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Adam Thornton @athornton.bsky.social · 4h

Wow! My adolescent insecurity would have been so much worse if I'd realized that Will Harvey was basically my age! Music Construction Set was and is fantastic. It's the reason I saved up for a Mockingboard.

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 6h

A teenage Will Harvey appeared in a 1983 "Computer Chronicles" to demonstrate "Music Construction Set," an Apple II program he wrote for EA. Harvey later earned his PhD in computer science at Stanford. He's currently CEO of Descartes Finale, a developer of cloud-based inventory management software.

Will Harvey on the set of "Computer Chronicles."

Will Harvey demonstrating "Music Construction Set" on an Apple IIe.

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 21h

If you thought Nintendo was strict with retailers back in the 80s...

An imagined interview between Stewart Cheifet of "Computer Chronicles" and a Borg cube:

"We're joined now by the Borg collective, who have a new personal finance program called 'Assimilate!' How does your program differ from 'Quicken'?"

"QUICKEN IS IRRELEVANT. ASSIMILATE! MANAGES MULTIPLE CHECKING ACCOUNTS USING A SIMPLE BIO-NEURAL INTERFACE."

"What kind of hardware do you need?"

"PS/2. OUR NANOPROBES ARE NOT XT-COMPATIBLE."

"And where is 'Assimilate!' available?

"WE HAVE ADDED THE MARKETING AND RETAIL DISTINCTIVENESS OF 47 EGGHEAD SOFTWARE LOCATIONS TO OUR DEALER NETWORK."

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 21h

"Notoriously evasive" makes it sound like if someone walks up to Ken and even says the word "Sony," he just darts off into traffic.

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Joey ‘Detchibe' W. 🏳️‍⚧️ @thestacks.ca · 29/09/2026

I recently increased the rate for pitches to The Stacks. If you or someone you know would like to write for my site, please get in touch. I focus on obscure games history, sex, gender, and art history but am open to other topics thestacks.ca/submissions

RATES
• $100CAD for shorter essays/articles between ~600-1000 words (Example
• Up to $250CAD for larger scale research essays/articles/projects of ~ 2000 words or more (Example)
• Higher rates for very large research essays/articles/projects of ~5000 words or more (Example)
• Rates may vary depending on research involved, interviews, etc

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 29/09/2026

PC Connection's top-10 selling IBM PC programs (week of 2/21/1990): 1. Turbo Tax 2. Quicken 3.0 3. WordPerfect 5.1 4. Andrew Tobias' TaxCut 5. PC Globe 3.0 6. PC Tools Deluxe 7. The Norton Utilities Advanced Edition 8. ProComm Plus 9. Microsoft Windows/286 10. Microsoft Flight Simulator

Kathleen Megargee, delivering a news item about the top-10 selling software, on "Computer Chronicles."

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 29/09/2026

Started working on the November issue. People, we have an edutaintment episode. Consider yourselves warned.

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 29/09/2026

Cyril Yansouni of Hewlett Packard was the first "Computer Chronicles" guest back in 1983. He demonstrated the HP-150 Touchscreen, an MS-DOS machine that used a grid of infrared sensors embedded in the monitor bezel to enable touch-screen functionality. www.computerchronicles.blog/computer-chr...

Cyril Yansouni demonstrating the HP-150 Touchscreen on the set of "Computer Chronicles."

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 29/09/2026

Lord help you if you're a completionist. Even I don't review every "Computer Chronicles" episode.

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 29/09/2026

I just glanced at the analytics for the website. Shout-out to the 1 person in Iran who used ChatGPT to find an article I wrote about a 1988 "Computer Chronicles" episode on CAD software!

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 28/09/2026

"Worf, we've heard about the ethics of software piracy. From your perspective, is piracy dishonorable?" "No. True honor comes from respecting your customers. Charging someone $100 for a game and then claiming they don't actually own it dishonors not only you, but seven generations of your family."

