The Computer Programme (2): Just One Thing After Another (Basic Processing Concepts)

Episode #2 of this series about computers produced by the BBC. Casted in January 18, 1982.

[@spartanx5806]

i loved 1982 so much...

[@shmookins]

11:07 We advanced so much that this contraption looks like something the Romans would build. Mind-blowing. Thank you for the archive, chief. You rock!

[@ml3054]

That was a magical moment for the fellow anchorman, thanks for sharing.

[@steve24822]

The intro is just awesome, both music and graphics.

[@tinytonymaloney7832]

I loved programming in Basic. I was self taught after my parents bought a Commodore 64. I think that's why I became anti social for many years as I was stuck indoors hooked on building various game programs, I loved it. Unfortunately I wasn't brainy or A levelled enough to get a job with computers and I eventually got bored and went back to living 😉

[@typograf62]

Bubble Sort is simple, instructive and a good starting point for discussions. But not one to use for real.

[@cesarjom]

yea, i wonder how many people understand the costly time complexity of that algorithm ;)

[@GregRobsonUK]

Excessive use of Kraftwerk backing music... I approve! Thanks for sharing (I wasn't even born then!)

[@ruga666]

wow amazing! very cool program thanks for sharing very much, almost priceless now

[@jonnymiles3906]

Amazing how much of this knowledge is still not generally known in 2014

[@barfgameplay]

It's a shame for sure. We're trying to hide all the amazing things a computer does under layers of nice looking user interfaces, what leads to us getting 'detached' from the computer. That's why i really want computer programming classes to be mandatory at schools, or at least a couple of introductory lessons with things like the Arduino and Raspberry Pi.

[@user-cq7db9ij1o]

@First Last True. Thats the reason even graduates in Computer Science asked to write basic sorting or searching programs, they get confused. Because almost all software packages/languages/frameworks do all of the work and programmers/engineers become dumb.

[@anonUK]

@First Last The world apparently needs corporate drones who can be programmed until a robot can take their place. Imagination, creativity and intelligence above the basic level are not required.

[@NathanChisholm041]

2022 is no better!

[@mikewren8952]

2023 worse

[@TheBrunoleocoelho]

I really felt some "emotion" of the reporter from 23:20 when he saw his program running. It's something like "Oh gosh! It worked! My program realler worked!". He confesses after some seconds about his feeling of gratification for that worked :-D Hahaha!

[@guardiane]

damn I was 1 year old at the time of this video's creation...I miss the 80's. I found this strangely relaxing too....

[@NintendoThumb]

Those stop lights were really interesting, I had no idea there would be a yellow combined with a red; I kinda like it.

[@davba2]

It's basically because the majority of vehicles in the UK have manual transmission. This means that you need a couple of seconds to depress the clutch pedal and shift into 1st gear, hence the red/amber (as we call it) combination. In countries where the majority of vehicles are automatic, a preparatory signal isn't needed since you just sit at the lights with the vehicle in Drive and your foot on the brake pedal.

[@tschak909]

A relic of a long gone age: An automobile assembly line inhabited by human beings.

[@jarrodhook]

Really enjoyed this! Thanks for the upload.

[@pinkyn0se]

When I was young, I used to think this guy and Jeremy Paxman were the same person.

[@jimsimpson1006]

At the time, I thought Chris Serle looked quite old. Now I can't believe how young he looks. 🙁

[@Worldtimes1]

Awesome documentary thanks for sharing

[@alzeNL]

i guess the guy smashing the crap out the door on the vauxhall production works is equivalent to a modern day developer debugging in visual studio.

[@peterjennings8258]

He is hammering in the hinge pins......

[@factorylad5071]

Or "punching in" the instructions if you like.

[@AndrewAHayes]

They forgot to add that Vauxhall made sure the car was rusted away after six years LOL

[@churchofgod4016]

love the owl flight and minimalist synth lines. So '82.

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

Oh my heck, I've seen player-pianos, but never a player-violin before, with rotary bows, etc.! Wow, very cool!

[@filipedavila6056]

excellent series!

[@panjacek6674]

Very nicely explained.

[@UKVampy]

Ah the nostalgia of that theme tune.

[@garyproffitt5941]

Mark my words with futuristic ideas 'Computer Talk' with Jeff Paxman.

[@tschak909]

FWIW, we had almost NOTHING like any of these programs, in the US.

[@DeathBringer769]

We did have this show, which I remember watching sometimes: www.imdb.com/title/tt0421311/

[@RetroTech100]

I think it's unprofessional to do your washing at work.

[@SteveMacSticky]

I miss the eighties. We were better humans back then

[@NeilCWCampbell]

Except for gay bashing and disability hate crime 🤔

[@SkipSpotter]

I agree Mr.S. I reckon back then we were so more content, especially socially. We didn't ask so many questions, as life was so much simpler. Now, everyone is more clued up and trust seems to be a rare commodity. Give me the 80s any day. Even music had heart back then, and melodies stuck with you.

[@maverickhistorian6488]

Those were the days! Being able to insult your nemesis by calling them a mongy, Joey Deacon or spastic, spaz, Spazmo etc. 😁

[@SteveMacSticky]

@@NeilCWCampbell well I'm speaking generally. What do you mean, disability hate crime? Please explain.

