The Computer Chronicles - Women in Computing (1985)

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[@Jesse_Johnson]

This is a phenomenal episode. The vision was so clear even back then. I am a dad of 2 girls. I work in tech. My daughters will grow up knowing they can do whatever they want. 💪🏽

[@wohlhabendermanager]

This episode is just another proof what great of a guy Gary Kildall was. He always seems genuinly interested in his guests and shows passion about the topics they talk about. Too bad I didn't know him before, but only since I started watching The Computer Chronicles a few weeks ago. About the topic: The things that Elizabeth Stott says (starting arount 10:45) are still very true today. It's really sad that maybe technology has advanced a lot in the last 30 years, but society really hasn't. "Gamer girls" are still seen as some kind of alien life form.

[@zg-it]

It's a shame that what he's known for isn't what he's really all about. The guy that could have been Bill Gates, thank God he wasn't Bill Gates.

[@pacario9625]

It’s not really society, just the differences between men and women. Men are more likely to sit in front of a screen for twelve hours hammering out code; women are less likely to find that stimulating. Women are more people-oriented. Men like things. It’s why male-oriented magazines focus on cars, games, and yes, computers, while female publications center more on people, fashion, and relationships.

[@wohlhabendermanager]

This is true, but not really a counter argument to the point I was trying to make. If a girl/woman likes things, we (as in "society") shouldn't act surprised or call her unkind names just because she likes stuff that most women don't like. Likewise if a man is interested in "girly things". If that's what makes them happy, society shouldn't judge them for it.@@pacario9625

[@ericn9vjg]

Gertrude's Secrets was my favorite first computer game. My son also enjoys it on a Commodore 64 emulator.

[@FabianoMaiaFranco]

"Well... Men had to go fighting, so we, women, had to start doing men things." Very well explained.

[@user-ke6zk5xg9m]

I'm impressed because the professor said that her career started at WWII , because of the absence of her husband (and men in general). WWII was a turning point, for feminism. It's a sad thing, that still at 20th century, war was pushing ahead the society. As Heraclitus said, millenia ago: "War is the father and king of everything". An ominous conclusion for the time, sadly still valid today.

[@fabiofabtube]

I always wondered what if I could show up in this show with my Thinkpad x270 without a standard floppy drive, and say: hello gentl men, mr Morrow, let me show you something...😅 But probably I'll be just honored to meet Gary and Stewart !Great show..

[@apt_get]

"There probably were hurdles and problems-- I don't think I realized it until about 5 years ago." This is so real. When being othered is the default, and you don't experience the "standard" of treatment in your field, you take what you're given and you don't question it.

[@CMDRScotty]

I like her! I started turing my school reports in useing the computer around the second grade. She was doing that at 16 which for the 80's makes since. Useing those art programs from the 80's she is probably working for pixar or Disney in 90's or 2000's.

[@floydjohnson7888]

This clues me in on a part of "what was before" I would not have been able to understand - although my Principles of Programming Languages professor had been there. Ryder-sensei, RU out there?

[@CMDRScotty]

Wait? wait? What? A game designed for ages 4 to 8 that doesn't involve reading or typing? I started learning how to type at the age of four! I had to read books in kindergarten and write in a journal everyday. By the time I was five I don't think, I could play a game that didn't involve reading. It gets even more competitive for my nephew. He is not even four yet and reads on a third grade level. He learned how to use a tablet at the age of two.

[@RandomPickles]

They got programming classes in JR High? ah man, no fair! We never even had the option all the way through HighSchool.

[@mollyeichar]

Thank you. Just ... thank you.