Stewart Cheifet hosting "Computer Chronicles."

Lt. Worf of the USS Enterprise enjoying good tea, nice house.

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Michael @michaelklamerus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

If you’re looking for a Halloween costume this year, have you considered going as one of the dancers in this 5 second clip from Phantasmagoria 2?

static.klipy.com

Phantasmagoria Dance

Alt: Three men doing a dance across the screen outside a club

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 28/09/2026

By then we'll have the sequel, "Something Is Wrong with Phil," which will involve having to scan thousands of old video game magazines.

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 28/09/2026

Today I sent out the first print issues of "Computer Chronicles Revisited" to paid subscribers. If you're interested in supporting independent research and writing about computer history, click the link below to learn more about becoming a subscriber yourself! www.computerchronicles.blog/subscribe/

computerchronicles.blog

Computer Chronicles Revisited is a monthly print subscription newsletter. Each issue reviews an episode of the PBS series Computer Chronicles that aired from 1983 to 2002. You can download the Septemb...

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 28/09/2026

Apple product manager Laura Kurihara appeared on a 1988 "Computer Chronicles" to demonstrate the Apple IIc Plus, quite possibly the most pointless machine ever released by Apple. Kurihara left the tech industry in the 1990s and became a pastry chef. www.computerchronicles.blog/computer-chr...

Laura Kurihara demonstrating "Math Blaster Plus!" on an Apple IIc Plus with a color monitor on the set of "Computer Chronicles."

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Jess Morrissette @decafjedi.com · 28/09/2026

"Spock! — aren't you supposed to be dead?" "I rebooted!" Ah, yes... Star Trek V, the film where Spock famously returns from the dead.

Star Trek V game print advertisement. Source: Game Player's PC Strategy Guide Vol. 3 No. 1 (January-February 1990).

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 28/09/2026

I wish I had something to say about the "Top TV Shows of the 21st century" lists making the rounds, but I only watch the one show.

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 27/09/2026

First console: ColecoVision First computer: Apple IIc And unlike 95% of people who post about retro tech, I have no nostalgia for either machine. 😆

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 27/09/2026

"Tom, I understand Starfleet has an upgraded transwarp drive. What are some of the new features?" "Well, Gary, the new drive is 30 percent quieter and it won't turn you into a lizard." "Okay, and what's the price on that?" "20 bars of gold-pressed latinum, 30 if you need the RAM expander."

Gary Kildall on the set of "Computer Chronicles."

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 27/09/2026

Ironically, I'm sponsoring an article about a food I've never actually eaten before. 😆

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 27/09/2026

Kathe Spracklen appeared on a 1985 "Computer Chronicles" to demonstrate the Mac port of "Sargon III," a chess program she wrote with her husband Daniel. The Spracklens first developed "Sargon" on a WaveMate Jupiter II. They sold the original source code via mail order for $15. #retrogaming #chess

Kathe Spracklen demonstrating "Sargon III" on a classic Macintosh on the set of "Computer Chronicles."

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Ernie Smith @ernie.tedium.co · 27/09/2026

Repeat after me: We don't live in a monoculture anymore and that's fine

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 27/09/2026

"George, our AI agents do sometimes 'go rogue' and compromise other individual, corporate, and government systems. I think that's just part of the process of learning and innovation that this exciting new technology brings to the world." "Jack, I think my foot's about to 'go rogue' on your ass."

Jack O'Grady, a former U.S. representative for France Telecom, who I am using as a placeholder for this satirical post.

George Morrow hosting "Computer Chronicles"

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Peter Fletcher @rectapete.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

With the A.I. companies buying up all of the computer storage these days, I'd like to offer up the solution we used in the 1980's to double our storage for free. You are welcome. #old

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 27/09/2026

"Finally, there may be a computer in the audience at this year's Academy Awards ceremony. One of the nominees for Best Animated Short is 'Tin Toy," an animated film created completely by computer at Pixar in San Rafael, California." ("Tin Toy" did, in fact, win the Oscar.)

