Terminal Madness (A 1980 Documentary About Personal Computers) 

I can't wait until we get a computer in every home, it sounds very futuristic :)

I'm watching this on my home computer terminal

Documentaries like this are like time capsules. Thanks for the upload!

I was 18 in 1980. I had my first computer in 1982. I wanted one since 1977 when RadioShack had the TRS80... but at $2.90 an hour it was taking me a long time to save up. Even $500 was so much money to me.

"as normal as a color TV is now" in 1980 Ha! I still remember how excited I was as a 6-7 year old in 1982/1983 when our family finally got a color TV, I thought color TVs were for more rich folks, even into the early 80s. We were middle class, but my parents were very frugal, so my early childhood felt like what someone living in the 1960s or early 70s felt, with black and white TVs and hoping to have a color TV. I remember it was heavenly to finally watch Bugs Bunny cartoons and Knight Rider in color. Black and White TVs were still sold even into the late 80s, though by the late 80s I think just about everyone had a color TV.

By 1980 I had already been programming for 11 years. The analogy with an internal combustion engine is perfect. Computers are just tools - some folks are adept at using them directly some are not. Most who drive cars have no real understanding of how the engine or transmission works, which is fine. Most of the computers that are in use today are embedded devices that are used without anyone giving them a second thought.

Thank you for posting this! My grandfather, Alan Kahn is in this showing how he used his computer for expenses, taxes, and even how used it for flight records for the FAA. Funny how different times were! My grandmother, Barbara Pratt and her daughters are in it as well! This was very touching to watch. Thank you 🙂

Back in those times there was a kind of huge enthusiasm about this new technology: terminals, computers and networks... now it's all so common to most people they don't even explore it anymore...

The internal combustion engine analogy was perfect.

I just love how the people in this video knew what kind of impact computers would have in the future. It's amazing to see how far computers have come. But it's unfortunate that people now don't appreciate and learn how these little machines work.

I love that this exists. Really takes me back to being a kid in the '80s.

I showed this video to Alexa. She cried. She had never seen her family album before.

Man, computers didn't really catch on where I lived until about 1987. Just think: some day we'll look just as ancient and primitive as these people do to us.

My Dad was software developer, computing scientist back in the time. I am a software developer engineer... I hope my kids, when I have them, first and foremost find their own ways but It'd be amazing if they followed this beautiful path

Scary how much they got right in this film. I’m always interested to see people’s perspective in the early days of certain technologies.

The main guy they interview was spot on accurate with how he compared computers to internal combustion engines, and the many uses it could have.

It's interesting to me how we've had primitive home automation since the 80s (and probably sooner) but it's only now starting to become commonplace.

Thanks to visionaries like these I already owned a commodore Pet and an Apple II in 1978. I am now finishing my career as a software engineer

*Computers were ridiculously expensive back then. I can remember when I was 5 or 6 years old between 1989-1990 I used an Apple II computer, it was the first computer I had ever used and I remember my teacher had to do a lot of work to make the software work. Then in 1998 I was starting high school and my parents finally bought a desktop computer for home use, it was a Gateway computer. I love my modern computers including my iPad and my HP laptop but I do miss a time before excessive social media.*

Im watching this on my mobile smart terminal crazy right They nailed it its everywhere And a phone has a 1000 times more computer power as a terminal computer back then

I never thought would hear someone on ironically say “what’s the advantage to using a computer instead of a typewriter?” Things were so different back then.

This man at 11:47 had an extraordinary mastery of domotics 30 years before it was even a word. People that went to his home must have had a shock !

I love the sound effects in this video... PEW PEW PEW SPRRROING SPRRROING SPRRROING :-) Very late seventies- early eighties.

Wendy Carlo's Switched On Bach is the perfect music choice for such a documentary.

I remember at school messing around with a Commodore PET and I was hooked. This was in 1979. They had a bunch of Commodore PET computers available for students and they had to actually try and get me to get out of school so I can go home since I wanted to stay afterschool messing with the computers. :) Amazing how far things have gone.

