The Computer Chronicles - Christmas Buyer's Guide (1986)

Special thanks to archive.org for hosting these episodes. Downloads of all these episodes and more can be found at: archive.org/details/computerch...

[@the90skid]

Paul Schindler: "I hate to give any company a blanket endorsement, but I've never played a stinker from Electronic Arts." Lord that had me rolling. How times have changed.

[@alejandromartinezgandara2302]

EA was great in the 80's.

[@PhoenixNL72-DEGA-]

Oh, the time that the Electronic Arts motto was to promote their programmers and audio/graphics artists like they were rockstars... This is still the era in which their games were packaged in LP like packaging with photo's of the programmers and artists inside.

[@yellowblanka6058]

@@PhoenixNL72-DEGA- Now they're treated like workers on an assembly line.

[@willgibson8534]

@@PhoenixNL72-DEGA-also they never did that pal, I was there in the 80s

[@willgibson8534]

@@yellowblanka6058they always did, EA bought origins in 1989 and took A dump all over them squeezing Ultima to death by 99

[@decckys]

'A monster database-12mb' amazing historical series.

[@Inopibus]

Deccky Ess Given it was probably a CSV file, 12MB is still a pretty big personal database.

[@AdamsOlympia]

@@Inopibus He had a huge 1920s and 1930 Jazz collection before he died of a blood disorder.

[@rooneye]

"I have hundreds of books...most of them I've coloured in" I like that cheesy little joke 😂

[@allentoyokawa9068]

colored**

[@karlimo4034]

@@allentoyokawa9068 Coloured is the British way.

[@LordHorst]

3:59 For anyone who's missing the joke: George Morrow had to file for bankruptcy at the end of 1985.

[@rustynail6819]

I will tell you (dating myself) those days of early home computing were FUN! Everything you see here was "OMG, I NEED THAT!" level of excitement. Today it's not fun, it's just part of life, but back then you were pioneering stuff on equipment that has less processing power than a coffee maker today.

[@Pianoman999]

I ran a bbs on a CoCo. 2400 baud baby 😂

[@kevinjhonson5925]

Now i have some good gift ideas for 2019.that external spell checker looks slick and thank goodness he managed to get back his monster 12mb file norton utilities for the win

[@raven4k998]

in the random access file this year rumor has it a new 16 core 32 thread amd cpu for consumer computers people say that it will keep IBM out of the personal computer market as Intel will have to compete with amd's offerings saturating the market with to much power for IBM to match

[@ddelony1]

I just can't get over the idea of a hardware spelling checker.

[@rooneye]

IKR $500 in todays money that would cost. For a shitty little beep if you spell something wrong.

[@zeldaoot23]

I was laughing out loud at that expensive hardware spell checker. How our expectations have changed!

[@yellowblanka6058]

The computer industry was still in its nascent stages, CPUs were many orders of magnitude slower and available memory was miniscule by modern standards, so keeping a spellcheck module in memory was not practical.

[@TapionXG3]

Never played a bummer from Electronic Arts. How innocent they were.

[@rooneye]

haha though to be fair Trip Hawkins was in charge back then and he was awesome!

[@ChinchillaDave]

They ran a tight ship. Enjoying going through these, thank you for taking the time to upload all of these!

[@vivaankorbyn9256]

you prolly dont care at all but does anybody know a trick to get back into an Instagram account? I stupidly lost my account password. I appreciate any tricks you can give me

[@reignsamir5442]

@Vivaan Korbyn Instablaster =)

[@vivaankorbyn9256]

@Reign Samir I really appreciate your reply. I found the site through google and I'm trying it out now. Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@vivaankorbyn9256]

@Reign Samir It worked and I actually got access to my account again. I am so happy:D Thank you so much you really help me out !

[@reignsamir5442]

@Vivaan Korbyn No problem :D

[@inmatejason]

Monster database of 12mb lol I bet it took stewert hours to enter his Christmas list on that calculator, george asked the perfect question lol.

[@Deetroiter]

Thank you for sharing these legacy recordings with us. A very important documentation in the grand scheme of things

[@WhatALoadOfTosca]

I loved George's humour. A humble man.

[@rooneye]

These guys are ALL so cool. Stuart, George, Gary, Jan... Pauls a bit of a tit, but I love them all! Not to forget Wendy, Maria (who pronounces her last name Gabriel so strangely every time, "I'm Maria Gaaaaaa-briel) and anyone else I'm forgetting.

[@allentoyokawa9068]

humor**

[@Tee_Leaf]

@@allentoyokawa9068 *humour

[@karlimo4034]

@@allentoyokawa9068 Dude, stop being an American ignorant, "humour" is the original English way of spelling.

