Bernard Falk takes a layman's view of what the silicon chip is, how it's made and how it works. From a Chicago millionaire's home, to a psychiatric hospital in Scotland, he looks at how this new technology is being used and what it could be used for in the future.
By using microelectronics in its products or in production, a company can improve its competitiveness enormously, however are Britain's fragile industrial relations capable of adjusting to the changes the new technology will bring? Bernard Falk reports from Holland, Sweden and Norway to put the British position into perspective.
Bernard Falk visits places already using silicon chip technology to find out what could be in store for white collar, blue collar and professional workers in the next decade. How must our attitudes change if we are to enjoy the benefits of this new revolution and not suffer its worst effects?
Software control is said to be the key to the importance of the micro. But what does that mean? And how are microelectronics helping small companies to stay competitive at a difficult time?
It is said that companies must think micro, because if they don't, others will. But how can a micro be introduced into a new product? And how much risk is there? An electronic piano tuner, a greenhouse controller, a tape measure, and a digital read-out for machine tools help show what is involved.
Britain's industrial survival may depend on the readiness of companies to adopt flexible, computer-based manfacturing methods. But flexibility is not just a matter of equipment. It's also a question of attitudes and the ability to come to terms with the human effects of change.
Laser supermarket check-outs, new time clocks at British Leyland, and Viewdata terminals in the local garage are only the tips of a number of electronic icebergs-networks of information links which are beginning, for good or ill, to have a far-reaching effect on the high street and on white-collar jobs in industry.
The office is ripe for major changes and there have already been disputes over the introduction of new equipment such as word processors. How do people react to the micro? Is the spread of the new technology inevitable?
"Don't expect the computer revolution to happen tomorrow, it's going on all around us." Chris Serle, Ian McNaught-Davis and Gill Nevill begin their exploration of the world of Information Science and ask: "What can computers do for us? Who is using them now, and where is this technology likely to lead?"
Even the most elaborate and sophisticated computer programs are made up of only a few types of relatively simple steps. The art of computer programming lies in combining these into ever more complex combinations.
The difficulty of communicating with computers is that they are machines and we are people. The common language we share can turn out to be a lot more like English than we might expect.
Storing information is what the great majority of computers are used for. But how much can they hold, and how can the stored information be easily retrieved?
The greatest public impact of information technology is likely to be in the provision of new means of communication.
For many people games, with their elaborate visual displays, are the most commonly encountered aspect of computer technology. But generating sound and pictures from a computer is no different to manipulating text.
Training space-shuttle pilots, or testing bridges to destruction, is normally too costly or too dangerous to do on the real thing. But by giving a computer an exact description of how a complicated system behaves, it can mimic anything from the British economy to the world's weather.
In spite of years of investment in the development of intelligent machines, computer scientists are still a long way from equalling human thought, let alone surpassing it. The future, however, may yet present us with great surprises.
By far the greatest number of computers with which we will come into contact in the future will be invisible. They will be the microprocessors built into many of our domestic appliances, replacing many of the mechanical systems that we use today, with greatly improved reliability, flexibility, and at low cost.
Information technology has the power to change the face of our society completely by taking over the work of a large majority of the population. But will this be allowed to happen, and which aspects of our economic life are most likely to be affected?
Richard Gomm, almost completely disabled from birth, uses a microcomputer to control equipment around his room, to write philosophy and poetry and to entertain himself. For him it's a lifeline. Ian McNaught-Davis begins a systematic look at how micros are used and at how to use them. Assisted by John Coll he looks at how a simple system can be expanded to do many different things and takes a trip inside the BBC's own microcomputer.
The language most personal microcomputers understand is called BASIC and although different makes of machine use different 'dialects' of the language, the fundamental principles are the same on almost all machines. Ian McNaught-Davis describes the three programming structures and then writes a simple program which could be used to help children practise their maths skills. Catherine Robins visits a school where young children are learning to program the computer in a simple way.
How do computers handle words and how do programmers handle long programs? Ian McNaught-Davis takes a look at 'string' handling, at word processing and at the techniques of good and bad programming, with the aid of Ian Trackman.
