Getting Down to BASIC
- Episode aired Jan 17, 1983
- 24m
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Getting Down to BASIC
In 1981 the BBC launched their computer literacy project. Part of that was the creation of the BBC Microcomputer with the accompanying tv series, The Computer Programme.
Presenter Ian McNaught-Davis (Mac) followed it up with Making the Most of the Micro, which was more advanced. It did not need the everyman character in Chris Serle to explain computers to the novice.
This second episode is certainly a blast from the past and just made me realise how much I have forgotten about using home computers from that era as well as my proficiency in programming in Basic.
Nowadays we just put a disk in a computer and it runs automatically or you just click on a file when you insert a USB memory stick.
Back in the day, you hooked your computer to a tv screen, then attach a tape recorder, insert the tape, press load, then run and maybe go for a little walk while the programme loaded. Nothing was automatic and there were certainly no icons to double click.
Mac explains the fundamentals of computer programming and using Basic which was the most popular language for home users. We see a little film of a cricket photographer who catalogues his work with the help of a computer. We see a school using computers for education and Mac develops a simple multiplication programme.
Of course what we did not realise at the time was that applications would take over and there would be no need to learn a programming language to use computers.
Presenter Ian McNaught-Davis (Mac) followed it up with Making the Most of the Micro, which was more advanced. It did not need the everyman character in Chris Serle to explain computers to the novice.
This second episode is certainly a blast from the past and just made me realise how much I have forgotten about using home computers from that era as well as my proficiency in programming in Basic.
Nowadays we just put a disk in a computer and it runs automatically or you just click on a file when you insert a USB memory stick.
Back in the day, you hooked your computer to a tv screen, then attach a tape recorder, insert the tape, press load, then run and maybe go for a little walk while the programme loaded. Nothing was automatic and there were certainly no icons to double click.
Mac explains the fundamentals of computer programming and using Basic which was the most popular language for home users. We see a little film of a cricket photographer who catalogues his work with the help of a computer. We see a school using computers for education and Mac develops a simple multiplication programme.
Of course what we did not realise at the time was that applications would take over and there would be no need to learn a programming language to use computers.
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- Prismark10
- Dec 21, 2017
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- Runtime24 minutes
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