I loved this. I will never forget the wonder of using the computer room at school with the Atari 800, the TRS-80 Model 1 and the Commodore 64. I've been obsessed with computers ever since.

My husband bought my first pc in 1999 as a gift thinking I would enjoy doing something new and interesting recovering from an illness. It was the beginning of a love affair that continues to this day :) Thank you for uploading this video. Fun to watch.

In early 1984 I was a senior in high school and the Apple IIe was introduced & I got into the class. A friend & I developed a program that could run the accounting of virtually any business, down to retirement & health insurance & matching taxes. Sadly, we didn't know the gold we had in our hands & didn't do anything with it. I loved computers & programming but did other jobs for 12 years before jumping back in. If only I had stuck with it & rode the wave of development 😭. But, I have loved my hardware & software work for 28 years now & so many things I haven't taken advantage of but it still has been a great ride.

Ah, It's great being in the future XD. Yay us!

Imaging going back in time with your smartphone

Back around this time I had an Apple II computer. My coworker who was studying computer programming programmed it to play Tic Tac Toe in Basic. It maxed out the memory of the computer.

At this time period, you were seen as an alien freak genius if you had and used a computer. I remember just being made fun of so much back then simply because I learned about computers and became proficient using them. People who used computers back then were seen as social outcasts who lived alone in basements with no human contact, like they saw D&D players. The funny thing is that playing D&D and using computers in a fun way back then ENCOURAGED being social in so many ways. Your average person didn't start to accept computers and people who used them till the mid to late 90's. Now.. EVERYONE has one and uses them. Most have them in their damn pockets.

I used to get a buzz when I would go to computer stores, and get hooked, the possibilities, the noise, the hardware, software, wow! I feel the same way about the current technology!

What would be really interesting is a documentary made in 2019 on what impact computers are expected to have in 39 years time - I bet you it wouldnt even be close to what the reality will be

Hits really close to home. I was 10 years old when I was introduced to the Commodore PET in school. I had the VIC-20, the C64 and the 128 at home (and even took the 128 off to college!) before moving on to the PC platform. So many memories packed into this short video. Great stuff in here, thanks!

11:32 this guy did all of that in the 80's , imagine what he would have been able to do now?

I had my first Computer in 1981. The Sinclair ZX81. I even taught myself how to write programs for it and I was in my thirties.

I wish we could go back to these earlier times, back when computers were like this.

wow way ahead of your time Mr. Martin, that's amazing, thanks for sharing,

This was 40 years ago, I wonder how it will look another 40 years from now

love the android nim on the TRS-80 at 13:15. thanks for preserving this lil slice of history. 👾

I’m 22. I needed this in my life. Thank you.

This all just a fad, we will be back to pencil and paper by 1985.

The term "It does not compute." rings a bell! Lost In Space Robot B9 from the tv series!

The fact nobody did anything on their computer they couldn't have done on the back of an envelope and put up with those crappy graphics shows what incredible hope these people had in the future of computing. And they were right!

There are some accurate predictions in this video but what they didn't see was that, at some point computers would be designed to be intuitive and that people would not really need to know how to program or be tech savvy in order to benefit. So the idea stated at the end, that the sooner people jumped on the personal computer bandwagon the better was not true for most people. For them, waiting until PC's started to become standardized and plug and play, and for operating systems that were GUI based to be developed, actually made more sense.

I love the middle parts in this with music getting played.

In 1980 when this was made, I was in high school 11th grade taking one of the first computer classes on one of these machines. Let me just say this, It was horrible. We've come along way.

George Martin Thanks for posting this video, makes me feel old knowing I was alive during the 80's, but is nice to see how different things were.

I'm maybe a bit younger than a lot of people here. The young people I talk to online say I'm old because I got my first PC in 1997 and was using Windows 95, but seeing guys here who got one in the early 1980s is pretty eye opening. I came in right as the internet was getting popular, and now of course we all have supercomputers in our pockets, which would be total wonders to people from this era.

Sometimes the RU-vid algorithm just gets it right. Thank you SO MUCH for this upload.

The old days, when the Internet was mostly text, no WWW. I miss the local BBS's, those were a lot of fun.

