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Video tags
Subtitles
00:00:04
[sips]
-"Ahh!"00:00:05
[keyboard typing sounds]00:00:18
Well, greetings!00:00:19
And welcome to another
LGR Christmasy episode.00:00:23
Wasn't sure I was gonna get
another one of these done00:00:25
before I leave for a Christmas vacation00:00:27
in the latter half of the
month, but here we are.00:00:29
We're gonna do another one
of "The Computer Chronicles"00:00:31
watchalong/reaction/diving
into research kind of videos,00:00:36
which I have a lot of fun doing!00:00:37
The Christmas Buyer's
Guides in particular00:00:39
that they did from like the mid eighties00:00:41
into the early nineties
are some of my favorites00:00:44
just for the Christmasy atmosphere,00:00:46
but also just the odd things
they're always coming up with00:00:49
in terms of recommendations.00:00:50
So yeah, let's watch this one from 1987...00:00:55
[unnerved chuckle] ...and clones.00:00:58
- Christmas, Christmas, Christmas.00:01:00
All right, more Computer
Chronicles finally!00:01:02
1987 Christmas Buyer's
Guide. Excited for this.00:01:07
- [Stewart Cheifet] Let's see,00:01:08
I'll give this to Gary, that to George.00:01:12
I'll give that to Paul and that to Wendy.00:01:14
Hi, if your friends are into computers,00:01:16
software, or peripherals00:01:17
can make a great Christmas present00:01:19
during this holiday season.00:01:20
Today, we're gonna give you
our favorite suggestions00:01:23
for holiday gifts from the computer store00:01:25
on this edition of "The
Computer Chronicles."00:01:28
- What an immediately
cozy Christmasy scene00:01:30
from the eighties!00:01:32
The computer software on the table there.00:01:34
I wonder if this is actually
Stewart's house? [chuckles]00:01:36
Or just some producers or whoever.00:01:38
I don't know, Gary Kildall00:01:39
Somebody's house.00:01:40
I'm gonna just pretend
it's the Cheifet Home.00:01:43
[delightful segue music]00:01:47
- Welcome to "The Computer Chronicles."00:01:48
- I'm Stewart Cheifet and this is--
[Clint laughing]00:01:50
- Sorry, you watch this enough00:01:52
and you start to notice
these little things,00:01:54
like the quirks of the host.00:01:55
Stewart here, he's
always like, hunched down00:01:57
and doing a pose in the dark00:01:58
when it starts up, in these
earlier ones in particular.00:02:01
Just watch him,00:02:02
and he moves when the lights come on.00:02:04
It's just funny to me for some reason.00:02:06
Anyway, Gary Kildall in a Santa hat!00:02:08
- Computer Chronicles.00:02:09
I'm Stewart Cheifet, and this is Santa Claus
Kildall all over here.00:02:11
- Merry Christmas, Stewart.00:02:12
- Merry Christmas to you, Gary.00:02:13
Gary, I asked you to come up with00:02:14
- Ooh, is that an MSX?
- an idea for Christmas00:02:16
for a computer user00:02:17
and you brought this whole operation here.00:02:18
Now what is this that you got?00:02:19
- This is called a Sony Picture Computer.00:02:20
It's this whole box right down here00:02:22
and use it to add pictures
and titles and things00:02:24
to your home VCR movies.00:02:25
- Show me how you-
- It has a charge00:02:26
couple device scanner.00:02:28
- Oh crap. That's cool.00:02:29
- This paper,00:02:30
you make a little drawing out like this.00:02:31
- Okay.
- So yeah, like a titler00:02:33
with a scanner built in,00:02:35
- Set it over the top, sight through it00:02:36
and push the little start button00:02:37
and we'll see the black
and white image come up00:02:40
on the screen.
- Mmhmm.00:02:42
- The scanning process.00:02:43
- Scanning a little drawing you made00:02:44
and we're making,
- oh, that's awesome.00:02:47
A little scanner deal connected to it.00:02:49
- [Gary] Scan process gets finished.00:02:50
We're gonna use the
controls on the scanner.00:02:52
- That's way more advanced
than any titler I've used00:02:55
for like putting stuff on
analog tape and things.00:02:57
I wonder if that is an MSX there.00:02:59
I'll look that up....00:03:00
The Sony Picture Computer...00:03:02
Oh, there's some for sale on eBay00:03:04
and there is the little scanner deal.00:03:09
That thing is awesome.00:03:11
A little D-pad, paint, color,
and there's a trackball.00:03:16
But yeah, it doesn't look super MSX-y.00:03:19
It looks like it does have
a tape connector though.00:03:22
I don't know.00:03:23
I guess I wasn't the only one thinking00:03:25
that there might be an MSX connection,00:03:27
the MSX Archeology blog here00:03:30
on Blogspot is mentioning that
it kind of looks like that,00:03:34
could be a hidden MSX,00:03:36
but indeed it is not.00:03:39
Despite it also taking the, yeah,00:03:41
there is an MSX compatible
cassette connector00:03:43
and the GB-6 trackball.00:03:45
It's... just a thing from Sony00:03:49
with non-MSX hardware inside.00:03:51
It probably just, y'know, used
some of the design language.00:03:54
But yeah, none of the associated00:03:55
like Yamaha video processor, no Z80,00:03:58
just a bunch of Ricoh processor chips.00:04:00
That makes sense.00:04:01
It's just one of those that
happens to be by Sony.00:04:03
- Now, you can also
get a little trackball00:04:05
that goes with this00:04:06
makes this operation a little bit faster.00:04:07
- Oh yeah, I was — see he's using00:04:08
those teeny little arrow cursors to move around,00:04:12
if you don't have the trackball.00:04:14
You would want the trackball.00:04:15
- Okay, so I could roll.00:04:16
I just happened to have some video,00:04:17
home video which Gary took in New York00:04:20
[Gary chuckling]
and here it comes.00:04:22
Okay, there's video. This is the standard shaky cam...00:04:24
-You tell us now...00:04:25
- What the heck! That is a Vector W2.00:04:29
What is that do--00:04:30
Whose video is this?
[shocked laughing]00:04:33
Holy crap!00:04:35
Okay, so this has been one
of my obsessions...00:04:38
since I was a kid!00:04:39
All the different variations of the W2,00:04:41
which was the prototype.
