Anglophiles will tell you that the BBC has a history of being, well, a bit stuffy. But occasionally, they’ll laugh at themselves. When they do, it’s usually hilarious to the rest of us. A perfect example, and probably a subject of a future Fun Friday, is “Monty Python’s Flying Circus,” a sketch comedy show that was so far ahead of its time in the early 1970s that it’s still hilarious today.
The BBC Archive
The BBC has their own YouTube channel. They probably have several of them, but I came across this one while I was looking for something else. It’s called The BBC Archive, but it’s not really a great representation of the work the BBC have done in the last almost 100 years. It’s more a place where you can watch videos that started out quite straight-laced and only became hilarious with the passage of time. They’re little time capsules which unapologetically show the past as it really was.
Computer Addicts
A perfect example is this video:
In 1983, what we simply call “PCs” today were known as “home computers,” even if they were occasionally used in business. By and large they looked like they belonged in some sort of serious device you’d find in nuclear bunkers. Example:
This is the sort of computer used in the video. It was more popular in Europe than in the US, where people tended to prefer Apple computers. If you look closely in this still from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, they even used one as a prop in their nuclear bunker set.
But in 1983, they were the height of high technology. And, they were a featured player in a video about “computer addicts.”
These were “abberant” people who spent hours each day looking at a computer screen, gaming, and trying to figure out problems simply because they existed. In other words, pretty much what all of us have turned into.
When video gaming meant “going to the pub”
Of course, back in 1983, most folks played video games in arcades or bars. Video games for home use were expensive back then, and while people did have Atari consoles, they usually only had one game owing to the high price. A cartridge that sold for $40 in those days is the equivalent of over $125 today, and that’s a lot to pay for one game. So back then you either developed a network of friends to swap games with or you just went somewhere and played a game at an arcade for a quarter.
Of course gaming wasn’t the only use for these early computers. But the video was quick to stress that a computer didn’t do anything at all when you bought one. The idea of adding software was pretty new and people didn’t understand it. People back then thought computers could read your minds and know what you wanted instinctively. Of course that wasn’t true then. It’s mostly not true now, but it’s possible that may change with AI coming.
You have to wonder what people will laugh at in 2064
That video is over 40 years old. For a lot of people that’s their whole life. Looking forward 40 years to 2064, today’s videos will look just as silly, I’m sure. An actual phone you had to hold in your hand? Ridiculous! Interacting using a keyboard? Absurd! I have no idea what I’ll be doing at that point, but I look forward to seeing where it all goes.