1978 to1981 was such a weird time, it still had that depressing look of the 70s, but a lot of things that were common to us through the 80s was already becoming mainstream (computers, video games, microwave, cable TV, VCR's...... The styles however were still 70s with tube socks, number shirts and short shorts worn by just about every kid. Decor was starting to be more 80s in newer homes with fake wood and lighter colors, but so much of the 70s was still everywhere. By 1983 things started to change rapidly all the way around, every year felt so much newer, this continued to the mid 2000s, now it sometimes feels like we are going backwards. We still have not gotten where we were expecting to be by the year 2000.

1980... The Coin Op Video Game Industry was exploding... The Home computer market was just opening up.. Think about a mere 5 years later... You had the VIC 20, the C64, The Amiga, The Atari 400/800 the ST, The Mac.. The apple 2 series.. the Tandys, the Texas Instruments computer, Great Britain had several computers, (I might have the time line wrong). like the Speccy, Amstrad etc. But seriously.. 5 years after this Documentary was made... we had the Next Generation of 16 bit computers, (The Amiga, Atari ST, the Mac and the IBM PC).... it was like a 1,000 years of advancement in 5 years! From crude Word Processing.. to Video Editing,,,(OK the video Toaster on the Amiga came out in the late 80's)... but certainly Desk Top Publishing... Graphical Editing programs... Music Programs.... This Weird Arpanet thing.. with those Useless MODEMS.. (That stood for Modulator/ Demodulator).. Why would Computers ever need to log onto other computers to download info.. how strange..and who could ever forget that FAD about taking pictures with a Computer.. and Editing them... (ala Digiview).... How useless was that?? Thank God that whole "Computer Fad thing" Went away... as predicted... (also that stupid "Video Game Thing".. My God when I was a Teen They certainly predicted that lame hobby as going away!). Seriously,, Great video! I love Retro Computing! .. I did not get into it till like 83... but the Coin Op Gaming.. I was a junky since 72.. by 1980 it was unbelievable!.. Computing.. by the mid 80's it was God Like! Sluggo

I wonder how easy it would be to find such a collection of bright, enthusiastic and innovative people in small town America these days?

This is amazing, like I have no words to describe how amazing this is. Even if I were to watch it a year later I would still be amazed as I am right now. And now I'll see you next year, same day.

I easily have around 20 computers in my home today. Between phones, tablets, smart tv, PC, videogame, e-reader, etc...

Having lived through that entire era as a teen it seems strange to see it again. The part we did not realize at the time was the impact of connectivity. Modems were a step in that direction. But once the Internet hit things really exploded. I think we rely on the Internet too much these days. When the Internet drops we can't play our games or stream our videos.

Their prediction where spot on!! try that yourself for the next 30-40 years and nail it like they did.

I admire these people very much

0:39 gotta love that cheap 80's synth music

I wish I lived in this time period. So cool. The technology back then was so interesting. I hope when I die this is my after life. Computers are soooo cool.

Person: "I just bought a smart plug we live in such an advanced time" "1980s computer turns off and on everything in house." 1980s computer: Am I a joke to you?

I used a math drill program in high school computer, it helped a lot. No judgement, very patient. I could have used it to take notes in class, and in college. The computer, like the calculator, helps. It was a good thing I knew how to divide on paper since the calculator quit, either the batteries gave out, or I didn't have it turned to a proper source of light "for solar" use. I got an A- on that Accounting exam without the calculator.

Watching this on my phone while I work at my home PC. What a time to be alive

1980: Computer is like an internal combustion engine. People don't know how to apply it until someone implement and demonstrate it. Future: *Uses for spreading Memes*

I learned to type in an IBM Selectric. Three-part forms, the ink, the "Wite-out" lots of mess. I appreciate computers, especially pre-packaged, after learning BASIC,which was used a lot in the 1980s.

21:01 we can apply this very same mindset amd outlook to our concerns regarding AI and technology today. Very smart lady.

