Computer Chronicles Season 8: Episode Guide & Ratings

As the decade of the nineties began, it became clear the United States was dominating the world software market. This program is an on-location report on an international software conference, presented by the Software Publishers Association, in Cannes, France. Guests include Bill Gates, Phillipe Kahn, Esther Dyson, Stewart Alsop, Heidi Roizen, Doug Carlston, and Kirk Loevner. http://archive.org/details/globalsw

The first major upgrade to Windows was the 3.0 version, launched in 1990. This program reviews Windows 3.0 , some competitive products, and it looks at some Windows add-ons designed to make it work better. Demonstrations include Windows 3.0, ToolBook 1.0 from Asymetrix, PowerPoint 2.0 for Windows, DR-DOS 5.0 from Digital Research, GEM from Digital Research, GEOS and Ensemble from GeoWorks, and ViewMax. Originally broadcast in September 1990. http://archive.org/details/windows30

Apple's Hypercard 2.0 brought new sophistication to the concept of hypertext, and laid the groundwork for the powerful Internet concept of hyperlinks. This program looks at new hypertext based applications including Hypercard 2.0, Hyperties 3.0, Spinnaker's PLUS 2.0, and Guide 3.0. Originally broadcast in 1990. http://archive.org/details/hypertext

After disasters like IBM's PC Jr and the failure of PC companies like Texas Instruments and Atari, the future of home personal computers didn't look so good. But in 1990 a new generation of home PCs brought the business back. This program looks at the products that led to this rebirth, including the IBM PS/1, the Tandy 1000, the Magnavox Headstart, the Macintosh LC and the Mac Classic. Also includes coverage of the Commodore 64 and analysis from Dataquest. Originally broadcast in 1990. http://archive.org/details/homepcs

In the eighties we moved from desktops to laptops; in the nineties we started to move from laptops to palmtops. This program looks at several handheld computing devices including Selectronics Word Finder Thesaurus, Berlitz Euro Traveler, Random House Encyclopedia, Franklin's Elementary Spelling Ace, Language Master 4000 Speaking Dictionary, Electronic Holy Bible, Sharper Image's Electronic Golf Game, Self Dialing Electrodex, Bridge Computer, Talking Translator, Sharp's Wizard OZ 8200, Casio's BOSS SF9500, Atari Portfolio, HP 17C and HP 19C. Guest host is Peter Nichols. Co-host is Tim Bajarin. Originally broadcast in 1990. http://archive.org/details/palmtops

While we now take a computer mouse for granted, fifteen years ago there was still a debate about what would be the ultimate pointing device. This program reviews several options including the PowerMouse, the MousePenPortable, Wacom's Cordless Digitzer, MicroSpeed's PC-TRAC trackball, the first optical mouse PCMouse III from Mouse Systems, the OmniMac Ultra, Elographics MonitorMouse, and Mac'n Touch and the UnMouse from MicroTouch. Originally broadcast in 1990. http://archive.org/details/inputdevices

For fans of the Commodore Amiga, the introduction of the new Amiga 3000 was big news, even though the price tag was nearly $4,000. This program looked at the new Amiga computer and new third party appplications. Demonstrations include the Amiga 3000, the Amiga 2500, the AmigaVision authoring system, The Animation Studio, and the Video Toaster from NewTek. Also includes a visit to FAUG, the First Amiga Users Group, in Palo Alto. Guests include Paul Montgomery, Tim Jenison, Lou Wallace, and Hedley Davis. Originally broadcast in 1990. http://archive.org/details/amiga3000

A guide to cool new high tech gifts for the holiday season. Featured are product recommendations from Jan Lewis, Paul Schindler, Chris Barr, Andrew Eisner, and Stewart Cheifet. Among the products demonstrated are Quicken, TurboTax, Fax-O-Matic, Stacker, Rampack, Grammatik, Lotus Magellan, After Dark, Play It By Ear, Bible Illustrator, Computer Critters, Where in Time is Carmen San Diego, Cosmic Osmo, Sky Shadow, Amanda Stories, Designer Fractal, and Visonary Software's Lifeguard. http://archive.org/details/buyersguide