[@allentoyokawa9068]

@@Tee_Leafhumor*

[@Melanittanigra]

Amazing how Paul Schindler wound up being wrong about almost everything he has ever said on this show lol

[@MrPraczynsky]

You get the same feeling reading John Dvorak's old articles in PC Mag

[@OhFishyFish]

I still can't get over the fact that they haven't called Paul's part when he lists various products a Shindler's List.

[@zantetsu8674]

That's really unfair.

[@CaptchaNeon]

LOL he’d lose his mind if he heard that, he always thought so highly of himself to the point he constantly made snotty commentary to George.

[@yellowblanka6058]

@@CaptchaNeon He does seem like somebody who is up his own ass. Maybe he's a great guy, I dunno, but has a very snooty air about him on this show.

[@Icanhasautomaticcheeseburger]

Everybody's crapping on George Morrow in this episode. Be nice, he just lost millions to Zenith by them buying his computer from his third party manufacturer... literally a month before this aired.

[@GeekBoy03]

Actually they licensed the design from him for $2 million. Maybe he should have done a perpetual license on each unit which would have made him considerably much more money.

[@JaredConnell]

He was joking with them so I think he had a sense of humor about it. Although he did leave the computer field after filing bankruptcy aside from this show

[@russellford5597]

"Lack of circulation in the fanny" 🤣 Yep, I'm British and very immature.

[@alfanan]

"I have this monster database, 12 mega bytes!"

[@p0k314COM]

But it is monster database. Try fill by clear text 12 MB of memory.

[@LetoxxIant]

in a time hard drives had maybe 10MB of space and most software and data was stored on 320k or 720k floppies this DB was a HUGE monster

[@SumofluffyVIDS]

3:14 "With us is Paul Schindler, whom everybody knows he's our software reviewer and specialist here at computer chronicles This is Wendy Woods, our specialist on just about everything dealing with personal computers. This is George." xD

[@Byudda]

Thanks for uploading all of these videos, brings back good memories.

[@raven4k998]

now you need to sit on Santa's lap and ask for a brand new 486 computer😂😂😂😂

[@skppy1225]

"I've never played a bummer from these guys." .... if only he could predict the future.

[@wallacelang1374]

I always enjoy watching these Christmas Buyer's Guide editions of The Computer Chronicles because there are usually a couple items that I would either like to get or to give as a gift for Christmas and/or Hanukkah and/or Birthdays. This time I need Norton Utilities for my PC and I want the 5.25" chocolate disk.

[@johnsimon8457]

Holy goddamn, a hardware spell checker. How does it integrate with the word processor? “Plugs into your keyboard and It beeps when you type an incorrectly spelled word.” YESSSSSS

[@louisloizides7488]

“I have this monster database, 12 megabytes”

[@NachosElectric]

Wendy just got back from her Sailor Moon cosplay I see.

[@mythicalmeanderings]

Just how some 80s people dressed.

[@toshiroyamada2443]

"I got this monster database of 12mbs" my god good job no one could see the future and show him modern warfare warzone. Gotta say love how they banter and rip on each other during this. SATs didnt mean shit in my school, didnt matter how you did on them and utterly pointless waste of time.

[@nigeemac999]

great banter

[@Braven9975]

Wow a monster file 12 mb's hahaha, I know how that felt back then! just incredible to think how tech have changed over the years

[@mrgraff]

I always thought it odd that Paul Schindler makes a point to note the location of the software developers. Even weirder that he does it for the books too.

[@judgewest2000]

External spell checker!!!! WOW!

[@tomvier9597]

only $200, what a deal!

[@VRGamercz]

I have this monster database. 12 MB. Cracked me up.

[@InflatableConan]

"Look at this baby.." 😂 Straight up pimpin'.

[@valueofnothing2487]

Before the internet, life was good.

[@MetroidHatchling]

Anyone know where I can find a copy of "More than you ever wanted to know about the IBM PC"? Sounds like a fun book to read. I have an IBM PC and would love to know more.

[@daehawk9585]

He he chip pullers. The only time I ever needed one was for a chip on a modem. And I cannot believe how rude Paul was to George at 8:00. He deserved an apology.

[@the_eminent_Joshua_E_Hrouda]

You mean 4:00 ? He was joking. They all took it well

[@AcornElectron]

@@the_eminent_Joshua_E_Hrouda no they meant just after 8 minutes in the spell checker discussion where he says maybe it’s the difference between success and failure in the computer market.. Morrow had just effectively lost his company. Bad (extremely good) timing for that particular remark from Schindler.