It turned into the W800:04:43
whenever it was a production car.00:04:45
But Vector Aeromotive was just,00:04:47
this whole thing, and Jerry
Wiegert's ideas over the years...00:04:50
I wonder if that's him driving.00:04:51
Ah, it's hard to tell.00:04:56
It would not be surprising00:04:57
if this was like Gary Kildall driving,00:04:59
or if this was his tape00:05:01
because he was very much a supercar guy.00:05:03
I mean, Gary Kildall himself was known00:05:04
for taking his Lamborghini
Countach to Computer Chronicles00:05:08
whenever he was just
driving there to work.00:05:10
So this particular configuration,00:05:12
I think this is probably just
when it was painted silver,00:05:14
they repainted it so many times.00:05:16
They swapped out body panels, the wheels,00:05:19
all kinds of things
throughout the seventies00:05:21
and into the eighties and who knows how much longer.00:05:23
This one that we're seeing
in Computer Chronicles00:05:26
is this one right here.00:05:29
I've been wanting to do a video on Vector... heh,00:05:32
what's your vector, Victor?00:05:33
A Vector video on LGR for so long00:05:36
as kind of a tech-adjacent thing.00:05:37
Cuz the story is fascinating!00:05:38
The cars are fascinating, and like I said,00:05:40
I've been like obsessed with
these ever since I was a kid.00:05:42
Had posters of the W2 and W8 and the M1200:05:45
and oh man, this is, I didn't expect00:05:50
to go into this little
rabbit hole. [amused chuckle]00:05:52
What a cool thing!00:05:53
- [Stewart] How much does that thing cost?00:05:55
- [Gary] This is around $400.
- [Stewart] Not a bad Christmas idea.00:05:56
- [Clint] And about $40000:05:58
for that titler system,00:05:59
but you know what? I don't
really care about that anymore.00:06:01
The Vector!00:06:02
- Okay, in just a minute we're
gonna be joined by the rest00:06:04
of "The Computer Chronicles" gang,00:06:05
George Morrow, Paul Schindler,00:06:07
Wendy Woods with all their suggestions00:06:09
for Christmas gifts for the
computer user on your list.00:06:11
First of all, let's go
out to the retail stores00:06:13
and see what the hot
selling items are right now,00:06:15
in the computer stores
during this holiday season.00:06:18
- I was hoping they'd get to this.00:06:20
Whenever they go and visit
like a mall or a store00:06:22
or whatever in these segments...00:06:24
- [Wendy] For almost every retail store,00:06:26
Christmas is the biggest
selling event of the year.00:06:29
The colorful decorations
are vivid reminders00:06:32
of the commercial
importance of the holidays.00:06:34
- I wonder what mall this is.00:06:37
Maybe they'll say,00:06:38
or if you recognize it,
leave it in the comments.00:06:40
- [Wendy] And 1987 is no exception.00:06:43
Nervous computer retailers
are watching carefully00:06:46
to see if Wall Street's October crash00:06:48
was a harbinger of bad times.00:06:51
- Wall Street's October
crash, October, 1987.00:06:54
Well I gotta look that up.00:06:55
Yeah. Known as Black Monday.00:06:56
Yeah, I have heard of that.00:06:57
Or Black Tuesday, depending on
where you were in the world.00:06:59
But yeah, a global, severe00:07:00
largely unexpected stock market crash,00:07:03
$1.71 trillion loss worldwide.00:07:06
Oh my gosh.00:07:07
- So far, that type of bad news activity00:07:10
hasn't really put a dent in our business.00:07:12
Our customers don't even really
talk about it or mention it.00:07:16
- Computers are fine.
[chuckles economically]00:07:19
Please keep buying them.00:07:20
- Probably has a lot to do
with the general population00:07:23
who we do business with on a daily basis,00:07:25
probably don't have a
significant amount of money00:07:27
tied up in the stock market to begin with.00:07:29
So whether the stock
market went up or went down00:07:31
really didn't affect them at all.00:07:32
- Yeah, Atari ST owners, they
don't have stocks...?00:07:35
I mean, yeah, it's just
what they have on-screen.00:07:37
But you know, eh, home
computer people, eh,00:07:40
stock market, whatever.00:07:41
I just want something cool00:07:42
to play "Defender of the Crown" on.00:07:45
- [Wendy] Christmas
buying has a big impact00:07:47
on both sales volume and the
kind of product that the...00:07:50
- Mm. [grunts]
Software packages.00:07:54
So the Chuck Yeager's
Advanced Flight Trainer00:07:57
and the original Test Drive,00:07:58
something called AEGIS Draw
Plus. Not heard of that.00:08:02
Awesome cover art. Yeah.00:08:04
Desktop design software for the Amiga00:08:06
and provides a powerful set
of professional design tools00:08:09
and a simple easy to learn format.00:08:11
And it's CAD stuff I guess, huh?00:08:13
According to "InfoWorld" 1986,00:08:16
it was launched at $259.00:08:21
Yeah, dunno if that was
good or bad or what.00:08:24
It seems decent for
like CAD software though00:08:27
- [Wendy] Games for
example, represented...00:08:29
- [Clint] Test Drive on an Atari ST.00:08:31
- [Wendy] Software sales at this store.00:08:33
- Nice.
- But the popularity00:08:34
of entertainment software doesn't mean00:08:37
that Yuletide shoppers
are less sophisticated.00:08:39
- Dude, I have that TV.00:08:41
It's the KV-1311CR or very close to it,00:08:44
one of my favorite monitors.00:08:46
It's got some awesome
RGB hookups on the side00:08:49
and a couple of different, yeah, formats,00:08:50
both digital analog,
but you can plug a Amiga00:08:53
or Atari ST straight in
there and it looks fantastic.00:08:56
It's like having
SCART here in the US.00:08:58
This is an interesting time in00:09:00
American personal
computer retail...00:09:04
Because I mean obviously
they're just showing00:09:06
like the Atari ST and
Amigas and stuff here00:09:08
because they're probably more00:09:09
interesting to look at on-camera.00:09:11
Whereas you have all these PC clones,00:09:12
or I presuming it's
some kind of a PC clone,00:09:14
I don't recognize it, but
the amber monochrome graphics00:09:18
and just much more boring stuff on the PC.00:09:21
Eh, it just wasn't quite there yet.00:09:23
- [Wendy] But if most buyers
view the holiday season00:09:26
with financial anxiety,00:09:28
for other more innocent shoppers,00:09:30
it means a lot more.00:09:32
- Oh, how precious.00:09:34
Here comes Santa Claus00:09:35
and he's got computers.