Most modern computers are capable of displaying graphics - in other words, pictures. Ian McNaught-Davis begins an exploration of what you can do with a modest personal micro, with the assistance of John Coll. Among other things, they show how to create a simple animated figure who jumps up and down on screen.
Keeping information so that you can search for it in any way you want is one of the most important things you can use a micro for. But the information could equally well be from a large database and reached by using an ordinary telephone line. Ian McNaught-Davis looks at the fundamental principles behind the idea of a data base and begins his explanation in the BBC's gramophone record library, among , among 1,000,000 records.
Many small businesses - from the one-man band upwards - can benefit from the use of a microcomputer, but often people don't know what the micro can do for them and don't know where to go for advice. Ian McNaught-Davis explains the use of the micro in business with the aid of two consultants, Colin Harris and Ian Trackman.
Most modern personal computers can produce sounds of some kind - including music and speech. Ian McNaught-Davis and musician David Ellis investigate the making of simple and more sophisticated sounds, and they examine the elements of a music editor - the musical equivalent of a word processor. The programme also begins to look at languages other than BASIC.
How can the computer be made to sense what is going on round it and control motors or switches so that it seems to be doing something intelligent? Ian McNaught-Davis and John Coll look at a range of micro-controlled applications, from a sophisticated mechanical hand for the disabled to a number of do-it-yourself devices, including a temperature sensor and an inexpensive robot vehicle.
Almost nightly on our TV screens, in programme titles and credits, we see sophisticated computer graphics, including animations. With the help of Ian Trackman, a professional software writer, Ian McNaught-Davis investigates the extent to which the personal microcomputer can achieve these effects.
Someone, somewhere ... might have a message for you or some information you might want, or some computer software you could use. Getting 'Telesoftware' could involve using the telephone line or your television aerial. Ian McNaught-Davis and John Coll look at the use of the micro in communications. If you have got a BBC microcomputer, have a cassette tape-recorder with a microphone ready to receive an end-of-series message.
In a live edition of Making the Most of the Micro, Ian McNaught-Davis is joined in the studio by an audience of micro users and a team of experts. There are demonstrations of hardware and software, including a live download of a program from the BBC's new Telesoftware service, and a look at how the micro can be used to subtitle home videos.
Ian McNaught-Davis risks the failure of both hardware and software as he introduces the second live programme of items about the world of microcomputers, including computer 'hackers', who are they?
A visit to the Chicago Robotics Exhibition shows how the computer has revolutionised these mechanical servants and even made domestic versions possible. IAN MCNAUGHT-DAVIS begins to look at how computers can sense what's going on round them and then control mechanical devices.
How can the computer detect such widely different things as the whereabouts of a London Transport bus, fog, the length of an electronic flash or the speed of a motor? Ian McNaught-Davis and John Coll look at a wide range of sensors which are available on the market.
Ian McNaught-Davis continues his exploration of the principles behind the use of the computer in robotics by finding out how to make things move; even using a home micro.
Ian McNaught-Davis looks at some of the thinking behind more complex computer-controlled devices.
We see, hear and interpret the real world with ease. For the computer it's not so easy, but some robotic systems can identify objects or voices and act accordingly, and it's possible to mimic these on the home microcomputer.
The combination of ever cheaper computers and improved telecommunications has produced a quiet revolution on the desks of secretaries, clerks, middle managers and executives, sometimes for good, sometimes for ill.
Most of the computers in business are being used for relatively straightforward tasks like word processing, financial planning and simple data base management. Ian McNaught-Davis examines these various 'stand-alone' applications .
A microcomputer on its own can perform many useful tasks in the office but as soon as an organisation starts linking computers together into a network, its whole style of working may change dramatically, with a consequent challenge to management.
How do modern electronic methods affect the working habits and culture of an old established daily newspaper? Ian McNaught-Davis finds out with the help of journalists, editors and others at the New York Times.
The microcomputing revolution in business would mean little without the telephone network. Companies can exchange data electronically with each other and even with us, their customers, in a fraction of a second, and this is having a considerable effect on competition.
Computer manufacturers at present claim 'ease of use' for their machines. In reality most computers are far from easy to use. In this last programme, Ian McNaught-Davis takes a look at some of the work being done to humanise the technology.