[@CaptchaNeon]

Look at that high tech “credit card” digital list taker 😱😏 George was far from impressed. He was like how much time did you waste on that Stewart 😂

[@raven4k998]

admit it you want to sit on Santa's lap and ask for a brand new 486 computer for Christmas this year 😂😂😂😂

[@CaptchaNeon]

@@raven4k998 😂

[@raven4k998]

@@CaptchaNeon 😂😂😂😂

[@rooneye]

15:22 that little printer is impressive af for 1986 wireless and shit. Awesome. That's the best calculator I think I've ever seen! Imagine having one of those in class? You'd look like such a baller! Actually no you really wouldn't, you'd look like a massive geek and people would take the piss out of you. But it would be worth it!

[@CloneShockTrooper]

I find myself liking this business simulation game… reminds me of a game I played called Wallstreet 😊

[@analogidc1394]

Some things never change, I still ask for something for my computer at Christmas! lol

[@FabianoMaiaFranco]

"... This monster database of 12 megabytes!" Gee! It takes a bunch of floppy disks to be backed up! It almost full the 20 megabytes hard disk drive! :D "... Norton Utilities, an oldie, but goodie!" (oldie in 1986!) Man! I miss those days!

[@InflatableConan]

"I am a perfect speller. Because, unlike some other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent."

[@KinGzeDK]

At christmas 1986 I was in my first year of living so I guess I got a rattle or something....

[@johneygd]

So even before ebay there were already auction sites to place your bids on items you want to buy? Amezing.

[@SnakeGuyJohnny]

Wendy makes my heart skip a beat.

[@davidrobertson4332]

If I had choice I would take Wendy for Christmas over a computer during that time frame

[@03chrisv]

"Monster database of 12MBs"... How cute lol.

[@jcp012000]

7:06 I too am fascinated by Wendy's mysterious white box

[@marctronixx]

took me way too long to scroll down to find this comment!!!

[@Inopibus]

The fucking bantz from Paul Schlinder.

[@ViktorBiohazard]

Wendy was hot.

[@CloneShockTrooper]

I miss the 80s

[@ens8502]

22:00 OMG i need this chockolade

[@WhatALoadOfTosca]

My goodness Schindler is so rude. What is his problem with George?

[@randywatson8347]

He seems to be someone with funny stories at the bar.

[@AcornElectron]

They were always digging at each other, all of them. I think it was pretty much all good natured tbh.

[@CaptchaNeon]

He felt he was above George and that he knew everything. He had no respect for those who were learning

[@FuManBoobs]

200 For a spelling checker seems very reasonable.

[@ruisantos4520]

Anyone could inform me the exact name of the 3D software presented in minute 25 ?? Even today I do not know any software that do this, this easy !!

[@WizzRacing]

NEC monitors ruled the top 10 list for 10 years..

[@oldtwinsna8347]

They were definitely the top shelf stuff for CRTs. Not sure what happened when LCDs rolled out and they just sort of went MIA in the American market at least.

[@gentlepersuader]

My uncle only ever purchased NEC multisync monitors in his business in the 80's and 90's. His pièce de résistance was the 21" for CAD work. That thing weighed 40kg!

[@chavaraujo]

A monster data file of 12 megabytes!!!! hehe

[@OhFishyFish]

Who had a huge 12MB database o their PC Compatible and doesn't keep a backup copy?

[@PhoenixNL72-DEGA-]

For anyone reading this now. Who said he didn't? If you had a corrupted database (dbase or similar) you might not realize until it's too late and made a new backup, overwriting the file on your backup media with the same corrupted version. And keep in mind that to backup a 12MB database back then you needed about 17! 720KB DoubleDensity 3.5" floppies which where the newly released highest capacity floppies available back then (HD floppies didn't become available until 1987). So most home users wouldn't keep multiple backup copies of something that large. Not to mention you would need special backup software, or first make a multi file Tar or Jar archive on the internal HD containing the database before manually copying those files to those floppies.

[@ahem88]

Spell checker separate from the computer - or as we know it, the internet people

[@Sinn0100]

I'm so confused here...these guys talk about the PC XT and PC XT clones during a holiday special in 1985. Why? Now, this was all slightly before my time getting into technology (gaming at first) so pardon my ignorance... The PC XT/XT clones were barely second generation PC's that had an old 8-bit 8088 processor that featured 128kb of RAM and I believe 10mb hard drives. In 1985, these computers should have been relative dinosaurs. By then (again I believe) the 16-bit 286 was standard, the Amiga/Atari ST with the venerable Motorola 68K were high-end on a budget, and the first real step in true computing power the 386 was available with VGA graphics to those who could afford a $3K+ computer. Now I ask, what hardcore hobbiest that this show typically drew in was interested in an 8mhz 8-bit 8088 driven PC? For God sake the Nes and soon to release Master System (at 200 bucks) were in many ways far better. It flat doesn't make any sense. Addendum- If I was an adult or (young adult) in 1985 I would not be clamoring for an old 8088 driven PC. Realistically, I would go after an Amiga for the super high-end gaming at the time. Maybe the 386 if I could nab a deal because Wolfenstein 3D is coming.