[computer chronicley segue music]00:09:41
- Joining us in the studio now in addition00:09:42
to Santa Claus Kildall
over here is George Morrow,00:09:45
our regular host and commentator00:09:47
and chief scientist at Nestar,00:09:48
next to George, Wendy
Woods, our regular reporter.00:09:51
[laughing]
- Sorry, there's normally a painting00:09:53
or you know, something there on that wall00:09:55
and they just covered it up with a wreath.00:09:58
Not even centered, it's
just plopped on there.00:10:01
Fantastic.00:10:03
- Commentator and chief
scientist at Nestar00:10:04
and next to George, Wendy
Woods, our regular reporter.00:10:07
Wendy of course is also editor-in-chief00:10:09
of "Newsbytes." - Gary, start!
- I wanna see00:10:10
what George has got for us here.00:10:12
- Oh, I've got a lot of things.00:10:13
The first thing is a piece
of software called Byline.00:10:15
It's I think the best piece00:10:17
of desktop publishing software
that's come around the pike.00:10:20
- And it's from George Morrow.00:10:22
So it's probably like $400. [chuckles]00:10:24
- It's about $300.
- Oh well! $300.00:10:28
- It allows you00:10:29
to import from almost any kind00:10:31
of other program that
creates files like dBase III00:10:35
or any of the spreadsheet programs.00:10:38
It allows you to bring
those into a document00:10:40
and format 'em any way
you want and publish them.00:10:43
- Wow.
- I think00:10:45
it's gonna be the standard00:10:46
in civilized desktop publishing.00:10:48
- It's pretty new, right?
- It's pretty new.00:10:49
It's just coming out.00:10:51
It's a great piece of software00:10:52
- A good starter for a person who wants00:10:53
to get into desktop publishing.00:10:54
- A good starter and I think
it's got a lot of horsepower.00:10:57
Okay. I think it's got the
horsepower to last quite a while.00:10:59
- All right. Ashton-Tate Byline,00:11:02
did it become the standard?00:11:04
Man, it's not even listed
on their wiki. [chuckles]00:11:07
They were, you know, they were
known for a lot of things.00:11:09
They're obviously pretty important00:11:10
in terms of all their dBase stuff.00:11:12
And yeeeaaah... heh, lawsuits.00:11:16
There's a little thingie on Vetusware.00:11:19
It was an early desktop publishing
program targeted squarely00:11:22
a DOS users, the box proudly proclaims,00:11:25
"Because Byline works the way you do,00:11:26
You don't waste time with a mouse00:11:28
or a new graphics environment."00:11:29
You don't waste time with a mouse!00:11:32
Jeez, forget graphics.
[laughs in GUI]00:11:36
It does have WYSIWYG, I mean wow.00:11:39
But a non-interactive interface.00:11:40
This is a very George
Morrow product. [laughs]00:11:45
- You know, these days
we're in the transition00:11:47
between three and a half inch drives00:11:49
and five and a quarters. Well this is a perfect product.00:11:51
It's called Laplink.00:11:53
It's about a hundred dollars.
- Oh heck, yeah.00:11:54
- It comes with a cable00:11:56
that you can't make a mistake
with because it has...00:11:59
- It's got one of everything.
- It's got both kinds of00:12:00
connectors, either way00:12:01
it'll plug into any
pair of serial ports.00:12:04
You plug it in, you bring it up.00:12:06
It's got a three and a half inch diskette00:12:08
and a five and a quarter inch diskette.00:12:10
And it allows, it's the most
civilized, easy to use program00:12:13
to transfer files that I've ever seen.00:12:15
- He's all about these civilized programs.00:12:17
I wonder what are his opinions
on the uncivilized ones are.00:12:20
- [Stewart] Real timely
for the transition.00:12:21
- I not only use it for my portables,00:12:23
but I use it when I want to
transfer files across normally.00:12:26
- I mean that's a just
a solid recommendation.00:12:28
I still use Laplink in various forms00:12:30
to do transfers over serial like that.00:12:32
It's just a null modem cable00:12:34
or, I dunno, they might have modified it00:12:35
a little bit later on, but yeah.00:12:37
It's just a really darn useful program.00:12:39
I've got a video over an
LGR Blerbs doing an unboxing00:12:42
of one of the versions of Laplink00:12:44
and it's still really useful00:12:46
as a retro computer person at times.00:12:48
- The third piece of
software that I think is good00:12:51
for Christmas is a piece
of software called Higgins.00:12:54
- Yes.
- Higgins is a piece00:12:55
of personal productivity software.00:12:58
I have it on my portable00:13:00
that I carry with me all the time.
[Clint laughing]00:13:02
- Here it is!
- You guys won't be able00:13:04
to see much of this, but Wendy...00:13:05
- Oh my gosh, [laughs]00:13:08
how big is that screen?! [laughs]00:13:12
[mimics giant screen panel opening]00:13:14
It's just like, "here's my laptop. Okay!"00:13:16
"And so anyway, let's take a look at it."00:13:21
That's wonderful.00:13:22
- To all my things and
my activities in the day.00:13:26
It has a calendar, it has a directory.00:13:28
I'm able to, come in here and look at
anybody's name and address I want.00:13:33
I can go...00:13:34
- He's just putting
everybody's information out there.00:13:38
That looks like legit information.00:13:41
Whoever this Mitsubishi VP
of marketing is like, that's00:13:43
their address, their
phone numbers, everything.00:13:47
Well, I mean it says it's
'not private' but whatever.00:13:51
Putting it on TV.00:13:52
- And this takes the place of it00:13:54
and it makes me more effective.00:13:55
- It's well named then, Higgins.00:13:56
- Higgins, right.00:13:57
- How much is this one, George?00:13:58
- This is I think around $200.00:14:00
So we have one for 300, one for 200,00:14:03
one for a hundred.00:14:04
- That seems actually like a pretty00:14:05
darn good piece of software.00:14:06
I'm gonna look it up in a sec.00:14:07
And I also just, I wanna
know what that computer is00:14:10
cuz I do not recognize it.00:14:11
That is hilarious.00:14:13
Higgins by, what's that
company... [mumbles] Systems Inc.00:14:17
I can't see, so there's something else00:14:19
it's called Higgins Remote. Hmm.00:14:21
Conetic Systems.00:14:22
That's different--but I
bet that's the company.00:14:25
[keyboard clacking]00:14:26
Man, there's just not a lot out there.00:14:29
There's some Byte Magazine stuff here.00:14:31
1985 where Conetic introduces
the desktop management series.00:14:36
Higgins, yeah. $395 at that point.00:14:39
Some folks recommending it.00:14:40
"A personal butler on a diskette,"00:14:43
I guess just cuz it has like
all your contact information00:14:47
and other stuff you can store.00:14:48
That is a weird way to put it.00:14:50
But anyway, Higgins.