American reporter Freff visits a 'live-action' movie at the Universal Studios tour in Hollywood and is narrowly saved from being lasered by a dragon and Superstars champion Brian Jacks and his family trudge the streets of beautiful downtown Croydon looking for the perfect computer.
Brian Jacks reveals which micro he bought for himself and his family, the team try their hardest to corrupt their floppy discs, and as the MSX finally hits the high street, Chris Palmer examines what it means to the home computer market.
Lesley Judd and Chris Palmer play computer games, from pong the first-ever arcade game, to the latest laser-disc games from Japan. Ian McNaught-Davis attempts to create a digital Christmas card, and talks to Bill Bruford, percussionist with King Crimson, about electronic drum kits.
Leslie Judd and Fred Harris look at educational software, there's a visit to a computer camp for young enthusiasts, and the winners of the Micro Live Integrated Software Project are announced.
Ian McNaught-Davis looks at some of the latest developments in telecommunications, and talks to John Alvey , Chairman of the Alvey Committee and Engineer-in-Chief for BT. American reporter Freff joins in from New York on a new teleconference system, and has the latest micro news from America.
Lesley investigates new applications for the laser disc, Mac challenges a robot at its own game, table tennis, Fred Harris reviews some portable and laptop computers, and there is a look at the difficult job of live subtitling.
As teachers have pointed out, "They gave us the machines before anyone knew what to do with them." Tim O'Shea questions the motives for putting micros into schools and suggests what is needed for the computer to live up to its educational promise.
Why it is so difficult for parents and teachers to find educational software that does something useful, or at the very least does what it's supposed to do?
Girls are often excluded from computers at home and in school. They're even told that they shouldn't be interested in technology. Celia Hoyles, Professor of Mathematics at Institute of Education, explores the myths and prejudices about computing and girls.
Is the technical and vocational teaching now appearing in our schools the best preparation for the changing world of work?
With a variety of professional programmers, Tim O'Shea presents the case against BASIC, and looks at recent developments in programming languages.
Tim O'Shea looks at some possible futures for computers in education with Professor Aaron Sloman, Dr Benedict du Boulay, Alison Kidd and Alex d'Agapeyeff.
Christopher is 4 years old. He's bright, mischievous and full of life but he's severely physically handicapped. Now, micro-technology is beginning to change his life, enabling him to do things the rest of us take for granted.
After 13 years of silence, the chip has given Michael Waelchli a voice. Patrick Murphy is deaf and blind, but he can now read, take notes, use the telephone, send and receive letters and get the latest news from his television. Young Julia Mason has never been able to speak or write, now for the first time she can communicate with the outside world.
The chip can help blind children to learn Braille, and convert it to print for their teachers. It can help deaf children to learn language, and good computer programs can stimulate and reward those with learning difficulties.
A talking bus stop and wheelchairs that climb kerbs, that raise and lower, or that can be operated by two switches, the versatile chip is the key to all these. It can also improve muscle-control, and help you learn to drive.
Kenny Matheson and Pat Magee both work from home, thanks to the chip. Rhoda Carratt is blind and holds down a secretarial job with the help of some enabling micro-technology, and a new information system on computer finds the best aid to help a person at work.
Britain leads the world in inventing aids for disabled people. This programme follows the development of a number of different types of aid, from the Micromike to the Electronic Book. It looks at some of the pitfalls, the achievements, and sources of help and advice.
Lesley Judd previews the entries in next week's Computer Animation Film Festival competition, with exclusive clips of the latest and best in computer graphics, and Ian McNaught-Davis and American reporter Freff examine the ups and downs of the computer industry since the last series.
Fred Harris joins the army on manoeuvres and discovers whether data is secure on the battlefield, Ian McNaught-Davis explains how data encryption works, and there's news of The Listener Crack the Code competition and its prizes.
Few rock and pop records are made today without the help of sophisticated computer-based synthesisers. They can reproduce the sound of virtually any instrument and replay strings of notes more accurately than session musicians. This film traces their development from the 19th-century Telharmonium to the Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument.
