Vintage Computers - Database - 1985 - Thames TV

Thames TV's Tony Bastable and Jane Ashton explaining all you need to know about the world of computers in 1985 on ''Database' and Dr Mike demonstrates early digital photography.
If you would like to license a clip from this video please e mail:
[e-mail]

[@therealbettyswollocks]

Love Tony’s standard sympathetic style “He was blown up, he can now see nothing”. “Now to something that Ray will never see”. Say what you see Tony.

[@anonUK]

Say what Ray will never see...

[@doubtingthomas736]

Betty Swollocks.... brilliant name!... Still pissing me self!

[@dobythedog]

That was harsh!

[@nostnocomment268]

I really wish all of the episodes of Database are one day uploaded in their original half hour episode format one day. It is great to see this again for the memories, thank you :)

[@eddieroger4397]

I know im asking randomly but does any of you know a method to get back into an Instagram account..? I somehow forgot the login password. I would love any tricks you can offer me

[@cristianjoaquin6822]

@Eddie Roger instablaster ;)

[@eddieroger4397]

@Cristian Joaquin thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site thru google and Im trying it out now. I see it takes a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@eddieroger4397]

@Cristian Joaquin it worked and I now got access to my account again. I'm so happy:D Thank you so much you saved my ass!

[@cristianjoaquin6822]

@Eddie Roger you are welcome :)

[@jeffer746]

despite living in 2020 i'm weirdly impressed by all this

[@skyrocketautomotive]

I think it's because it's not only impressive for the time, but also the sheer amount of innovation that was going on, so many new ideas, some a little crazy, but a hell of a lot more fresh than many of the ideas we tend to see nowadays. Even with the limitations of the time as far as memory and speeds they still seemed to do SO much with what they had compared to now, the average laptop now is like a supercomputer from only 50 years ago and yet we still use computers in much the same way from an interfacing perspective as we did in 1985. It truly was a new frontier!

[@AWISECROW]

What an excellent Tv program. I'm so happy to be able to watch it here on youtube.

[@Macho_Fantastico]

Wish there were more of these uploaded, wasn't even born when these were on but I find them fascinating.

[@DCI-Frank-Burnside]

You don't hear kids say "The graphics are ammmmazing!!!" anymore. It used to be a constant mantra in the '80s and 90s in regard to videogames.

[@ArtofLunatik]

Embittered Drunk 16 bit power!

[@HelloImNik]

now they're all a bit too entitled 😂

[@zippyparakeet1074]

man these boomers... idk what rock you guys live under but kids still say that whenever a next-gen game comes out.

[@spritemon98]

I'm 23 and I still say that

[@AlexA-bn2wb]

@@spritemon98 You're not that young though!😅

[@Macho_Fantastico]

Computers were so cool and experimental back then. They really were just exploring the potential.

[@JuicyLeek]

22:42 “How does this racing simulation compare to the real thing?” “It’s very accurate actually.” Get them to play the latest version of Gran Turismo or Forza. I wonder how they’d react to that!!

[@octaviussludberry9016]

Well, unless you know someone with a time machine, that's not going to happen is it....you thick twat.

[@xehP]

neither of those games claim to be a simulation though.

[@vetrixfx9264]

@@xehP bro the slogan of GT is literally "the real driving simulation"

[@97channel]

0:15 Dog: "Oh man, that's the spot.".

[@JoeBetro]

Mind blowing how far we've come in around 30 years! Humanity is going to be unrecognisable from what it is now in another 30.

[@Blake4014]

Not really, we've collectively lowered the IQ of the west with mass migration of third world crapholes. Innovation and technological leaps will be slower.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

@@Blake4014 We need to evacuate productive people to Eastern Europe where civilization can survive.

[@Blake4014]

@@gregorymalchuk272 the east will fall the same, just slower.

[@zakur0hako]

@@Blake4014 you for sure have a lowered IQ

[@daithideburca98]

Tony Bastable the real life Alan Partridge

[@tjackson1210]

He does seem to be on the verge of losing his temper fairly often. I wonder whether there were often issues with the machines during rehearsals.

[@gnamp]

11:44 a little bit unnecessary...

[@_PatrickJnr]

it was kinda harsh.

[@gnamp]

Andy Merrett Haha. Different times, I suppose...

[@gnamp]

Andy Merrett Classic! Reminds me of the time a great aunt of mine would always tell me "you'll be next!" whenever she saw me at various family weddings. I was able to get my own back at her husband's funeral...

[@geordiebeach]

gnamp was is a bit unnecessary?

[@danps7167]

slap in the face or what? that was an Alan partridge moment for sure.

[@gato7908]

It all seem so quaint now, but you have to give alot of credit to anyone interested enough in computers to watch a show like that in 1985, because they were way ahead of their peers

[@stevedevice1866]

nonsense, micro computers were huge in the UK in the 80s.

[@simmadpaul2880]

The legendary Geof Crammond. I spent 1000s of hours playing Revs and all of his Grand Prix games. Truly the father of sim racing

[@S7EVE_P]

20:56 A lovely windswept Jane Ashton

[@TheHoipoloi]

"How does this compare to the real thing?" "Well it's fairly accurate actually" :) LMAO

[@TheHoipoloi]

Yes in 360p it looks EXACTLY like real car racing :)

[@JuicyLeek]

this is better than Forza for sure

[@philipkempbell7174]

The first Gran Turismo was only 12 years after this. Ridge Racer 10 years.

