TechStyle

Micro (Wo)men

BBC4's 'Micro Men' programme last night captured the imaginations of many nostaligic 1980s home computer enthusiasts. The Guardian reported today that it gained 2.3% of the ratings for viewers with digital TV.  Half a million viewers for BBC4 must be one of the highest ratings they've had.

I've already written about the programme and its relevance to the Science Museum's collections here as I spent a long time researching the influence of the team that built the BBC Micro. But I was wondering if anyone else noticed the super geeky twist at the end of the programme? The barmaid that called time in the Baron of Beef was in fact Roger/Sophie Wilson from Acorn. Oh what joys!

The Material of the Digital

The Material of the Digital talk that I gave at the Oxford Internet Institute is now up on their webcast. The talk looks at the development of the new computing gallery at the Science Museum and the need to display the material culture of computing alongside the ephemeral world of software and applications. If you have any thoughts of displays of computing culture in museums and galleries you can add them to the comments part of Bill Dutton's blog.

BBC Micro computer event at the Science Museum

On January 11^th 1982, the BBC launched its Computer Literacy Project. This involved television programmes seen by millions, an array of books and courses which sold in many thousands, a national advice service supported by the Department of Trade and Industry, and – perhaps the most innovative and remarkable element – The BBC Microcomputer, designed and produced by Acorn Computers.

To celebrate the "Legacy of the BBC Micro" over 25 years on the Computer Conservation Society are holding an event on 20^th March 2008, 14.30 to 17.00, in the Fellows Room at the Science Museum. More information is available from the CCS website: http://www.computerconservationsociety.org/20080320.htm

George Oates at NMM

cuttysark
Originally uploaded by TechStyle.

George Oates' talk on Tags at the National Maritime Museum on 19th April 2007 was a real joy. When you've been involved in creating something as great as Flickr its a real achievement not to come across as if you are bragging about the project, but George's presentation barely registered that she was pleased with the outcomes so far. Considered and insightful, her talk made you feel as if it must be really easy to go away and create something that simply reflects and supports human networks, yet if it were we'd all be doing it as well as Flickr.

Birth of the transistor

Anyone interested in the birth of the electronic age might want to come along to the museum on Monday, where I'm in conversation with Joel Shurkin, who's written a biography of William Shockley, the Nobel prize winning inventor of the transistor.  Shurkin's book Broken Genius is a great read and I expect the tour around gallery will provide us with numerous insights into the marriage of the transistor and computer as one of the most important since the industrial revolution.

Monday 13th November 2006, 3pm, Making the Modern World Gallery, Free.

Events around Game On

There are four events happening around the Game On exhibition at the museum which will be of interest to anyone keen on the history of Computer Games:

1 November, 19.00-20.00 Dancemats and Joysticks: Who's playing now? Nicolas Rodriguez, Kuju Studios Gameplay used to be all about waggling joysticks and the frantic pressing of buttons. But now we can use buzzers, microphones, cameras and dance mats to entertain ourselves. Find out how these devices are changing the video games we play and the people who are playing them with Nicolas Rodriguez, producer of Kuju Studios.

13 November, 19.00-20.00 Ten Years of Lara Ian Livingstone, Eidos Interactive In 1996 a new video game and its star burst into our lives. A decade on and Lara Croft is now a major gaming icon, starring in her own movies and comic books. Join Ian Livingstone of Eidos Interactive for a special ten-year anniversary talk about this virtual heroine's past, present and future.

20 November, 19.00-20.00 Gaming: Now and then David Braben, Frontier Development Video games have changed in the last 20-30 years. Once we were content with electronic ping pong, now our games have storylines, characters and amazing graphics. Join David Braben, UK games designer, as he looks at how games have developed and his experiences of developing the classic game Elite as well as new titles like The Outsider.

28 November, 19.00-20.00 Gaming in Mind Professor Mark Griffiths, Nottingham Trent University Do video games represent a new way to learn and interact in our increasingly digital world? Or do they make us more violent and addicted to the gaming buzz? Find out about the psychology of interactive technology and video games today with Professor Mark Griffiths.

Tickets for the talks cost £7 and can be booked online.

Woz at the Science Museum

Steve Wozniak was at the Science Museum today for the launch of GameOn history of computer games exhibition. You can hear his trip down computer nostalgia lane from the BBC here.

KINETICA

Last weekend I went to the new Kinetica Museum in Spitalfields, which focuses in kinetic electronic and experimental art. Set to be one of the new spaces for new media art in London the opening display is The Amorphic Robot Works.

Walking round the display of hydraudic, pneumatic and computer automata as the warmed up for their musical interlude I was fascinated at how little mechanical art/toys/robots had come on from the 18th century mechanical chess playing Turk to Charles Babbage's dancing Silver Lady. Why do people continue to be so  intrigued by these relatively low-tech machines when technological ability has advanced so far? Or perhaps are we intrigued precisely because of the playful and rudimentary technology?

Look out for the next exhibition by Jasia Reichardt: 'From the Common Room to Cybernetic Serendipity' from the 17th October. Jasia curated the seminal 1968 ICA exhibition Cybernetic Serendipity which put computer arts on the map and brought Norbert Wiener's concept of cybernetics into the gallery.

From Cold War to Internet Future

Coming back from Mull we dropped in at the Oysterage at Loch Fyne, drove past the Polaris submarine base on the Holy Loch and then caught the ferry across the Clyde from Dunoon to Gourock. After that I was interested in following up on the history of Holy Loch and in my searches found these film archives on marching against Polaris in the 1960s and the impact on Dunoon of the end of the Holy Loch naval base in the 1990s.

The ferry ride from Dunoon to Gourock was only short, but on one side we left the run-down seaside front where even the Cold War technology of Polaris had moved on, and on the other we caught sight of the enormous Amazon Fulfillment Centre . The impressive building of 300,000 sq ft leaves you with the feeling that you are literally travelling from the technology of the past to that of the future. The dirty technology of nuclear submarines to the nice clean technology of Internet consumerism.  If only it were all that simple.

Gourock turned out to be not quick so fulfilling, and if there is one hotel on this earth I would recommend you NEVER stay it is the Ramada at Gourock.

This guy rocks

The Dancing Demon was written in 1979 by Leo Christopherson for the Radio Shack TRS80 Model I computer.