Now, as for that computer,00:14:53
maybe it's this?00:14:56
That might be a Zenith 180.00:14:57
Yeah, definitely in the
180 series of Zeniths.00:15:00
That makes total sense
considering George Morrow's Pivot.00:15:05
There was the Zenith version.00:15:07
I've covered one of those before.00:15:09
By the way, it looks hilarious00:15:10
in Computer Chronicles sitting there00:15:11
on the desk like it's just,00:15:12
it's such a large screen for the time.00:15:14
- So we have one for 300, one
for 200, one for a hundred.00:15:16
- Okay, so George's picks
are Byline and Laplink00:15:19
and Higgins, great Christmas products.00:15:21
- Right.
- Christmas ideas. Okay.00:15:23
Gary, what do you got here?00:15:24
- Okay, well this one...
- Fancy.00:15:25
- Yeah this is kind of
an interesting device.00:15:27
This is a called the
complete hand scanner.00:15:29
It comes from Complete PC,00:15:31
and the idea is that you get a really,00:15:33
a low cost way of getting
images into a computer system.00:15:36
Well here's a... - He's all about those
scanners in 1987, huh?00:15:39
- It's one of my favorites actually.00:15:40
Now I gotta do this, start this thing.00:15:42
I'll get to the Enter key and I'm gonna scan this
as a five inch image.00:15:46
Okay, and so I hit the F2 key here00:15:48
and then hold this button down00:15:49
and then you'll see the
image coming up here.00:15:52
- Uh-huh.
- Yeah.00:15:53
- So you just, you are
manually just sliding down00:15:55
- Hand scanners are
pretty darn cool. [laughs]00:15:58
I never had one back in the day00:16:00
but I always thought they were neat.00:16:01
I still kind of do.00:16:03
I've got a couple but you know, I don't have any reason to use 'em.00:16:06
- How much was this, Gary?
- This is $249.00:16:09
- It's really fast. - It is very fast.
- I think commercial scanners00:16:12
are probably what, $2000 or something?00:16:13
- Yeah yeah, big flatbeds were00:16:15
really expensive!00:16:17
- A lot.00:16:18
Let me, for the people
who are into portables,00:16:19
I've got a whole kit full of toys here00:16:21
depending on what your price range is too.00:16:23
- [Clint] A kit full of toys...?00:16:25
That's okay, Stewart, I understand.00:16:27
- [Stewart] I guess one of
the newest portables out00:16:28
is this Toshiba T1000.00:16:30
Very inexpensive.00:16:31
You can get it for 800 bucks.00:16:33
George, you tell me..00:16:34
- [Clint] Ah, the classic.00:16:35
- [George] I see it in Computer
Shopper for around 650.00:16:37
- [Stewart] I like it,00:16:38
It's the smallest, lightest thing around00:16:39
about six pounds...00:16:41
- See that's the kind of portable,00:16:42
you know, little clamshell
laptop-type computer00:16:45
that I expect for '87.00:16:46
I mean, and the T1000 is just like,00:16:49
*the* computer of '87, in
terms of portables. [laughs]00:16:52
Not that gigantic Zenith.00:16:54
- What people are doing is
instead getting this little baby.00:16:56
- Oh yeah.
- Worldport 1200.00:16:57
We've seen this before.00:16:58
Has its own nine volt battery in there.00:16:59
You can use it on any computer,00:17:01
plug into your portable, plug it into your PC when you use it.00:17:04
That's about what, 150 bucks
or 200 bucks something.00:17:07
- That's the modem part.
- Yeah, that's the modem.00:17:08
Something in that range.00:17:09
Now a really00:17:11
- [Clint] That's pretty cool. - [Stewart] is this printer from Diconix.00:17:12
This is a battery operated
printer. Very clever.00:17:14
George, you like this?00:17:15
Look what they do.00:17:16
The batteries go in here
inside the platinum thing.00:17:18
[assorted polite host banter]
Rechargeable C-cells!00:17:19
Isn't that clever?
- That is great.00:17:21
- You don't have to waste
any room with the batteries.00:17:22
- [Clint] That's awesome.
- [Stewart] Very nice copy. Very quiet.00:17:23
Inkjet printer uses a standard HP inkjet,00:17:27
relatively inexpensive, $300-$400,00:17:29
an excellent quality print00:17:30
and pretty fast, 150 characters
per second in draft mode.00:17:33
- Next year, I'll bet you
they'll have this thing.00:17:35
Not only is a printer
but also it's a scanner.00:17:37
A couple other real quick things!00:17:41
- Predicting the future there
of HP all in ones. [laughs]00:17:44
Yeah. Is this di-something
chronics, The Chronic?00:17:49
Those are still very much around00:17:52
and if it just uses like C-cell batteries00:17:55
then it would just be a matter00:17:57
of finding the inkjet ink to go with it.00:18:01
That's a freaking cool little thing man.00:18:04
So according to the South
Florida Sun Sentinel,00:18:07
they were referencing
Consumer Reports here.00:18:09
I guess the Diconix 150
was their recommendation00:18:12
for the tiny portable thing
with the batteries and all that.00:18:15
But the Canon won overall in
terms of quality and speed.00:18:19
This though, this stands out to me,00:18:21
"Inkjet printers use special smooth paper00:18:24
"so that the ink doesn't blur.00:18:25
"It's a special paper that
costs more than twice00:18:27
"as much as plain paper
and has a grayish tint00:18:30
"that might not be to everyone's liking.00:18:31
"It doesn't tear as neatly
as ordinary computer paper."00:18:33
I honestly, I've never
used an inkjet that old.00:18:36
I didn't know there was a special paper.00:18:38
I'm kind of curious.00:18:39
I mean not, you know,00:18:41
cuz Inkjets... never again.00:18:45
I mean I can't guarantee that.00:18:47
- If you're a portable
user and a modem user,00:18:49
you run into a hotel,00:18:50
you can't get into the phone
because it's hardwired.00:18:52
All you do is unscrew the mouthpiece.00:18:54
Screw this thing on the mouthpiece,00:18:55
- Oh.