The doomed Three Mile Island reactor in Pennsylvania is the focus for work on artificial intelligence by the robotics department of nearby Carnegie Mellon University, and American reporter Freff looks at some of the problems involved in designing robot vehicles which can move around on their own, recognise objects, and do useful work.
This week's programme comes direct from a secondary school in Berkshire and examines the role of computers in schools, Lesley Judd asks why the Government is cutting back school software, and Ian McNaught-Davis discovers how chalk and talk is giving way to bits and bytes.
A look behind the scenes at one of the world's most successful games software companies, Fred Harris takes a further look at how to make music on your home micro, and Freff reports on an American company that has spent $15 million setting up a kind of technological Aladdin's cave to project its image to both employees and customers.
IBM, known as Big Blue, is the largest computer company in the world, ten times the size of its nearest rival. Its first personal computer was so successful that it set a technical standard. Forty other manufacturers now use IBM standards in designing their machines. Ian McNaught-Davis finds out if, now they are embracing Big Blue's standards, the 40 Dwarves can get out of its clutches.
Boston, Massachusetts has the only museum in the world in which all the exhibits are less than 40 years old. American reporter Freff, who is also less than 40 years old, visits the Computer Museum, and discovers a very important teapot.
American reporter Freff risks using a computer database before buying a painting in a New York antique shop, Fred Harris explains how the home micro can be used to communicate with other computers down the telephone line, and Ian McNaught-Davis takes a trip down memory lane to explain the way that computer storage devices have developed over the years.
Freff visits the New York Institute of Technology Computer Animation department and checks out some break-dancing fractal trees, John Coll takes a look at Christmas presents for computer addicts, and Dick Gilbert announces the results of The Listener Crack the Code competition.
Ian McNaught-Davis and Fred Harris look at some of the new products and software on display, Lesley Judd presents the Micro Live RITA awards for achievement in Information Technology, and some of the industry's top personalities, including Sir Clive Sinclair, face up to the Micro Live version of Any Questions?
Micro Live visits a garden centre which uses a database to help its customers find the plants they need and Fred Harris explains how to use a database on a home micro. From America, Freff reports on the fascinating world of fractals, and Ian McNaught-Davis takes a look at a promising new British development in flat-screen technology.
Freff reports from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where Carnegie Mellon University is engaged in a massive computer project. The buildings in the university are being linked by fibre optic cable. Individual students will be required to have a computer and even to have access to the computer network from their rooms.
Is Prestel a world-beating information service or just a hacker's delight? Fred Harris investigates British Telecom's dial-up service, and compares it with the French system, Minitel. Lesley Judd tries out a micro-based system for training RAF air-traffic controllers, and visits a disused bra factory in the Cardiff docklands.
Electronic information is changing the way we do business, forcing even our most ancient British institutions to update themselves. Andrew Neil, Editor of the Sunday Times, gives a special report on the way that the Stock Exchange, Fleet Street and the legal profession are falling dangerously behind as they struggle to keep pace with the booming electronic information market.
Ian McNaught-Davis asks if the computer will ever be able to make judgments, learn from its mistakes, or write creatively. Freff visits a computer in New York's Greenwich Village that has just published its first book of poetry, and Lesley Judd tries the Turing test to find out if she's working with men or machines!
Imagine a machine that can read out loud from any book or magazine or a synthesiser that can reproduce the sound of an entire orchestra, both have been invented by Ray Kurzweil. Freff reports from Boston, Lesley Judd tries out some software that lets you be your own Robert Maxwell, and Ian McNaught-Davis finds out why a £25,000 car needs ten computers to keep it going.
Technology is poised to be much more widely used and to change some jobs hitherto seen as safe, including those in the professions. Speculating with Ian McNaught-Davis and Fred Harris about the future effects of computers on work, are the Rt. Hon. Shirley Williams, who is also a director of the Turing Institute for Artificial Intelligence, and Bob Latin of Standard Telephones and Cables.
How many languages do you speak? Most home micros come with only one, BASIC. It's fashionable to knock BASIC, so Fred Harris considers learning some other languages such as PASCAL, LOGO and C, and a music teacher in Reading explains how a computer has revolutionised her lessons.