[@bernhardkuhn5676]

Jane was so pretty at this time...wish I met her!

[@vesavius]

yeah, Ray, you will never see computer graphics. Just wanted to rub that in. lmao

[@danps7167]

Proper Alan partridge moment...

[@kerleyoliveira]

Geoff Crammond at the end! Great.

[@crumplezone1]

A time when presenters where paid peanuts but were highly skilled and knew the business, now you get ridiculously overpaid presenters who would find it hard to even press the play button on a CD palyer, go figure

[@nathaniliescutotherescue6047]

they were not paid peanuts dont be silly.

[@truthwillout1980]

It picks up the electricity in the eyes!

[@PaulTaylor1]

I remember this one with the eye controlled software! I wonder whatever happened to presenter Jane?

[@uni-byte]

Dr. Mike reminds me a lot of Alec Guinness. Not just in looks, but in demeanor too. Probably also explains why he's seems totally disinterested in the lovely Ms. Ashton.

[@WhatALoadOfTosca]

I didn't quite catch what the little black box was in the bottom left of the screen. Does anyone know what that was for please?

[@8BitNaptime]

Jane Ashton is the Wendy Woods of Thames TV

[@BungleBare]

The racing driver, David Hunt, is the younger brother of James Hunt.

[@truthwillout1980]

A couple of hunts.

[@tuncfreeman]

loved it!

[@johntitor.]

I have theme tune to this on 7inch

[@AndroidDreams2049]

0:19 - erm....what are you doing to that dog ?

[@wisteela]

Great bit of history

[@danps7167]

Wow. He never held back with his criticism did he. He was the Jeremy Clarkson of his day.

[@spritemon98]

Cool! An early form of text to speech

[@garyhunt8067]

Brilliant presenters

[@firsteerr]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the heady days of youth thinking "well it cant get any better then this can it ???" back when broadcasters made interesting and informative programming to inspire rather then reality dross ,

[@derekthesec]

Keep the print out of the image for scanning on a modern PC. Interesting if it was viewed in PDF.

[@AndroidDreams2049]

0:16 - 'blown up' ?????? lol

[@clive7903]

Was it cold in the studio. Nice coat Mike 🥶 Maybe this F1 game might catch on. Don’t tell Sky TV 🤗

[@woodyeckerslyke9676]

What’s that weird head wobble at 14:32 ?

[@QuadMochaMatti]

It was a novelty bobble.

[@tannewton]

08:30 the computer voice sounds like a Dalek.

[@sovietonion72]

I can understand a Dalek voice but not this computer voice.

[@odgeUK]

11:44 - HARSH

[@os-vasconcelos]

Where is Jane Ashton?

[@PaulMurphyMusic]

Remarks on BBC Micro “it can do this, and it’s British...” meanwhile Steve Jobs “hold my beer”

[@FSCforal]

I think i should buy a camera for selfies

[@kamikazilucas]

the fact that only 5 years later photoshop came out

[@Rob_Walker.]

Back then we all thought we would have flying cars by now and live on the moon 🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[@koen.mortier_fitchen]

Like Apple Vision Pro

[@honeymonster5589]

6502 assembler????

[@RWL2012]

assembler for the MOS Technology 6502 CPU, the CPU of the BBC Micro and Commodore 64 among others

[@althejazzman]

Playing with a keyboard though. Rookie!

[@tjackson1210]

24:30 - K...

[@morbidmanmusic]

The theme music sounds like Rick Wakeman.

[@kingshearer2]

Eye movement games never did catch on.. although I suppose a forerunner of VR.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Probably, it really required hand-eye coordination, even in VR!

[@mikiex]

I has been used a lot for disabled people.

[@unknownuser1357]

kingshearer2 I think Stephen Hawkins had it

[@JackBandicootsBunker]

Well, apart from VR you have Tobii Eye Tracking, but the issue is software support.

[@honeymonster5589]

When I was a school there was a porn image for BBC micro called `JANINE'. and to get it up on screen you used the command *spool"". Anyone remember

[@malcolmclements9254]

"I know how to understand if because I invented it"

[@samnicholson5051]

We used to be great at computer technology back then, much better than those shitty computers we use today this just goes to show how far our country has fallen

[@murdaone261]

...FORT KNOX GENERAL LAMONTE M. WARD

[@janeporter818]

Wow!!!

[@davidb1038]

Just a thought the system requires floppy disks to operate the program which the guy put into the disk drive with his hand obviously, yet the system is for a completely disabled person who can only move his eyes,so how does the disabled person put the disk in the disk drive to start.

[@808music3]

Remove her bonnet will somehow make it looking like she was going adolescence😂😂😂

[@johngrieve2868]

Sounds like Hal 9000

[@elbownesdam4024]

Boffins are truely interesting people-how they figured it out,the eye stuff back then with a computer with less computing power than my iPhone 5s- round of applause for ancient 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 boffin-anybody know if this particular boffin is still alive ?also that blind soldier,,,,,that system was for the highIQ blind person..I was totally confused 🤦‍♂️

[@anonUK]

Less computing power than a Nokia 3310.

[@ravsluxuryworld1396]

“I computer”

[@DCI-Frank-Burnside]

1:09 Early trans-humans.

[@spritemon98]

Ancient photoshop

[@morbidmanmusic]

way way way to many ads. Never coming back

[@thedave7760]

What is a visicode decoder? Google doesn't know I just checked.