[@InflatableConan]

Damn, bro.. I admire your geekdom.. 😂

[@kershekfamily]

In 1995, I didn't have a PC and was a college freshman. I had never really used a computer before outside of 2 or 3 Apple Macs at my high school "computer lab". I was immediately fascinated at school and got a job in the college computer lab (basically telling people their 3.5" disks were corrupted and charging for printing). But, I bought a surplus 8088 from the University garage sale and I loved playing with it. If you love tech, sometimes the old stuff is better to play with to try to get them to do more modern tasks. It really forced me to learn how to do DOS commands and write start-up disks, etc. I realize the wealthy people had done this a decade or more earlier - but - due to different interests and budgets, that was not the case for me. So, I think there was an audience that watched these shows that just wanted something - anything - to start playing with computers. In later life, I worked for Intel for 12+ years, but my first PC I assembled myself was a Cyrix - again, due to budget.

[@Sinn0100]

@@kershekfamily Hey man, thanks for the excellent reply. I didn't think you could find 8088's in 1995....wow! By 1995 I would have thought 286's or maybe 386sx's would be in the budget market. It is funny that you would bring up school. I got my 486DX2 from my dad's school (he was a teacher). They upgraded all to Pentiums with Win 95 and were just trashing the 486's. My dad grabbed a good portion of one and we parted it together. Without that it would have been Sega Genesis and Snes for me only. :)

[@kershekfamily]

@@Sinn0100 Well, to be honest, I got an 8088 when it was a decade old. At the time, my college was doing the Win 3.11 to Win95 upgrade using Pentium 60 and 90MHz chips. But, I would argue half the fun of a computer is making it do things they were never intended to do so you accept the limitations and use it for learning about hardware and software. The 486DX2 were pretty capable chips in reality. You have higher clock speeds than the original Pentiums. As I was late to computers, I never had the 286 or 386, I had 8088 (my old surplus) and then straight to 486 and then to Pentiums. I can imagine the parting it together with your dad was a great and memorable experience. Unfortunately, something the next generation is unlikely to have with how computers and laptops are now constructed.

[@Sinn0100]

@@kershekfamily It was definitely a great experience. While I agree kids have the PC building experience...but then again maybe they will. There are two thoughts I have on the subject and both are very promising, I think.. 1. Right now at least retro gaming is white hot. It almost seems like everyone is dabbling in it. We started with the Raspberry Pi and now you have them building full on arcade cabs. I have never seen so many options for this kind of thing. Raspberry Pi, old 486DX4 machines, Intel Penrium 3 Prescott builds, Superguns, low powered RISC based machines (Android stuff), Jamma boards, and it goes on. That's not even touching the "I want a Mame/Saturn handheld" guys. 2. With the push to force digital distribution down our throats, I believe people are going to buck the system (I know I am). I believe when these companies lock everything down many people are going to do everything they can for digital freedom. All the consoles and Steam Decks in the world won't save us...no, it will be the hobbiest and hacker that create innovative (possibly morally gray) methods of getting around the authoritarian rule. They, I truly believe, will be the next group of DIY'ers. These will also be the people that likely fix the gaming industry with the rebirth of the garage coders building games off network. Addendum- There is a third possibility but there is so many what if variables...I don't know. That is when quantum computers are introduced to the free market and can be had for less than the cost of a car. That will likely spark a brand new frontier for the hobbiest if...if they aren't completely locked down.

[@AcornElectron]

Chocolate disk for the win forever

[@danVal27]

$200 dlls for spelling checking... geez technology back then was very expensive! Like a basic mac retailed at $2999 😅 everything is almost free now 🎉

[@AdamsOlympia]

An SGI computer that could perform 8 million floating point operations a second was 80k back then (a quarter million in todays money) ... Now we have computers that will do 81 trillion ops/sec for 3k.

[@mxthunder2]

11:32 - that dude trying to score some tail haha. love this. classic computer history. Wendy looks hot AF in this episode.

[@rooneye]

MONSTER database...12mb!

[@J-D_]

Monster data base 12mb :P lol

[@jomunoz]

That is 12'582.912 characters.