[@Flying_Acehole]

👍🏻

[@sebastianhama5624]

my grandma was a hell of a fortran programmer

[@ZagnutBar]

I grew up in this era. We had an Apple ][+ in 1979. And i remember Gertrude's Secrets. I loved all games, it didn't matter. I didn't think of it as a "game for girls". What i do remember is that girls my age just weren't interested in computers. Not at all. I had to lure my sister to the computer with rainbow kaleidoscope demos and other things i thought she'd find engaging, but it was always like pulling teeth. And popular, pretty girls at school definitely weren't interested. Computers were very much the domain of us nerds, middle aged men with combovers, and weirdy beards. I'm still amazed when i look around today and see how tech has thoroughly infiltrated popular culture. I guarantee you Kim Kardashian wasn't playing computer games in the 1980s but look at what a digital mogul she is now.

[@PhoenixNL72-DEGA-]

1985: Most girls and women don't wanna touch a computer with a 10 foot pole. 2020: Most girls and women are glued to their phones.... How the times have changed...

[@livesimplyandhumbly]

We don't have enough teenage cheerleaders in computer science. We should do everything we can to encourage and help them.

[@annother3350]

We don't have enough guys in cheerleading

[@DJRonnieG]

@@annother3350 We don't have enough cheerleading in guys.

[@annother3350]

@@DJRonnieG We dont have enough guys in cheerleaders

[@m77dfk]

19:10 This analogy might be extremely helpful to everyone in general!

[@8BitNaptime]

That artist looked like Dana Plato...

[@tr1p1ea]

Apple sued a compatible competitor (assuming hardware) into oblivion, interesting.

[@randywatson8347]

Women are good in design :-)

[@ShaniaSuperFan]

Among Asian-Americans engineering students, almost equal.... compared to American engineering students.... Hmmmm.

[@dakaraius]

Jeez, don't bother actually interviewing the girl artist :-/

[@megabojan1993]

Yeah, I thought so too :(

[@nickwallette6201]

Well, you never know. Maybe it was her choice not to interview on camera. They seem to be progressive enough to interview several other women - even to dedicate a show to the subject.

[@chipsanddipswitches8061]

I would like to know how her career turned out.

[@Kg277]

25:00 ..the accident of your birth put you at a disadvantage?

[@george_3264]

Seems like badly placed sarcasm

[@Protoman00]

19:59 The women at this timestamp are basically saying, "Don't listen to those woke women."

[@floydjohnson7888]

I thought Goldberg and Lewis demonstrated "wokeness" in the context of "underrepresented in computing" - evidently, I've misinterpreted something

[@Protoman00]

Floyd Johnson I think you’re right

[@johneygd]

Wow ,even back in the day there were already ligal battles between apple and other company’s regardless of pattent infrightments and no wonder atari computers were called atari st because of a co,operation between atari & st&t , hence those combined names.

[@infinitecanadian]

There always has to be a token discussion about women.

[@infinitecanadian]

@@breaddough-vk8gf Tokenization is poison.

[@petersmit7650]

1-How Sexist... 2-Welcome to the 1980s...

[@jr2904]

😢

[@tomservo5007]

Lots of women on RedTube

[@DJRonnieG]

lol I was gonna make a cam girl reference. Lest we forget, Twitch Thots.

[@jesuschrist8215]

Let's face it women don't have the pressure to succeed that men do. Women dont have to worry about being alone or not having children because men come to them. Its definitely harder being a man so in my opinion we will always be more intelligent and succeeding. Pressure to have children drives men to extreme measures

Jesus Christ

@@mythicalmeanderings Dread!

[@SVOMPTII]

Saying “it’s so hard being me! Much more than being you” is something children think, before they grow up and realize they don’t know how the other person lives. I’m embarrassed to hear it from a (presumably) grown up

[@davidt8087]