.....Wow!.....2016....their predictions are true, yet little did they know!....I love the old days, even the ones before my time! just to think of what came next! if I can travel to 1980 and tell them about today!!! anyway great video, totally enjoyed it.

I worked in a vacuum-sealed computer room like that, chasing down COBOL reports and running nightly jobs. IBM mainframe, what a huge, clumsy, loud machine. Amazing how far we've come.

I'm watching this on my 6 inch 2019 iPhone 11 Pro Max while walking in a park in Lugano Switzerland. Technology is becoming indistinguishable to Magic.. By 2059... 40 years from NOW i cant even fathom what electronics will be like..

We’ve basically gone from the Middle Ages to now in less than 150 year

That was a fun watch. Thanks for sharing it.

This is an amazing snapshot in time. Noting has changed. Just gotten better and more integrated.

Me from “FM Attack - Fade Away”. It was pleasure to watch full film

Why would anyone dislike this?

This makes me wish that I could go back in time or an identical dimension with some decades of delay from ours and tell someone about technology in our time.

I watched this because I answered "yes" to all 3 questions near the beginning of this program

Amazing how they were right about what computers will do😃

I talked a lot to Radio Shack personnel, in the day. The Tandy RLX had a bad disk drive, three drives later, and a three year warranty took care of the repair. I sold it years later. I miss it.

Thanks for sharing such an important piece of history!

OG PC!. The home computer in many ways have evolved into the smartphone age we live in today, small pocket computers that are strong enough to do any task. Except for the high demanding video games that are on PC and consoles, but that's isn't far off either.. These days you can even dock your smartphone as a desktop PC and your phone as your regular PC..

Pretty astonishing that computer users were turning on lights with voice control over 40 years ago, but this technology is still not standardized for the average consumer.

I enjoy the computer noises and random graphical effects

Amazing find. Thank you

Going down memory lane.. I had a Lear Sigler ADM 2 at one point in my life. I fished it out of the garbage, not knowing what it was.. real neat collectors piece. Sadly, lost it in storage.. (parents stashed it at the time, we moved, they didn't pay storage, it go byebye...) it's out there somewhere...

I don't think it yet as prevalent as a tv is now, but getting close I still know people who don't have computers. Usually elderly people, but one I ran into who only in her late 40's, early 50's just a couple years ago.

Thanks for uploading this. It's easy to forget the early days of home computing. I remember the excitement when Sinclair announced the Spectrum with 128k RAM (!)

Computers will be everywhere

That little demo at the end, AppleVision off the Apple II DOS 3.3 disk... That was a great little blast from the past.

The good old days. I wish I lived in that era. Where every thing was so cool and retro. I wished I used that old computer.

As soon as I started this great documentary I went to increase the resolution to 480.... wait what?

the sad thing is kids today only look at computers for playing games and facebook and twitter and nothing else wen computers can do sooo much more but god for bid if there computer cant play that next hit game they call it a piece of crap and throw it out for another computer that can play it wen that computer they throw out is still good and works just fine and can still be used for so much more.........and trust me i know i have 9 computers i found in the trash hell i'm typing this comment out on a trash found one now and theres nothing wrong with it..........

30 years from now videos of today will look like this, everything old and outdated but fascinating for them to see us use all this outdated and discontinued technology as if it's state of the art. They'll laugh, and then wait 30 years more for their world to become obsolete, and on and on.

I wrote an 80 column terminal emulation application for my Atari 800 in late 1980 so I could work from home to the office VAX.

I had a TI 99/4A set to a tv and learned BASIC Programming, it was fabulous, my first computer!

such hope for the future. all this work and progress to watch cat videos

I'm watching this on my trs80. Woah the colors! I'm hooked.

So interesting. I'm a kid and have never seen any of this! Great upload!

What’s sad is I remember getting a computer and my neighbor having one in the early 90’s. Maybe 93. But it was used literally as tool of education. Now it seems that people have forgotten what computers were originally meant to before and now they are just used a distraction. I haven’t been able to afford Wi-Fi for idk 8 years now at least and no computer for about 9. I miss every moment and what all I could’ve learned versus what I have with just a cell phone (which yes still a computer but not the same)