom of the late 1990s. It was broadcast from 1996 to 2002 and hosted by Stewart Cheifet, Jane Wither, and Andrew deVries. The show was effectively a spin-off of the PBS series Computer Chronicles.

George Morrow was part of the early microcomputer industry in the United States. Morrow promoted and improved the S-100 bus used in many early microcomputers. Called "one of the microcomputer industry's iconoclasts" by Richard Dalton in the Whole Earth Software Catalog, Morrow ran his own computer business, Thinker Toys, Inc., later Morrow Designs. He was also a member of the Homebrew Computer Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of personal computers</span>

The history of the personal computer as a mass-market consumer electronic device began with the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s. A personal computer is one intended for interactive individual use, as opposed to a mainframe computer where the end user's requests are filtered through operating staff, or a time-sharing system in which one large processor is shared by many individuals. After the development of the microprocessor, individual personal computers were low enough in cost that they eventually became affordable consumer goods. Early personal computers – generally called microcomputers – were sold often in electronic kit form and in limited numbers, and were of interest mostly to hobbyists and technicians.

<i>Breakfast</i> (New Zealand TV programme) New Zealand news TV programme

Breakfast is a New Zealand morning news and talk show airing weekday mornings on TVNZ 1, produced by 1News. Debuting on 11 August 1997, it was the first of its genre in New Zealand. It contains a mixture of breaking news, news, sport, weather and feature items. Originally a two-hour programme, it was expanded to three hours in 2012. It is currently presented by Jenny-May Clarkson, Daniel Faitaua, Anna Burns-Francis and Chris Chang.

This article presents a timeline of events in the history of 16-bit x86 DOS-family disk operating systems from 1980 to present. Non-x86 operating systems named "DOS" are not part of the scope of this timeline.

References

  1. 1 2 Stanley, Doug (July 21, 2003). "Fun with Broadband". Knight Ridder Tribune Business News. Tribune Business News. p. 1.
  2. Ditta, Shehraz. "Computer Chronicles and Net Café". stquantum.com. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  3. TV Guide
  4. Ditta, Shehraz. "Computer Chronicles: History". stquantum.com. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  5. "News Team - WGAL News 8". WGAL. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  6. "Life Fully Lived: Celebrity in MY House--Janelle Stelson". 19 April 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  7. Ditta, Shehraz. "Computer Chronicles: Presenters". stquantum.com. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  8. Palmer, Craig (1983). Byte by Byte. Network Music Library.
  9. Manchester, John (1980). Zenith. OmniMusic.