The BBC's computer education series, The Computer Programme, first shown in 1982, introduced the general public to computers and what they could do for you.
I remember avidly watching these at the time. Watching them again now not only does the technology seem incredibly dated (obviously) but the explanations and what they choose to explain and what to gloss over, seems quite baffling at times.
In one programme, there's a bewildering side-discussion of round-robin vs interrupts. Useful knowledge, but for a beginner, being introduced to computers? Maybe it's me looking through modern eyes.
In episode 2 here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q8Fl1i7h6k about mid way in, there's a decent explanation of how a computer can do a binary sort (though no explanation of how it might know when to stop!), but the attempt at explaining binary itself seems utterly baffling to me. And just what was the point of the report on the traffic lights? Did it impart any extra information on binary, or reinforce anything from before? It just seemed to confuse it more, in my view.
Still, it's a lovely bit of history.
In another episode, they are contemplating data storage in the future and have a video disc that could hold a whole encyclopaedia. They type in "space shuttle" and get a screen full of teletext that they can scroll using the space key, but if they type "picture" they get an actual picture of the shuttle. Pressing space shows a video of it launching. But this technology is "many years in the future".
Wonderful stuff.
Ian