There used to be a limit to the amount of memory you could have in a DOS based computer - 640k. But as new applications demanded more RAM, utilities came out to try and solve that problem. This program looks at solutions such as QEMM-386, Manifest, and Optimize from Quarterdeck. Also, 386Max 5.1, DESQview, OS/2 1.21, Virtual 2.0, and AutoCAD's DOS Extender. Originally broadcast in 1990. http://archive.org/details/memory_2

Computers became a great platform for game players, but dedicated videogame consoles were even better. This program compares the various videogame platforms. Demonstrations include "Defender of the Crown" on an IBM PC, "SimEarth" on Mac IIci, "Michael Jackson Moonwalker" and "Mickey Mouse in the Castle of Illusion" on a Sega Genesis, "Super Mario Brothers 3" and "The Legend of Zelda" on a Nintendo, and "Bonk's Adventure and Ys" on an NEC TurboGrafx. Guests include Russel DeMaria, author of Sega Genesis Secrets, Nintendo Games Secrets, and Secrets of Game Boy. Also features a visit to Nintendo Powerfest and the Alladin's Castle Arcade. Originally broadcast in 1990. Copyright 1990 Stewart Cheifet Productions.

Viruses are spreading to personal computers and causing havoc to individuals and businesses. A look at how to prevent viruses from destroying your system. Guests: John Dickinson, PC Labs; Andrew Seybold, Natl LAN Lab; Robert Capon, HJC Software; Jack Mc; Daniel, Magna; Dave Fischer, NASA Ames; Jim Mount, PME Labs; Gary Kildall, DRI Products/Demos: Flu Shot; Virex; Empower http://archive.org/details/viruses_3

A look at voice recognition and speech synthesis technologies. Demonstrations include Dragon Dictate, the VPC 1000 Speech Recognition add-on board, Voice Navigator from Articulate Systems, Voice Express from MacSema, and the Berlitz Speaking Translator from Selectronics. Originally broadcast in 1990. http://archive.org/details/speech_2

As computer users discovered that many of the tasks they did on computers required repetitive commands, there became a growing interest in software that could record and automate a series of keystrokes. This program looks at several options for macros including PowerMacros for Lotus 1-2-3, WordPerfect Macros & Templates, Excel Macros, QuicKeys, AutoKey, and PowerMouse. Originally broadcast in 1991. http://archive.org/details/macros_2

In the early 1990's the computer industry settled on a CD-ROM standard and that fanned the growth of CD-ROMs as a storage medium. This program looks at several early CD-ROM applications including The Bureau of Electronic Publishing's U.S. History, Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia, Warner New Media's String Quartet, the Computer Libray, Magazine Rack, the Health Reference Center, Semaphore's Zip4, and Mixed Up Mother Goose. Originally broadcast in 1991. http://archive.org/details/cdroms_2

Most popular software titles get there as the result of an expensive sales and marketing campaign. Other programs are so popular they climb to the top of the charts just through word-of-mouth, or BBS chat. This program looks at several of these "sleeper" software programs that are worthy of note. Among the titles demonstrated are Commander Keen, PopDBF, Resident Task Manager, Prism, Pianoman, 4DOS, CommandPost, Windows Wallpaper, LCD 2.0, LJ2UP, MacBillboard, BigCheese, Ripper FKey, TappyType, Fish!, Globe, Solarian II, Melt DA, Address Book, FlashWrite, Stuffit, ToDo!, TidyItUp, DisKeeper, Red Ryder, White Knight, and Vietnam War. Guests include Jim Button, founder of the Association of Shareware Professionals. Originally broadcast in 1991. http://archive.org/details/sleepersw

Highlights from the annual winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas featuring new personal technology products. Guest's include Nolan Bushnell and T/Maker CEO Heidi Roizen. Products covered include IBM PS/1, Commodore CD-TV, Kodak Photo CD, Sansui Robot CD Changer, Franklin Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, Brother Powernote, Laser PC-4, Sega GameGear and the Miracle Piano Teaching System from Software Toolworks. Originally broadcast in 1991. http://archive.org/details/ces_2