Fred Harris talks to John Coll about the meaning of benchmarks, and contrasts the performance of the Commodore Amiga with the Atari 520S, Freff explains why the computers of the future will have to be capable of doing many things at once, and Ian McNaught-Davis looks at the British Transputer.
Lesley Judd introduces a selection of computer graphics ranging from simple home users to million dollar animations.
Is your home micro used only for games? Or is it just gathering dust? Fred Harris suggests some ideas for putting it to good use.
The history of computing is short, eventful and exhilarating or threatening. Lesley Judd introduces a selection of items from Micro Live which looks at advances in hardware and some of the public reactions.
Fred Harris introduces a selection of arcade and adventure games, including Air Traffic Control, Phantom Pilots and Game Killer.
How powerful is the average home computer? What does power mean anyway, is it the hardware or the software? Lesley Judd investigates.
Fred Harris looks at the latest ways of communicating with a computer.
The team look at technologies of the future, including flat screens, molecular memories, and parallel processing.
Few rock and pop records are made today without the help of sophisticated computer-based synthesisers. They can produce the sound of any instrument and replay strings of notes more accurately than session musicians. Micro Live traces the development of such synthesisers, from the 19th-century Telharmonium, to the Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument.
Lesley Judd and Fred Harris look at the various advances that are happening in Artificial Intelligence.
The latest in Electronic Publishing with Lesley Judd and Fred Harris.
The home-computer industry has recently seen important changes of fortune for some of its major players, including Sir Clive Sinclair , Alan Sugar of Amstrad, and Bryan Long of Acorn. We hear their views, plus a review of do-it-yourself computer animation software, and then, hot-footing it from this year's Computer Animation Film Festival ceremony, Lesley Judd reviews the best of this year's mainframe masterpieces.
Fred Harris looks at some of the best games for the home micro, Ian McNaught-Davis tells the sad story of the Wingsail, and award-winning journalist Steven Arkell reports from the City of London on the technology, and the mistakes, behind the Big Bang.
Choosing a word processor? Advice on how to get what you really need. Are computers going to the dogs? Harringay stadium is one of the few tracks which haven't replaced their electromechanical tote system with a computer. And tomorrow's computers, will they run on laser light rather than electricity?
Miami city managers have commissioned a new system of computerised radios that can be reprogrammed from headquarters, particularly useful for the police. If you run a small business and are considering a computer, Ian McNaught-Davis and Kathy Lang from Personal Computer World give some basic advice, and a unique project in Northamptonshire where programmers in a sheltered workshop are writing software for an adult training centre.
Finding your way around a computer system can be frustrating, psychologist Professor David Canter explores the endless corridors of unfriendly operating systems, we take a look at vet John Drew 's specialist business needs in a country practice, and at Life-Card, a new kind of read/write optical storage device on a credit card.
Twelve-inch laser discs had a short, unsuccessful life for domestic video, but the smaller compact discs have really taken off. Now discs similar to CDs can be used to store data for computers. But the larger video discs are making a come-back in 'interactive' systems, such as the one launched this week by the BBC's Domesday Project and are potentially ideal for education and training.
Fred Harris and Lesley Judd look at the increasing use of computers in cars and show how the Rover Sterling uses a micro to control everything from its fuel supply to its anti-lock braking. With so many electronic devices appearing in some cars the manufacturers are looking for other solutions to the problem of how to connect the electrics together.
Electronic mail systems offer the chance for people to send written documents immediately to their offices over the phone, from home or from anywhere in the world. This week's programme looks at this fastest-growing use of the personal computer, expanding at a rate of 100 per cent a year. One commentator says that E-Mail may rival the use of the telephone by 1995.
A look at latest hardware and software for creating music on micros, an amazing new driving simulator which was the sensation of the recent Tokyo Electronics Show, and from California comes a story of a wine grower who is trying to use computer-controlled analysis equipment to discover what makes a good wine.
Miami has the dubious distinction of being America's drug capital and one of the most difficult cities in the world to police. Now a new system, using computerised portable radios that can be programmed from headquarters, is helping in the fight against crime.
Are computers going to the dogs? Harringay Stadium is one of the few tracks which hasn't replaced its electro-mechanical tote system with a computer. American reporter Freff visits Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University, one of the key centres in computing research.