- Plug your jack in00:18:57
and you can use a phone anywhere.00:18:58
- That's cool.00:19:00
That's like some spy
gadget thing. Oh dude.00:19:03
So yeah, if your, the hotel
room didn't have a connection00:19:06
to the wall, you can just
unscrew the handpiece00:19:09
of like your standard,00:19:10
well one of these, you
just do that right there00:19:13
and then, uh [laughs in telephony]00:19:16
You put that little guy in there00:19:18
and then you could plug your
computer modem straight in.00:19:22
How does it hear though?00:19:23
Cuz obviously you're gonna need both00:19:25
for sending and receiving.00:19:27
Maybe it just sort of taps into that?00:19:29
- [George] Is it two way?00:19:30
Does that give you two
way or just one way?00:19:31
- Two way, two way. It's regular.00:19:32
- Wow.
- Same as a public phone.00:19:34
- How much is that?
- This is about $45.00:19:36
It's a terrific tool
if you were run around.00:19:37
- Where can I get it?
- What is it?00:19:39
- I've only seen it in mail order.00:19:40
I've never really seen it in the store.00:19:41
One last thing...00:19:42
- Ah jeez, Stewart!00:19:43
Not any help at all!00:19:45
What is this thing called?00:19:46
He doesn't say what it is.00:19:48
If anybody knows what
that is, let me know.00:19:50
That's interesting. I would love to test!00:19:52
- Julie.
Julie. Well this is exactly.00:19:54
- What is Julie, Wendy?00:19:55
- Who's Julie? Oh, I guess the doll.00:19:57
- Julie is what's supposed to be00:19:58
the world's most sophisticated doll.00:20:01
It's got a 64K memory.00:20:03
It's got a voice synthesizer and...00:20:06
- Hi, my name is Julie.00:20:07
- Voice recognition chips in it.00:20:08
It will learn secret words,00:20:10
- Voice recognition,
64K, speech synthesis.00:20:14
What?00:20:16
- Somebody they can talk to...
- Let's have some fun.00:20:17
Let's see if I can communicate with her.00:20:20
Julie?
- Let's have a party.00:20:23
- Julie.
- Oh, it's nice00:20:26
to have [faintly speaks].
- Well, Julie is a--00:20:28
- [Stewart] I think you can straighten her00:20:29
out a little bit.
[Clint laughing]00:20:30
- Julie is not listening
to me like most children,00:20:33
but there she goes.
- Yeah.00:20:34
- Okay. Be quiet.00:20:36
- Oh, we making too much noise?00:20:38
- That's right. We are, okay.00:20:42
- Let's have a party.00:20:43
- Oh, she really is hooked
on this party business.00:20:45
Anyway, one of the other
features that she has00:20:48
is she's a motion detector in her00:20:51
so that if she is moved
suddenly she will know it00:20:54
and she'll respond by saying,00:20:56
"Are we going somewhere?"00:20:57
- That is advanced. - Julie as a temperature sensor in her.00:21:00
I put her in the freezer,
just momentarily,00:21:03
and she indeed did say
it's getting colder and...00:21:07
- Ah, Wendy Woods is like, "I
stuck this doll in a freezer00:21:10
"to test this temperature sensor.00:21:11
"She said it was cold!" [laughs]00:21:13
- And then she comes with a book.00:21:14
- Well how about does she
have a light detector also?00:21:16
- That's right. She has a light detector.00:21:17
So if it's getting dark..00:21:19
- So dang dude, this thing
is like just equipped00:21:21
with all the stuff00:21:22
- She would say, "It's getting dark in here."00:21:24
And then she'd say it's getting like00:21:26
all these hidden inside here's
- That's amazing.00:21:28
- and she comes with a book00:21:30
which has these little pads on them00:21:33
and if you put her fingers against them,00:21:36
she'll respond to what's in the book.00:21:39
- How? What?00:21:40
- That's a neat little toy.00:21:42
What does Julie cost, Wendy?
- About a hundred dollars.00:21:44
- Just a hundred bucks!00:21:45
What is this thing?00:21:46
- And it comes from....
- Worlds of Wonder.00:21:49
- Of course it's Worlds of Wonder.00:21:50
I was thinking like this is
like, take a Teddy Ruxpin00:21:53
and like add all the stuff to it.00:21:55
That's insa--what is the Julie?00:21:57
-[Ad] The greatest
doll in all the land?00:21:59
-[Clint] How have I not heard of this?00:22:02
-[Ad] A doll that
knows when it's hot or cold.00:22:05
Lighter! - It's getting brighter.00:22:07
- [Ad] And understands what you say.00:22:09
- Grandpa, can she play with me?00:22:12
- I like to play.00:22:13
What can we do?
- She understands you.00:22:16
- Can you sing?00:22:18
♪ Twinkle twinkle little star ♪00:22:22
♪ How I wonder ♪
- [Clint] Okay.00:22:23
- [Ad] She's amazing.00:22:24
- [Clint] Yeah, that would've
changed my life [chuckles]00:22:27
seeing this thing back in the day.00:22:29
That is incredible. Yeah.00:22:33
Now how well it all actually worked.00:22:34
I'd be really curious to know,
man, I want one of these.00:22:38
Of course Robots and Computers
has a write-up about it.00:22:40
Oh my word.00:22:41
That is not the most flattering photo...
