This is amazing. It's a prediction of what a home computer would be like and some of the features it would provide. And the cool thing is -- it was made in 1966.
28 comments
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Bob Summers
said...
That is cool. I think that's Wink Martindale, famous radio guy and game show host in there. Any relation to Margo?
Bob, I think you're right. I compared the image with a clip of Wink doing his "Deck of Cards" on the Ed Sullivan Show about the same time. If it's not him, it's his twin. By the way, Ken, which computer company produced this. I wonder if they're still in business. Mike Botula
Yes...this was so amazing, there was a story going around the Internet a few years ago insisting this footage was faked. Los Angeles TV station KCBS ended up doing a story about it, interviewing the man playing the father....which IS Wink Martindale, Bob.
Note also that it's analog rather than digital computing, and you're dealing with manipulation of screen photo data, not tabular numbers. I can think of all kinds of programming holes for hackers in this setup.
I KNEW that was the Winker!! First thing that popped into my head when "Dad" came onscreen was "That looks like Wink Martindale...". And notice how pissed he looks the entire time? "Damn that woman... Doesn't she realize how hard I work to provide for this family? And all she does is spend...". Jeez, talk about stone-aged thinking! It seems so primitive now, but it wasn't really that long ago...
To Ken Levine: Cartoon Network ran a BBC series called, "Look Around You". This was a satire of educational shows, which did a good job of capturing the look and feel of the 1970's. The clip you're featuring reminded me of this. If you haven't seen it, you can see the promo here:
Every program had a different focus. One episode about computers featured a technician named Patricia who invented the first computer for women, the "Petticoat 5".
Wow. There's something oddly disturbing about it. Almost like a child trying to explain something they doesn't fully understand. An echo from the past.
Interestingly, Philip K Dick also managed to predict the internet. It seems there were a handful of people who were somewhat aware of where we were heading...
In the future, wives will not be allowed near the money! The husband must handle all funds. I love that they got the technology right (Except for their weird idea that we would hand-write email rather than type it - instant illegibilty world wide), but kept the sexism of the past intact. "Technology will improve, but not society."
I worked with Wink Martindale for a couple years, and recognized him instantly. His age in the clip shows it can't have been much later than 1970, if that late.
Sorry - my ill sense of humor was intercutting images of the kids running with scissors on the top-left monitor, while Mom, oblivious, was punching in shopping codes with a delighted grin.
As an adolescent living overseas in the mid-70s, I remember writing and posting letters that would take 7-10 days to reach the US. Wonderful email!
The scifi author Murray Leinster was the really impressive one; he wrote a short story called "A Logic Named Joe" which came spookily close to predicting home computers and the Internet; it was published in -1946-.
28 comments :
That is cool. I think that's Wink Martindale, famous radio guy and game show host in there. Any relation to Margo?
Remember the narrator, Alexander Scourby? He voiced many "upscale" spots and docs in those days.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where's my Jet Pack?
IMHO, Scourby's greatest work was narrating "Victory At Sea".
Scourby was brought in to narrate the feature-film condensed version of Victory at Sea, but the 26-episode series was narrated by Leonard Graves.
The wife looks like Marj Dusay, who later stole Spock's Brain...
Bob, I think you're right. I compared the image with a clip of Wink doing his "Deck of Cards" on the Ed Sullivan Show about the same time. If it's not him, it's his twin. By the way, Ken, which computer company produced this. I wonder if they're still in business. Mike Botula
They cut out the part where the man beats his wife for going over her budget.
Yes...this was so amazing, there was a story going around the Internet a few years ago insisting this footage was faked. Los Angeles TV station KCBS ended up doing a story about it, interviewing the man playing the father....which IS Wink Martindale, Bob.
Link to the clip
http://www.paleofuture.com/blog/2007/12/18/1999-ad-controversy.html
Thanks Ken, it reminds me very strongly of a similar film made by British Telecom in 1969. http://youtu.be/qqtoVmACDng
I think their idea of working from home at the end of the film is very accurate!
Note also that it's analog rather than digital computing, and you're dealing with manipulation of screen photo data, not tabular numbers. I can think of all kinds of programming holes for hackers in this setup.
I KNEW that was the Winker!! First thing that popped into my head when "Dad" came onscreen was "That looks like Wink Martindale...". And notice how pissed he looks the entire time? "Damn that woman... Doesn't she realize how hard I work to provide for this family? And all she does is spend...". Jeez, talk about stone-aged thinking! It seems so primitive now, but it wasn't really that long ago...
Those women. They like to shop.
Forget bills and letter correspondence, where is the porn?
To Ken Levine: Cartoon Network ran a BBC series called, "Look Around You". This was a satire of educational shows, which did a good job of capturing the look and feel of the 1970's. The clip you're featuring reminded me of this. If you haven't seen it, you can see the promo here:
http://video.adultswim.com/look-around-you/look-around-you-promo.html
Every program had a different focus. One episode about computers featured a technician named Patricia who invented the first computer for women, the "Petticoat 5".
I love this kind of stuff. And look, flat screen monitors even!
sephim: The man didn't beat his wife; he programmed his robot butler to do it for him. Ah, the future!
Wow. There's something oddly disturbing about it. Almost like a child trying to explain something they doesn't fully understand. An echo from the past.
Interestingly, Philip K Dick also managed to predict the internet. It seems there were a handful of people who were somewhat aware of where we were heading...
What will the world be liked in 100 years?
Doh. "Aware, where, were..." A perfect sentence!
In the future, wives will not be allowed near the money! The husband must handle all funds. I love that they got the technology right (Except for their weird idea that we would hand-write email rather than type it - instant illegibilty world wide), but kept the sexism of the past intact. "Technology will improve, but not society."
I worked with Wink Martindale for a couple years, and recognized him instantly. His age in the clip shows it can't have been much later than 1970, if that late.
Sorry - my ill sense of humor was intercutting images of the kids running with scissors on the top-left monitor, while Mom, oblivious, was punching in shopping codes with a delighted grin.
As an adolescent living overseas in the mid-70s, I remember writing and posting letters that would take 7-10 days to reach the US. Wonderful email!
Mom's spy cam was pretty creepy. Let's hope she takes that our when the kids hit puberty. "MOOOOOOOM!!!!!"
Great setup. I can't wait till I can have a computer that advanced. I have a Dell, instead, with Windows Vista.
It's all so sterile and spoken in hushed tones. The mood is so very Stepfordish, it's creepy.
That is amazing. The tech is spot on in function if not form. The sexual politics - not so much!
Alexander Scourby also recorded the entire Bible. Every word.
D. McEwan said...
Mom's spy cam was pretty creepy. Let's hope she takes that our when the kids hit puberty. "MOOOOOOOM!!!!!"
Maybe dressing up in a corset and high heels would teach those prying eyes a lesson!
The scifi author Murray Leinster was the really impressive one; he wrote a short story called "A Logic Named Joe" which came spookily close to predicting home computers and the Internet; it was published in -1946-.
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