Tomorrows world goes on line

The BBC's classic Tomorrows world goes on line.


Description from the site...............

Beginning in 1965, the BBC's flagship science programme ran for nearly 40 years. Its mix of quirky film reports and live experiments examined the changing state of current technology and put new inventions to the test.
In this collection, we witness a change in how people thought of the future and chart the rise and rise of the computer. Through a selection of items and full programmes from the archives, we remember some of the presenters who became household names, such as Raymond Baxter, James Burke, Judith Hann and many more.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/tomorrowsworld/index.shtml

There were many weird and wonderful inventions featured on tomorrows world, some have become commonplace gadgets that we use daily, whilst others disappeared without a trace.

What new or strange gadgets do you remember being featured?

Good selection from the archive, would have expected prominent coverage on the page of the CD launch though, expect it's included in the 1980's summary programme.

I'd really like to see the quality of these archive programmes improved though so the screen ratio is at least that of the low bandwidth iPlayer streams. Some of the recordings of the programmes from the 1960's are poor as it is, reducing them to 384 * 288 doesn't help in the display of them.

The BBC have probably reduced the resolution to save on-line storage space, and possibly to make them available on even the lowest spec notebooks and hand-held devices.

I agree with Chris about the resolution, it's a shame they're rather squished.

My particular favourites so far have to be the special on the heart transplant, the whole show is completely bizzare to a modern audience. For starters the disjointed nature, sudden start and sudden start make it seem rather unplanned. I suspect it was recorded due to what appears to be edits in the sequence and mentions of unseen questions.

Of particular note is the old man moaning of spare parts and the increasingly bizzare discussion that follow and a man being wheeled on in a chair seemingly at random, having his anonymity protected despite a massive closeup of his face. Also noteworthy is the complete lack of women bar one transplant patient who gets to make a very minor and ladylike contribution at some point. Worth a watch if you have a spare hour.

Also the thing on debit cards and electronic banking is great not only for the old fashioned machine having the phone shoved into the back of it but the illustrative sequence of a man wanting to buy a bottle of wine but having no cash and the shop not accepting cheques which is fantastically look around you.

That report is years ahead in terms of use of a PIN. Even when debit cards came into existence chip and Pin was still about 10 years away

On a related note, BBC Four is doing an 'Electric Revolution' season soon, which has quite a good trailer I think:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEGvpmgYwa8

Brilliant archive.

Tomorrow's World, or at least a show like it is really something that the beeb should consider doing again. There's no real technology show on mainstream TV that doesn't just deal with consumer gadgets like on shows like 'The Gadget Show'. 'Click' occasionally delves into the bigger picture, but not nearly enough. It's still mainly about iPhones and widgets for your computer. I enjoy hearing stories about what the future could possibly be like, and as has been seen from that archive, a great deal of the tech they show ends up being used in every day life eventually.

Actually I think the time has come for Click to be developed further. Spencer Kelley is very capable, and I'm sure if they were given a bigger budget (and maybe a studio) we could even get a return to "live demonstrations".

Would certainly give Kate more to do than browsing the net for curious sites.

Whoops

Edit: Ben did a whoopsie.

Re Click - Does anyone else feel a little uncomfortable with L J Rich presenting on it whilst also being a consultant merchandiser on QVC? I've always felt the boundary a little soft in this case.

Yeah I do think 'Click' has real potential, and it's certainly popular. It has over 1 million Twitter followers which is not an achievement to be sniffed at considering in the UK at least it's not exactly on prime-time BBC One!

I'd like 'Click' to be more like 'Micro Live' was if ever you remember that. Like you said a studio with live demonstrations as well as the bigger picture. A mixture of Tomorrow's World and Micro Live would be my perfect show.

Sorry to veer off-topic, but speaking of Kate Russell, am I the only one who remembers this show?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ1FMPQeC4U&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zyy-VYGAZ9k&feature=related