The Computer Chronicles - Input Devices (1988)

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

[@jamesburke2759]

i love the way this show has no bullshit and the guests have obviously had no script to read off. I really like the way they get 3 different technologies and make them compete against one another.

[@tetsujin_144]

5:56 - Wow, check out that awesome drawing of Bugs Bunny that he definitely just drew with his Felix pointer, and absolutely wasn't some piece of pre-existing art that he just imported to give the audience the impression that he'd drawn it...

[@WestOfEarth]

interesting how each of these reps are so confident that their product will become the new must have input device...and here I am 30 years later still using a mouse.

[@1355970]

An infrared mouse with a rechargeable battery, working 10 hours between charges in 1988 ... mind = blown!

[@1355970]

@ungratefulmetalpansy The point of that comment was, that this technology wouldn't catch on until almost 20 years later.

[@RoelvandenBergWillemWasbak]

Nowadays ive got a wireless mouse from microsoft that has 2 AAA batteries that hold charge for a half year.

[@SirClerihew]

The 80s episodes are the absolute best

[@tetsujin_144]

20:07 - "Could you enter a little more text just to prove to us that it really works? 'MIKE' was a little too easy..." "Sure!" (writes "PRODUCTION", digitizer transcribes "DROPUCTIUN") "Now as you can see I *purposely* made a few mistakes to show how you can correct mistakes..." (corrects word to read "PROPUCTION")

[@yelapa999]

"This is a demonstration of the Key Tronic KB5153 Touch Pad Key board." I just OCR'd that on the KZbin video screen on my MacBook in 2023 and pasted it here. It was trivial to do and I am a total klutz. But this rests on the shoulders of that.

[@ajov6638]

1988 neural network what an archive!

[@thegougeman]

Still using a trackball to this day... Never went back to the mouse again. :)

[@where_is_jana]

35 years later and we're still dependent on keyboards and mice

[@vokost]

Felix looks excellent. I'd buy one now! Great idea. Not sure that it really took off though - all I can find out about it online are some luke-warm reviews in magazines of the time which is a pity.

[@wallacelang1374]

I like that various input devices were being developed, but because these were nearly all first generation devices they were way above my price range. Eventually some of these devices were mass produced so that they became more affordable for more people, yet other devices had been abandoned for they couldn't find either the right customers and/or the appropriate work environment.

[@intrinia]

Is it just me, or does Gary had a rough night again? I wish I could have drank a beer with him ...

[@Wizardofgosz]

What do you mean rough night?

[@timcat1004]

Back when woman still had pubic hair.

[@patricklopez4824]

@@Wizardofgosz It’s widely known that Gary Kildall suffered from alcoholism towards the end of his life. 😢

[@sgtcreasegrease]

@@patricklopez4824 RIP :(

[@LordHorst]

The Felix pointer looks cool and I can see why it was developed. I am sure in an alternate timeline that thing really took off and computer mice are a weird oddity from the past. The Key Tronic touch pad doesn't really add anything useful. Looks more like a big hassle to constantly have to move around the mouse cursor to select stuff I want to do from the tool box. It requires even more arm movements and my arm starts hurting just by looking at how uncomfortable the guy presenting sits there. But really, the only thing that changed for me is that I use a vertical mouse since a few days now. I still haven't quite "relearned" how to use it (some micro movements aren't sitting quite right yet) but I can already feel my arm is much more relaxed than it was before.

[@TheBlackRhino007]

Would like to try Felix for modern drawing applications today.

[@Kaynos]

-"How much will it cost to buy a keyboard like that." -"249$" -"......." -"......." -"Okay, Thank You Very Much !"

[@invis648]

Oh how I miss that beepy sound of those old HDDs as they access

[@zotfotpiq]

haha, the sound of a ps/2 hard drive is so distinctive.

[@asm2750]

Pretty interesting how neural networks were being looked into over 30 years ago.

[@hankjohnson2204]

I don't think I had a trackpad until 1994-5.

[@ens8502]

Max is a nice toy.

[@OnionMad]

I feel like the word 'pixel' was pronounced differently back in the day. Is that the case? Or did some of these people simply not know how to pronounce it properly? :P

[@oubrioko]

17:34 dude has some Frankensteinian eye socket implants

[@8BitNaptime]

That one guy looks like he's wearing a fake beard to hide from the police

[@ztech6596]

"What's the point of having a cordless mouse"..... lol

[@nickwallette6201]

The Postal Service sure simplified its operations through one other big technical innovation: Email.

[@rooneye]

That mouse at 14:21 why didn't people copy that no (annoying and SHIT) mouse ball design? Cheaper and works miles better.

[@tetsujin_144]

Does it work better? I have no way of knowing apart from just believing what that guy said about it. I'd have to have one of those mice, and then use it on a regular basis for a pretty significant length of time, to know if it works well. My guess is that it would still collect gunk (it doesn't really change that fundamental problem at all) and probably wouldn't be as reliable (since the rollers are smaller than a big ol' mouse ball) - but I'd be interested to know if my assumptions are really correct. As for why didn't people copy it... Patents maybe, or it could be that it wasn't really good enough to be worth copying.

[@medes5597]

It was way, way, way less precise. Xerox tried with that design for about 5 years and then came up with the ball mouse. The mouse used in "the mother of all demos" was the same design and its been mentioned as being barely functional many times since.

[@danielcubillos1325]

23:00 apple always charging more.......

[@vpower2799]

Very expensive and bad ideas 😅😅

[@albear972]

8:26 stupid stuff! Glad this never took off. Keep your silly little plastic overlays. 11:55 No old timey fat bro. Trackballs are only good to play Centipede in the arcade like I did a lot back in 82'.

[@nitramluap]

Trackball for Marble Madness!

[@sideburn]

Paul Martin two trackballs! I still have a coin op I got 17 years ago.

[@tetsujin_144]

I use trackballs. They're not much good for games or for drawing, but I like 'em for general pointing tasks.

[@kevinhoward9593]

boy things have changed. in 1988 the Postal Services was handing 162 Billion pieces of mail a year. they barely handle 5 million now. The Postal Service is a pointless waste of time and outdated. Boy I would love to see their faces if I put my Logitech MX Master Wireless Mouse on their table.

[@oldtwinsna8347]

Not true. databook states 146 billion in 2018.

[@straightpipediesel]

LOL 5 million? I need some of whatever you're smoking. The US has over 325 million people, so you claim that 98.5% of Americans didn't receive a single piece of mail last year.

[@tetsujin_144]

@@straightpipediesel Sadly the junk mail industry is still alive and well...