[laughs at *yikes*]00:22:47
But whatever!00:22:49
Yeah! Loved the Teddy Ruxpin as a kid,00:22:51
but like, you know, it
wasn't interactive, man.00:22:53
You just use your imagination.00:22:54
This thing is nuts and
only a hundred bucks.00:22:57
- Look, it has motion detector,00:22:59
it has heat detection00:23:00
and it has light detector.00:23:01
- It's a robot, really? Cause you...00:23:02
- That's what I'm saying, it's00:23:03
the kinda stuff I'd expect
from a lot of the home robots00:23:06
and you know, the more
advanced kind of things00:23:08
that cost way more than that.00:23:09
You could add all those kind
of sensors to a lot of them,00:23:11
but many of them didn't have
it from like, Tomy and the like00:23:14
or, only the really, really high end ones.00:23:16
- Okay Wendy, thanks.00:23:17
We're gonna be back with
some more toys for Christmas00:23:19
in just a minute. And stay with us,00:23:21
- Dude. Heck yeah, I will.00:23:22
"God." [laughs] Oh my goodness.00:23:26
Oh my. What is? [mimics weird face]00:23:28
- Oh, we're gonna start with Wendy.00:23:29
She's something really interesting.00:23:30
- Who is this guy?00:23:31
- This is Mr. Game Show.00:23:32
It's a new toy... - Mr. Game Show. Huh?00:23:35
- Hi everybody. - That's a toy company.00:23:36
- So what game should we play?00:23:39
Any famous phrases?00:23:41
- He's... - All these talking gadgets.00:23:43
Wendy's always bringing these cool things.00:23:44
- A little bit obnoxious
- Easy on the buttons.00:23:47
- but what he is is,
- What is the word.00:23:50
- I don't know about this one though.00:23:51
- A cassette game.00:23:52
- Lemme turn him off for a second.00:23:54
He's got chips in here.00:23:55
He got a 700-phrase vocabulary00:23:57
and there are four different games00:23:59
and depending on which game you pick,00:24:00
either you use this touch pad00:24:02
and the lights light up around here00:24:04
and he comes back with
all kinds of insults00:24:06
and compliments depending00:24:08
on whether you do well or you don't.00:24:10
He can handle up to four players at once.00:24:13
- A four player kind of
interactive game show thing00:24:18
with cassettes for other games.00:24:20
That sounds a lot like,
gosh, what was that thing?00:24:23
Techmoan covered it.00:24:24
Yeah, I mean it was 8-track based,00:24:25
but yeah, the Milton Bradley Omni00:24:28
and it was also a four player thing00:24:30
and you could press the numbers
and it would talk to you.00:24:32
It was kind of interactive and stuff.00:24:33
All right, Game Shows Wiki.00:24:35
Mr. Game Show, also known as Gus Glitz,00:24:38
animatronic announcer
from the five episode00:24:41
VH1 series "Game Show
Moments Gone Bananas."00:24:45
That's in 2005.00:24:47
Oh oh, here we go,00:24:48
"Originally born as an electronic
game in 1987 by Galoob."00:24:52
So not Milton Bradley,00:24:53
Galoob was totally separate back then,00:24:55
as far as I know.00:24:56
- Wendy was playing it
for me before the show.00:24:58
And as much as I hate
these game shows on TV,00:25:00
I found it kind of interesting.00:25:01
- [Stewart] It's kind of funny.00:25:02
- So it's a kind of computer.00:25:03
- Oh, George Morrow!00:25:05
"Y'know, as much as I hate game shows,00:25:07
this, this is all right!"00:25:10
What a weird man.00:25:11
- Gary, what do you got?00:25:13
- This is VideoWorks II, and it's an animation presentations00:25:15
for home, office, school,00:25:16
things of that sort
- For the Mac.00:25:18
- For the Mac.00:25:19
And apparently it works just
like the old style animation00:25:21
where you lay down a scene,00:25:22
then you put another scene on top of that00:25:24
and move things across
program and so forth.00:25:25
And I'm gonna start the play00:25:27
and we'll see the race
cars come up to the lineup00:25:28
and you got a little waving this flag00:25:30
and off they go. And that's...00:25:32
- Interesting.00:25:33
- Back stretch there.
- We don't have color00:25:35
or sound here, Gary,00:25:36
but you can have
color and sound in this,00:25:37
can't you?
- Yes, right.00:25:38
- It's pretty good animation.
- I'm getting HyperCard vibes.00:25:41
VideoWorks II.00:25:43
And it is indeed on the
Macintosh repository00:25:47
among other places, but, oh, MacroMind.00:25:52
Why do they sound familiar?00:25:53
It is Macromedia! Interesting.00:25:57
Hmm, cuz I remember
doing some research on Flash00:26:00
and you know, "where'd
Macromedia come from?"00:26:01
And I seem to remember MacroMind
being somewhere in there.00:26:04
So basically they merged with Authorware00:26:06
to form Macromedia in 1992.00:26:09
That makes total sense.00:26:10
- Now this is 50 bucks,00:26:11
a very interesting program called Ask God,00:26:14
claims to be an artificial
intelligence program.00:26:15
Basically it's a database of the Bible00:26:17
- [Clint] AI God program?00:26:19
Deus Ex Machina over here.00:26:20
What do we got? Stewart: "God AI."00:26:24
- [Stewart] Claims to be an
artificial intelligence program.00:26:26
Basically it's a database of the Bible.00:26:28
- [Gary] George Burns wrote it?00:26:29
- [Stewart] I don't know if George Burns00:26:30
or maybe he's in there. I dunno, anyhow, so if
you have a question,00:26:32
you really wanna find out
what does the Bible say00:26:34
about a particular subject,00:26:35
you can type in a natural
language question.00:26:39
I wanna know the meaning of
the abundant life, for example.00:26:41
And it'll pull out every
phrase from the Bible00:26:42
that talks about the abundant life.00:26:44
So it's kind of an interesting thing,00:26:46
especially for the Christmas season.00:26:47
- I mean, is it like a...