@@SVOMPTIIbut he's partially right. I'm not a famous person so I never had loads of women throw themsleves at me, but neither am I awkward or socially anxious. I don't want to brag but each women I ever wanted and had the OPPORTUNITY to meet, I easily got them to really like/love me. I've never had trouble with women, in fact, women usually invited me out, only my wife (ex wife now) was someone I cold approached and asked out first on thr first approach. When I was younger I was more interested in finding a partner, but after my divorce, I haven't cared much at all, and in 3-4 years I've only met like 2 girls I got intimate with but I didn't like them and left (my wife was just too perfect and marriage felt so much better than random flings or girlfriends, plus they lived 70 miles away, too far). I can't keep count of how many women I've succeeded easily in getting but after my marriage ended, ive had basically ZERO access to any women. I work from home and go to a flight school (recently started few months ago).. At most there are two girls in my flight school, and I don't talk to my old friends. I basically have ZERO opportunity to find anyone. Since my marriage I'm also extremely picky and don't care for sex. I care for being super compatible and having things in common. I also want to get to know them for a while before I even consider sleeping with them. The fact is I have the ability to attract women but cannot for the life of me find ANY OPPORTUNITY to do so. The girks I like I don't ever see near me, and the ones I don't, we'll I won't go after them. I got married at 22 years old and my wife had two miscarriages which helped ruin the marriage. I was the first to marry and almost have kids out of all my friends and family. If my first child was born id have a 7 year old by now, instead, all I see nowadays is my old friends or cousins who are 30+ years old barely having gotten married with a newborn child and it pisses me off. I was the first and now I'm the last of the last. They think they're successful even though they have no idea that I got shafted by bad luck in my marriage. Everywhere I look around I see couples together and I was never the jealous type but now I get fking furious. It's like, where are these ppl finding each other? Tinder or something? I genuinely have NO opportunity. I've used Tinder successfully but don't like the type of girls on there anyway. But I don't have ANY opportunity coming my way because if I had ONE opportunity come by once a month id have 12 girlfriends in a year. I simply don't, but girls can walk outside and have 1000 different men to evaluate and choose from. So it's fkn easy for them. Yes lots of guys are insecure now or too afraid to ask them out or douchebags or simply creepy and looking for sex, but women nowadays I see them say yes to guys that even 10-15 years ago girls would laugh at. There are so many weird awkward guys with over bloated egos because they finally got sex from an attractive girl because girls today are so fkn quick to say yes. It's ridiculous. Those same guys when I was in the dating game were laughed at. Things changed so much with gen z. And since I care about who I like and am picky, mt opportunities are almost down to zero.

[@pacario9625]

Well, the truth is that men and women are simply different-most women don’t find hammering out code for 14 hours in a given day fulfilling like some men might. Men are object-oriented, liking things like computers and games and guns and cars. Women are more people-oriented. You see this in the magazines we read- periodicals for women are more centered on people, celebrities, fashion, and crafts.

[@j2simpso]

Political correctness has a lot to do with why they aren’t as many women in computing now I think. Back in the 70s and 80s programming was seen an administrative job done by typists whom were predominantly women. Since the 90s though it’s become a lot more professional and treated like an engineering profession which favours men. Not saying I agree with either assessment, but that’s likely why we have seen women in computing take a nose dive over the past couple of decades

[@kevinhoward9593]

1985 a household has THREE computers!?!? computers in 1985 were like $4000 a piece and did basically nothing but databases and spreadsheets. I don't like calling someone with a PhD a "Doctor." You're not a Doctor unless you go to Medical School. you cant be a doctor of computer science.

[@oilybrakes]

You know, meawhile I don't like calling medics doctors, because their doctor title involves far less effort than the same title in engineering.

[@DJRonnieG]

I didn't spend 8 years at evil doctor's school to be told "mister, thank you very much." It's an interesting argument you put forth. I don't think anyone would disagree with NOT answering yes when someone on an airplane asks, "is there a doctor on board."

[@floydjohnson7888]

I was of the impression that millennia ago, "doctor" was the expression for "very learned one", such that by the Renaissance era, "Juris Doctor" was the expression for "lawyer". This premise holds that as English absorbed words from the Romance languages, expressions like "Medical Doctor" and "Doctor of Philosophy" rolled out of Oxford, Cambridge, and later, North American universities.

[@j2simpso]

Doctor of Philosophy has been around longer than Doctor of Medicine. Referring to someone with a PhD in Computer Science as a Doctor is therefore accurate.