Computer Chronicles
Encyclopedia
The Computer Chronicles was a US television series, broadcast during 1981-2002 on Public Broadcasting Service
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

 (PBS) public television, which documented the rise of the personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

 from its infancy to the immense market at the turn of the century. The series was created in the Fall of 1981, by Stewart Cheifet
Stewart Cheifet
Stewart Cheifet is a TV presenter who is best known for his work presenting and producing Computer Chronicles and Net Cafe. He has also worked in other reporting positions for, among others, PBS and ABC...

 (later co-host), then the station manager of the College of San Mateo's KCSM-TV
KCSM-TV
KCSM-TV, virtual channel 60, is an independent, non-commercial television station located in San Mateo, California, USA. Until 2009, KCSM-TV was a PBS member station...

 (which co-produced the show with Harrisburg, PA's WITF-TV
WITF-TV
WITF-TV is a Public Broadcasting Service member Public television station available on digital channel 36 , based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. WITF broadcasts throughout the Susquehanna Valley viewing area, and is a sister station to the area's NPR member station, WITF-FM...

), initially broadcast as a local weekly series. Jim Warren was its founding host for its 1981-1982 season. It aired continuously from 1981 to 2002 with Cheifet co-hosting most of its later seasons. Gary Kildall
Gary Kildall
Gary Arlen Kildall was an American computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur who created the CP/M operating system and founded Digital Research, Inc....

 served as co-host for six years (1983 to 1990) providing insights and commentary on products as well as discussions on the future of the ever-expanding personal computer sphere.

During the 1980s, the show had many supporting presenters including:
  • George Morrow
    George Morrow (computers)
    George Morrow was part of the early microcomputer industry in the United States. Morrow promoted and improved the S-100 bus used in many early microcomputers...

    : Presenter and commentator who for a time headed the Morrow Design company, Morrow was a well known face on the Chronicles until the 1990s. Morrow died in 2003.
  • Paul Schindler
    Paul Schindler
    Paul E. Schindler, Jr. was the software reviewer on the popular television program Computer Chronicles from 1986 to 1999. He worked for 20 years in computer journalism at CMP Technology and Ziff-Davis, including Computer Systems News, Information Systems News, Information Week, PC Week, Windows...

    : Featured predominantly in software reviews, Schindler contributed to the series until the early 1990s.
  • Wendy Woods: Provided reports for many software and hardware products, as well as talking with the main presenters in the studio about specific topics.


The Computer Chronicles format remained relatively unchanged throughout its run, except perhaps with the noticeable difference in presenting style; originally formal it evolved into a more relaxed, casual style. From 1984 onward the last five minutes or so featured Random Access, a section which gave the viewer the latest computer news from the home and business markets. Stewart Chiefet, Janelle Stelson and various other individuals presented the segment. Random Access was discontinued in 1997.

Despite performing well in the ratings in the United States and being broadcast throughout the world, the Computer Chronicles was cancelled in 2002. Almost all episodes of Computer Chronicles have been made available for free download at the Internet Archive
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...

. Many episodes of the show have been dubbed into other languages including Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

.

External links

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