like a more involved Eliza,00:26:50
but with bible stuff in there?00:26:54
Or just like a really fancy database?00:26:56
cuz there's like PC Study Bible,00:26:57
you could do that kind of stuff that,00:26:59
but it was in the nineties though.00:27:00
This is 1987 and you couldn't
use natural language.00:27:04
From what I remember, it was
much more just like a really00:27:06
advanced lookup syste--00:27:08
I don't know how--okay, I
gotta find this AI God program.00:27:11
What is this?00:27:12
Oh, here we go. Yeah.00:27:14
Bible software timeline
or an article by John Dyer00:27:19
and all kinds of things in there.00:27:20
I see PC Study Bible mentioned, of course,00:27:22
but what was I looking for?00:27:25
Ask God.00:27:28
Wow.00:27:30
Not much in here. Integrated systems.00:27:33
Kirkland, Washington,
natural language input00:27:35
and verse output.00:27:37
I don't even know the year,
but presumably 87 or 86.00:27:41
Like I just wanna know,00:27:42
does it reply as if it were God,00:27:45
this AI, I mean, it's called Ask God,00:27:48
How does this look or work?00:27:50
Oh, here we go.00:27:51
So we do have a little, little writeup00:27:52
in "Computer World" 1988.00:27:55
This week's--whoops. Crap.00:27:57
This week's award has to go00:27:58
to integrated systems
in Kirkland, Washington.00:28:00
Ask God through a natural
language interface,00:28:02
let's users ask a question
answered in a form00:28:05
of an appropriate
quotation from the Bible.00:28:07
Okay, so just, it literally
is just searching for quotes00:28:10
that probably relate to it00:28:11
and it's interpreting your question,00:28:14
"Microsoft might consider this
an artificial intelligence00:28:17
shelf for MS OS/2 and call
it 'Ask Gates'. Amen."00:28:22
...Weird writeup.00:28:23
- $6.95, only $6.95
fortune cookies on a disk.00:28:27
Put it in your computer.00:28:28
Every time you turn your
computer on, you get a fortune.00:28:30
- And one of those goofy little
programs that nobody kept.00:28:33
- Okay, we've got about 30 seconds left.00:28:34
What do you want for Christmas, George?00:28:35
- I'd like one of these
cloth projection monitors00:28:38
so I can put my things up on a screen.00:28:41
- [Stewart] You're an high price customer.00:28:42
- Well, Gary, what do you want?00:28:43
- I'll take an Etak car
navigation system, how's that?00:28:46
- You can actually buy that now? - Yeah. Yeah, that's, that's pretty new.00:28:48
- [George] I bet his Etak00:28:49
is as expensive as my cloth!
[hosts laughing richly]00:28:52
- Gary Kildall wants
an Etak navigation...00:28:55
Did not know this was a thing.00:28:58
1985 was their initial product.00:29:00
The navigator, a precursor to GPS,00:29:04
a specially packaged Intel
8088-based system with 256K RAM00:29:09
cassette drive, digital
maps, operating system,00:29:14
a green vector display
instead of raster graphics!00:29:17
I need to find out more what...00:29:20
This had to have been
insanely expensive. Holy crap.00:29:23
It enjoyed a brief vogue00:29:25
selling a few thousand
units in a few years,00:29:27
even finding its way into the dashboard00:29:29
of pop star Michael Jackson.00:29:31
Appeared in 1991 feature
film, "Nothing But Trouble."00:29:34
"Nothing But Trouble," huh?00:29:36
Yeah, I think I might be the scene00:29:37
it was mentioning that using it.00:29:38
In a BMW.00:29:40
[engine revving]00:29:42
There it is.00:29:45
That definitely has
raster graphics though,00:29:46
so I guess that's not the vector one.00:29:48
But dang.00:29:50
- And I'm gonna wrap, we're out of time.00:29:51
I hope you get what you wanted.00:29:53
Thanks for joining us in this special holiday
edition of the Chronicles.00:29:56
Hope we'll see you. - What did you want, Stewart?00:29:58
[cheerful segue music]00:30:00
Random Access.00:30:02
Let's get that late 1987 news, baby!00:30:05
- If you've gotten stuck in the crack00:30:06
between email users and fax machine users,00:30:09
there may be an answer in site.00:30:11
- Ah, that email, fax, user
crack. [crackling chuckle]00:30:15
I've been in there so many times.00:30:16
- Okay, Systems of Campbell, California00:30:18
has announced the GeoNet mailbox systems,00:30:20
which will interface
email and fax systems.00:30:23
- Yay.
- At the moment,00:30:24
the system will only support text00:30:25
and is one directional from email to fax,00:30:27
but it will enable PC
users to send mail directly00:30:30
to another person's fax machine.00:30:32
- I remember doing that in the nineties,00:30:35
but you know, it was just
through whatever software00:30:37
was on Windows 95.
That in 1987, that was GeoNet.00:30:41
So pre-X.400 protocol, proprietary version of it called InterMail.00:30:48
One of the first systems to
introduce a fax-out service00:30:51
and also one of the first systems00:30:52
offer private fax-in numbers,00:30:54
allowing users to send and receive faxes00:30:56
from wherever they can get a
connection to their mailbox.00:30:59
Yeah, forerunner of instant messaging,00:31:01
users could chat live online.00:31:04
This is one of those things, again,00:31:06
I just never, ever, ever heard of00:31:07
and it's way earlier than
I thought it would've been.00:31:09
- Time now for Paul Schindler to join in00:31:11
with is software picks for
the Christmas shopping season.00:31:13
Here's our special holiday edition00:31:15
of Paul's software review.00:31:16
- [Clint] Yeah. Tell us Paul!00:31:17
- [Paul] Ho, ho, ho, ho.
[Clint chuckling]00:31:19
Here we are in my actual
den, the room in my house,00:31:22
in which I do my reviewing, I
found some Christmas goodies.00:31:25
First, from Simon & Schuster Software00:31:28
comes a $10 gift, "Twas the
Night Before Christmas."00:31:30
- I have this!
- An animated musical Christmas card.00:31:33
It starts off with Jingle Bells and some,00:31:35
- I have been meaning to do
a video on it for Christmas00:31:38
but just haven't gotten around to it.00:31:40
- It then offers a nicely
illustrated version00:31:43
of The Night Before Christmas.00:31:45
You control the pace of the text.00:31:47
There's a Christmas game,00:31:48
which involves moving
around pieces of a puzzle,00:31:50
and you can legally make
copies for your friends.00:31:53
'Twas the Night Before... - It's a neat little thing.00:31:55
It is very--you know, it'd probably be like a 10-minute video.00:31:58
- With Science Toolkit's body module,00:32:01
a $40 software package from Broderbund.00:32:04
Now, there's lots of things
you can do with the package,00:32:06
but we're just going to
show three of them quickly.00:32:09
You can measure your heart rate,00:32:11
measure the volume of air in your lungs,00:32:15
and measure your response time.00:32:16
- That's awesome.00:32:17
- Science Toolkit Body Lab is $40.00:32:20
At the outer limits of reasonable pricing...00:32:22
- Okay, I didn't even know
that they had an add-on.00:32:24
So the Science Kit,00:32:25
Eli Software has some
scans here, of course.00:32:29
Do it yourself, like,
make your own spirometer?00:32:32
Spirometer for measuring
your lung capacity,00:32:35
heart rate monitor I guess,
and some other stuff.00:32:37
Wow, that's interesting.