The Mormons believe that if they convert you to Mormonism, they will convert all of your ancestors. This has led them to create the largest genealogical database in the world. They are now transferring all this information onto a computer network so that it will be available to everyone with a home micro.
Customised chips, complex and specialised chips for specific needs, used to be very expensive, but now there is a way of producing them cheaply. In an exclusive interview, Sir Clive Sinclair gives an insight into past successes and failures, and looks forward with new plans for the next generation of computers.
The BBC and the ITV companies used to disagree cordially when it came to audience figures, but recently they joined forces and turned to electronics to measure the ratings. Fred Harris finds out if the numbers are more reliable, and Lesley Judd investigates a project at Stanford University where engineers and philosophers are working with the VA to create a robot that will be of real use to disabled ex-servicemen.
The humanoid robots of fiction and today's industrial robots are as far from each other as chalk from cheese, but slowly robots are being incorporated into systems capable of bringing some of the flexibility of man on to the factory floor. Explaining developments is Professor Mike Brady, who recently returned to Britain from one of America's leading technological universities to run an Oxford research team.
From Washington Freff investigates the way that American politicians use computerised direct mail to target key groups of voters. Also the best and the latest computerised film animation from the Imagina Conference at the Monte Carlo Television Festival, where Hollywood film-makers and academic researchers recently showed their work.
An examination of the use of computers and microelectronics in the world of medicine, but will the NHS be able to afford them? From America, a robot being instructed in plain English might eventually be used to help disabled Vietnam war veterans, and an examination of medical software for the home micro, some of it good, and some of it very bad.
The Epcot Center in Florida is next door to Disneyworld, but it's not just there for entertainment. Micro Live takes a look 'backstage' at the computers in control, and assesses the competing systems that claim to turn a home micro into a mini Fleet Street.
If you book an airline ticket you're likely to be in the hands of a computer until you pick up your luggage at the other end. Micro Live investigates the system. Also, a look at how current computer models, if they had existed, could have been used to speed up decisions during the 1967 Torrey Canyon oil spill.
Micro Live visits the Haymarket Theatre and the world of Alan Turing , the father of modern computing. In California, where seemingly limitless sums are thrown at research projects, Chinese temples, brainstorming and robots for war veterans are the subjects of fifth generation work. Dr Ian Page of Oxford University puts such present and future work in perspective
A compilation of items from the recent information technology series
Lesley Judd and Fred Harris with a selection from the recent series of Micro Live. What's in IT for Me? If you know nothing about computers, here's a back-to-basics look at word processing, stock control and accounts.
Fred Harris and Lesley Judd with another chance to see some of the best items from the recent series of Micro Live: Only Connect. This week connecting your computer to the telephone network - from electronic mail to dial-up data-bases.
Fred Harris and Lesley Judd with some of the best items from the recent series: Too Risky. Innovation is a risky business, though it can sometimes pay off. Micro Live talks to Sir Clive Sinclair and looks at a ship with wings.
With Lesley Judd and Fred Harris: Another chance to see some of the best from the recent series of Micro Live. Files of Facts. This week, computerised personal information and a look at some of the implications of its use.
Fred Harris and Lesley Judd look at the use of computers in education, with a review of some software intended for use in nursery schools.
Music and Movement : Another chance to see some of the best of the recent series of Micro Live. Music and Movement A professional music sequencer and stunning computer graphics from Monte Carlo.
A compilation of items from the recent series Micro Live. Robots
Computer-Aided Doctors
A compilation of items from the recent series Micro Live. The Generation Game
Next week the world's top animators gather in Monte Carlo for a festival of computer images, Imagina. Micro File previews some of the animations with Oscar Grillo, a traditional animator, and Chris Brico, a sculptor turned computer animator.
How would you use your microcomputer to design and publish a school magazine?
A visit to Garfield Primary School shows how they use a micro-computer to produce their own school newspaper, The Garfield Gossip.
The problem is, how would you use your microcomputer to create a database of school trips and places to visit? Carol Vorderman takes a close look at a database in a library.
The children of Ash Hill Middle School use a microcomputer to create their own database of school trips and places to visit.