[@randywatson8347]

Took about half the harddisk space of an entry pc from 86 lol

[@rooneye]

A hardware spelling checker. Can you imagine. I'd never have thought that would have ever been a thing lol You learn all kinds of shit about little forgotten things like this on this show. $200 for a beep when you misspell. Crazy money. That's about $500 in todays money. FOR A FUCKING SHITTY LITTLE BEEP WHEN YOU MISSPELL!

[@l337pwnage]

@11:25 "it doesn't distinguish between men and women" That's not a flaw, it was just 37 years ahead of its time. 😁

[@sologals361]

George looks like Walter.

[@calif1mc]

+ungratefulmetalpansy No, he had an illness, he died in May of 2003 from Aplastic Anemia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aplastic_anemia

[@aahl_work]

6:06 Monster DB ... 12MB

[@the_eminent_Joshua_E_Hrouda]

Don't copy that floppy!!

[@CaptchaNeon]

Unless it’s chocolate and then “Don’t break that floppy”

[@thescott7539]

An external spell checker...for $200. Wow. Just wow.

[@rooneye]

Wendy is dressed very Anime today. Rare that she's on the table with the guys. But Paul is looking sharp with that three piece suit with the pink shirt and cuff links. Dapper. As. Fook. If he would have said that clothing advisor advised him and picked this suit that software would have flew off the shelves! As it is/was though it was absolute garbage.

[@ens8502]

As Fook - means As fuck?

[@MarkMalley]

Rare in what way? Prior to the mid-80's, women were the heavy hitters in technology. Heck, the word 'computer' was used to refer to the women that did the calculations that helped win WWII. It's only in the last 35 years or so that math and technology was seen by some as something men should do. The women in old pictures standing next to the controls of room-sized computers were not models. They were the programmers and operators of the day. In fact, the first programmers of ENIAC were all women.

[@daaa8477]

i was 1 yr old lol

[@ens8502]

And U lived in Soviet Union

[@paulct91]

9:14 - Dad jokes

[@dbhansen]

$200 for a spell checker... that's $517 after inflation... Good God.

[@junkthefox]

9:05 A lot of people would have punched him for that line

[@Clay3613]

A spellcheck add-on, the hell?

[@ThunderKat]

With single core CPU an add-on could save IPS power on your computer, same way a discrete sound card does.

[@bryonmiller4326]

Not too long before this aired, Copy and Paste was a plug in for word processors.

[@yellowblanka6058]

Did you not see the "1986" in the video title? This was a time when the average CPU ran at less than 10 Mhz, computers tended to have 64-128K (yes, that's kilobytes) of RAM and storage was relatively limited - software didn't come stuffed to the brim with functionality due to obviously limited hardware.

[@TurboRonin83]

Electronic Farts since 2010.

[@calif1mc]

Leather Goddesses of Phoebus, I want to know more!

[@NightSprinter]

+Michael Cook Check out one of the "Computer Games" episodes in the mid-80s. I believe one of them actually talked about it.

[@yellowblanka6058]

I believe it was written by Al Lowe of "Leisure Suit Larry" fame - basically sex comedy adventure game.

[@GeekBoy03]

Who's the cutie at 12:35? Is that Andy Jong's daughter? Winner's Circle System, is still going after all these years, though the Yelp comments are not very winning.

[@the_eminent_Joshua_E_Hrouda]

Looks like him!

[@willgibson8534]

Leather goddesses in of phobos

[@HPPalmtopTube]

Norton Utilities makes a good christmas present ??? LOL My wife would divorce me on the spot if I gave her a copy as a present...

[@bcgibson22]

2:12 I want one

[@randywatson8347]

When dis ms-dos introduced undelete.exe lol

[@ens8502]

George Morrow need some sleep

[@christineayres5339]

Apple 2g in 1986 LOL

[@marksilgram80]

hmmmm I wonder why he corrupted files......

[@InflatableConan]

Yeah, a.. record collection..

[@jkadoodle]

$200 for a hardware spell checker!

[@MrGencyExit64]

String comparisons aren't cheap, processing time or apparently monetarily. You need dedicated hardware.

[@BrianBeeby]

If you had to use Norton Utilities twice... In 1986 (?!)... To include recovering your vinyl music collection database (?!?!)... You know you should've bought a Macintosh!

[@echorrhea]

I don’t think he was a big LP collector. His passion was collecting 78 RPM shellac discs of prewar jazz music. He had a small label (I forget the name at the moment), but remember dealing with him personally over the phone way back in the day when I was a buyer for an independent record store. A very kind man.

[@LordHorst]

@@echorrhea Not only did George collect the 78 RPMs, he also digitized and restored them, to reissue them under his own small record label. He did use a computer system he developed himself.