[curious chuckling]00:32:41
Things you can just
plug into your computer00:32:43
like an Apple II, and
it just... reads your body.00:32:46
- ...pricing is Microsoft Bookshelf.00:32:49
Now you see I've got my
dictionary over there00:32:51
and my almanac and
reference manuals over here,00:32:53
but they're all contained on this one $300 CD-ROM.00:32:57
- Mm-hmm. I have a copy of this too.00:32:59
I been meaning to do a video on00:33:00
because it's one of the
very earliest things00:33:03
released on CD-ROM.00:33:05
- Or the ultimate Christmas computer gift.00:33:08
A $1,495 scanner from Dest,00:33:11
which can digitize most
typewritten material00:33:14
and store it on a personal computer.00:33:16
No more retyping
documents. What a concept.00:33:19
This is the software for it.00:33:21
With some Christmas suggestions...00:33:22
- I have questions about that scanner.00:33:24
What was that like a tray that it just...00:33:26
[gestures paper insertion]
...brings things into it?00:33:29
- Commodore is about to
announce several new products00:33:31
for 1988, among them,00:33:33
an AT co-processor board
called the Bridgeboard.00:33:36
They'll also be announcing
a new high resolution00:33:38
monitor for the Amiga.00:33:40
The juiciest rumor is
about the new Amiga 3000,00:33:42
which will have nine megabytes of RAM00:33:45
and a 50 megabyte hard disk,00:33:46
plus separate animation
and graphics chips.00:33:50
- All right, I don't know
enough about the Amiga 300000:33:52
to know if that's what
it came with or not,00:33:54
but I'm curious about that.00:33:57
- AT co-processor board
called the Bridgeboard.00:33:59
- Bridgeboard. Ah, that's right.00:34:01
I thought that might be what that is.00:34:04
PC emulator for the Amiga 2000.00:34:08
It could be.00:34:09
This is some other version of that,00:34:11
but yeah, it looks like AT--yeah
AT emulator, Amiga 2000.00:34:15
I want to say it was an 8-bit Guy video00:34:16
where I saw that at some point.00:34:19
By the way, absolutely love these kinds00:34:20
of system on a board type of things.00:34:23
That's one of those
that I would love to get00:34:24
for the Amiga 2000
if I can ever get mine restored.00:34:28
Dang it. I need to get that done.00:34:29
- Finally, someone has turned
the Macintosh into a poet.00:34:32
- Finally!
- In fact, there are about 500 Macs scattered00:34:35
around the country right
now in greeting card shops00:34:37
disguised as a computer
poet for $2.95 cents.00:34:41
The Mac will ask you a few questions00:34:43
about the object of your affections00:34:44
and then compose a more or
less custom made poem for you.00:34:48
You can select from a variety
of holiday environments00:34:50
such as Christmas or graduation,
birthday or anniversary.00:34:53
- What's old is new again.00:34:55
It's like a little language model type of,00:34:57
that's what it sounds like.00:34:58
Like it's just generating
poetry based on your prompts.00:35:01
I'd be curious to see
what that looked like.00:35:03
- There's also a home version00:35:04
of the computer poet software available.00:35:06
- Okay. It is just a program, Computer Poet.00:35:08
One of those things with very
little information about it.00:35:11
Just there's something in Mac User 1988,00:35:14
your personal poet creates
personalized greeting cards00:35:17
on the Mac complete with
four greeting cards,00:35:19
matching envelopes,00:35:20
does not run when connected
to a LaserWriter...?00:35:23
So anyway, it was 30 bucks.00:35:25
- And that's it for this
week's Random Access.00:35:27
I'm Cynthia Steele.00:35:29
- Oh heck yeah.00:35:30
Thank you Cynthia and Stewart00:35:31
and Gary and everybody else on it.00:35:33
And thank y'all for
watching along with me.00:35:35
These are always a lot of fun to do,00:35:36
especially the Christmas ones.00:35:38
Just going back and getting some eighties
seasonal goodness00:35:43
or you know, whenever
they happen to come out.00:35:44
We've looked at some eighties ones,00:35:46
but they did these up until
the nineties, so you know,00:35:48
into the nineties.00:35:50
And we will get to those at some point00:35:51
and some other things.00:35:52
I just enjoy these "Computer
Chronicles" episodes so much.00:35:55
So yeah, hope you enjoyed
watching along with me00:35:57
and seeing what it's like to
just get engrossed in them00:36:02
and start doing research00:36:03
and figuring out what
the heck was going on00:36:06
with so many of these things.00:36:07
So many of which end up being forgotten.00:36:09
A lot of this stuff other than
these "Computer Chronicles"00:36:11
episodes that just aren't
archived pretty much anywhere.00:36:14
Or if there is information, it's very little,00:36:16
and the software itself is often
hard or impossible to find.00:36:20
So yeah, it's just always a treat.00:36:23
So thank you very much for watching.00:36:25
Have yourself a Merry Christmasy,00:36:28
New Yearsy type of set of holidays00:36:31
and we'll see you all next time in 2026!00:36:34
- [Clint Clone] Christmas.
- [Clint Prime] Yeah, you too!Description:
Headed back to 1987 with The Computer Chronicles for Christmas! Their holiday buying guides from the mid 80s into the 1990s are some of the coziest TV episodes. Grab a refreshing beverage and join me in watching and researching seasonal retro computing goodness! ● LGR things elsewhere: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/LazyGameReviews Bsky https://bsky.app/profile/lgr-yt.bsky.social ● Watch or download the full episode here: https://archive.org/details/CC506_buyers_guide ● Background music licensed from Epidemic Sound: https://www.epidemicsound.com/ 00:00 a clone-laden intro 01:00 Xmas 1987 begins! 02:06 Sony and surprise Vector 06:18 shopping mall PC store 09:31 software gift ideas 15:23 hardware gifts 29:59 Random Access news 35:25 outroduction
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