The problem is, how would you use a microcomputer and spreadsheet to analyse the results of an experiment to measure reaction times? Carol Vorderman explains how spreadsheets work.
A visit to Robinson's End Middle School shows how they used the computer spreadsheet.
How would you use your microcomputer to design a personal logo?
A visit to Crown Wood Primary School to see how they use their microcomputer to design personal logos which can be made into book covers, birthday cards or even printed on T-shirts.
How would you use your microcomputer to control the lights and curtains for a puppet theatre?
Carol Vorderman visits Moss Hall Junior School who use a microcomputer to control the lights and curtain of their puppet theatre.
The space race of the 1960s developed a new breed of lightweight computers to control spacecraft. A major by-product was the silicon chip. If it weren't for the Apollo project, the personal computer would still be a fantasy of the future.
The magnificent Boston Symphony Organ is, in fact, two automatic player organs in concert. They were rescued, waterlogged, from two private residences, and restored by Boston University.
On a windy beach near South Humberside, scientists from the Sea Mammal Research Unit try to catch a grey seal in their nets. The idea is to attach a radio transmitter to its back and track the seal's behaviour with a satellite overhead.
More and more shops are being fitted with electronic tills. These tills can send their daily sales information down a telephone line to a main computer. But what happens to the information then?
The hobby computers of yesterday have changed the face of computing today. It has become accessible to ordinary people enabling them to develop new ideas in business and industry.
In a London squat, two musicians built themselves a drum kit from cheap and freely available parts, including silicon chips. They realised they had a winner on their hands, and joined up with a marketing company to sell large numbers to eager buyers. But attempts to build on this success have not gone so smoothly.
Are you a modern clean liver, or a guilty eater? Advertising executives pour over their computer printouts trying to find the sort of person who will buy their breakfast cereal. Rather than promote the product to all and sundry, they are hoping to appeal to a niche market who will appreciate quality, and pay extra for it.
Lloyds of London will insure virtually anything. In 1987 a new computer system was introduced, but underwriters had to be persuaded that this was their way forward.
When all else fails, a computer-controlled brain can at least be made to fail safe, which means in an emergency it simply stops. But it is more difficult to apply this principle to a computer-controlled plane.
Peter de Savary's yacht designers turned to computers to help build an America's Cup challenger in a matter of months. Computers can often speed up design work, but do they improve the quality of the end product?
When George Bush was elected president, he could thank computers for much of his campaign success. But political commentators claim that computers have raised disturbing civil rights issues.
Expert systems are helping human professionals solve many problems. But as experience from the military shows, they can be misused.
Computer software has no safety standards. Lives may have been lost by computer failures and experts predict major disasters in the future.
A recruitment agency is trying to computerise its office. What problems does it face?
Robot servants are still a long way off, but automated homes offer ageing populations a graceful way to grow old.
A special programme marking a decade of the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Ten years ago, the BBC embarked on an ambitious project to help ordinary people come to terms with the micro-computer revolution. The effects of that project and the computer that it gave birth to are still reverberating to this day.
In February 2017 Bill Thompson came to the National Museum of Computing to talk about the 'BBC Make IT Digital' Initiative, the Micro:bit, and the BBC Computer Literacy Project Archive.
A listener asks why it's always the BBC Micro chosen for BBC technology programmes. David Allen explains that many more such as the MSX, Commodore 64, Atari, and the Sinclair Spectrum are also featured.
This episode of the influential Horizon series draws attention to computer technology creeping up on the world and to Britain's unreadiness for it.
Here is the surprising back story of the 1980s BBC Computer Literacy Project, a series that brought computing to countless British TV viewers, as told by David Allen, who produced the series.
This short video looks at Steve Lowry's PC archive database, what it contains, what it can do, and a look under the bonnet of the BBC Computer Literacy Project Archive offline.
An interview with David Kitson, Head of Transmission Group within BBC Designs Department, who became responsible for monitoring the progress of the BBC micro computer on behalf of BBC Engineering.
A conversation between John Radcliffe, Executive Producer, and David Allen, Project Editor, remembering the Computer Literacy Project 40 years on.
Sheila Innes, Head of Department, reflects on the origins and highlights of the project.