[@NeilCWCampbell]

@@SteveMacSticky sure for money

[@in4moon]

you guys were lucky .. we didn't have such things in my country when growing up :/

[@TheRetroEngine]

I think that mainframe/mini behind the two presenters is an ICL-ME29 - the first computer I ever used professionally (along with a Clan 3 and a Clan 4 unix machine). Haven't seen one of any of these in years!

[@factorylad5071]

Retro Engine I live across the road from the last Iknown ICL headquarters the property they sold to Talk Talk and their business to Fujitsu the rest is history as they say.

[@TheRetroEngine]

@@factorylad5071 Bracknell? I remember the Fujitsu building somewhere near there, and I think we upgraded the Clans to a Fujitsu so the buy out to Fujitsu must've happened early/mid 90s

[@factorylad5071]

@@TheRetroEngine no Birchwood Parks. ICL was a northern enterprise based in Chadderton near Oldham .Steve Furber has the ICL chair at Manchester University now. I think the buy out was progressive starting about when you said. The logos and signboards disappeared from the building in about 2005. ICL probably goes back to the days of Alan Turing.

[@TheRetroEngine]

@@factorylad5071 Nice one, thanks

[@Hopefu11y]

3:33 he sounds surprised the car actually runs 😁

[@aerk12]

It's an 80s Vauxhall, frankly it was a miracle 😃

[@Hopefu11y]

@@aerk12As a Ford fan I can't help but submit to you one biased nod of agreement 😁

[@maverickhistorian6488]

Anything built by British Leyland, you'd definitely be praying for divine intervention! 😁

[@AaronNewcomb]

What is the music at the end of the episode? I need to add it to my synthwave playlist.

[@andrs73]

Kraftwerk-Computer world

[@AaronNewcomb]

@@andrs73 Thanks! The whole album is interesting.

[@PixelOutlaw]

Hehe, Bubble Sort algorithm. :) Not the best for sure, but easily understood for the audience.

[@daspolemon]

I wonder if for the sorting presentation, they actually used bubblesort while the computer was sorting in "fast mode". Kinda wondering if they actually implemented Quicksort on it.

[@alphaphotoandvideo]

Is this TV program or Database betterfor the most current computer news?

[@TheStevenWhiting]

Even those are really old, they are still a good way of explaining computers and programming to people

[@stevebez2767]

I think this is the product of talking to the fridge without lemon aid

[@johneygd]

Yeah, setting up a computer backthen was painfull, as you had to know what to do first etc,,,

[@Slarti]

...and then asynchronous methods came into existence and I went nuts...

[@ishanbhanu]

In British, you only have one cooking option: boil

[@anonUK]

It's not the only tupe of cooking in Britain. The Scots would fry water if they could.

[@wolfgangtrubshaw5549]

That 3-coloured traffic light at 15:00 is actually a classic example of trinary, not binary. Mere Pedestrian traffic lights with just red/green is binary, but the moment a yellow light is brought into the game, it becomes trinary.

[@xereeto]

I thought the same at first, but no, it definitely is binary. At the end of the day the colour of the light is irrelevant, all that really matters is whether the light in each position is on or off. 001 = green light/go, 010 = amber light/get ready to stop, 100 = red light/stop, 110 = red + amber/get ready to go.

[@jacobhn2]

If we had trinary computers today, it could perform more work per bit, Ex. binary = 1 and 0, trinary = 1, 0.5 and 0 .. Binary = 5v and 0v. Trinary = 5v, 2.5v and 0v. End

[@anonUK]

@@jacobhn2 That's where quantum computing would come in. Purely electronic chips, based on digital bits, have to be binary- a current is on or off. Dimming or reducing a current to provide a third option would break the circuitry.

[@zaitarh]

@BrackynMor A binary could too (taking xereeto's example): 101 = green and red at the same time. Total confusion. 111 = even better. I've often see 000 - also confusing...

[@zaitarh]

BrackynMor Yeah, i know. So more like stop and don't stop as well as go and don't go, at the same time... Or how ever the analogy can be most correct/confusing ;) (anyway, something with the unit circle)

[@bbbf09]

This is so very much home counties BBC it hurts.

[@ShamanKish]

14:50 Diagonally crossing, ignoring all binaries 🤣🤦‍♂️

[@HDPMS]

"City string" not even "City Dollar"!

[@NeilCWCampbell]

It always string.. like #is hash

[@ShakespeareCafe]

The Vatican is located in Vatican City

[@Spider_Rico]

All this time I thought it was in New Jersey. You learn something new everyday.

[@zaftra]

Both in Rome

[@garyproffitt5941]

Be Humanized with Humans for peace on Earth.

[@johnknight9150]

"If car leaks, then fix it and take it back".

[@factorylad5071]

@John Knight and you never been on a subroutine unless you met a go-to haha mate

[@1totree]

Painful viewing....

[@anonUK]

Some people potentially watching this would have grown up in the 1920s or earlier. Few people in the UK had had a games console at home in the 70s- and this programme introduced the idea of having a computer at home to the British. Remember the Internet didn't actually exist until the following year- and services such as Prestel or Viewdata (or even Teletext) were restricted to businesses and the upper-middle class who could afford them.

[@factorylad5071]

Thinks. Well it does seem to put up barriers , class , sex , edumacation and employment status but it is a real 6502 6522 video at least. Show me da code bro.