Cynthia Steele, delivering a news item on "Tin Toy" during the "Random Access" segment of "Computer Chronicles."

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Laine Nooney @ 🔥🗑️🔥 @lainenooney.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

This is such an unbelievably, historically unserious bad take from Steven Levy, the light from bad takes would take a million billion years to reach it. www.wired.com/story/war-br...

wired.com

War Bros Didn’t Always Rule Silicon Valley

Some say that tech was always about the money and the military. Don’t buy that argument.

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 26/09/2026

"Computer Chronicles" debuted on KCSM in 1981 as a local program hosted by Jim Warren and broadcast live on Thursday nights. There's only one known full recording of this season, an October 1981 program on TI Logo for the TI-99/4A. www.computerchronicles.blog/computer-chr... #retrocomputing

A print advertisement for "The Computer Chronicles" on KCSM, Channel 60 in San Mateo, California. The ad lists the broadcast schedule for November and December.

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 26/09/2026

The best part of writing the newsletter is writing the footnotes. 😛

Tandy Corporation actually acquired GRiD Systems in March 1988 for $55 million, prompting longtime Computer Chronicles’ contributor George Morrow to comment, “It’s a disaster for both companies. It’s like a country hick trying to make a debutante happy.” Newsbytes, March 22, 1988.

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 25/09/2026

In 1980, Mattel Electronics released the Horse Race Analyzer, a calculator that Mattel claimed could help you predict the winners of actual horse races. It was created by a mathematics professor and a former marketing executive at Revlon cosmetics. www.computerchronicles.blog/computer-chr...

computerchronicles.blog

The Mattel Electronics Horse Race Analyzer

In the studio introduction for a March 1987 Computer Chronicles episode on computers and gambling, Stewart Cheifet showed Gary Kildall a hand-held, calculator-like device that claimed to help people p...

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 25/09/2026

Steve Case, the Face That Launched a Billion Floppy Disks, appeared on "Computer Chronicles" in 1987 to demonstrate "QuantumLink," the C64-based ancestor of America Online. www.computerchronicles.blog/computer-chr... #retrocomputing #c64

Steve Case, vice president of marketing for QuantumLink, appearing on "Computer Chronicles."

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 25/09/2026

Stewart Cheifet talked to Apple about underwriting the first season of "Computer Chronicles." Apple's marketing department wanted to make the deal, but Steve Jobs said no—he wouldn't sponsor a show that talked about non-Apple products. British COBOL developer Micro Focus ended up being the sponsor.

The Micro Focus underwriting credit from "Computer Chronicles"

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 24/09/2026

As GM of WITF in Harrisburg, Pa., Stewart Cheifet hated the pledge drives needed to raise money for the PBS station. So in 1988 he sent out a mailer promising for every $10,000 received in advance from new and renewing memberships, he'd knock one day off the planned 10-day December pledge drive.

A November 6, 1988, article by Jo-Ann Greene of the Lancaster Sunday News:

WITF-TV's offer: Give now, avoid on-air fundraiser

Stewart D. Cheifet, preisdent and general manager of WITF Inc., is no Monty Hall. But like the classic game show host he's saying "Let's make a deal.

The deal involves WITF-TV's on-air fund-raising campaign scheduled for Dec. 3-12. The whole affair can be avoided if viewers respond now to the station's "quiet campaign."

"Do you what you're going to do anyhow and we could all save a lot of grief," is Cheifet's plea to WITF viewers.

The audience-supported Public Broadcasting Service launched its quiet campaign Nov. 1. It is broadcasting more than a dozen 30-second announcements a day and has mailed out 100,000 appeals. For every $10,000 in new memberships and additional contributions received before Dec. 1, one day of on-air fundraising will be eliminated.

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 24/09/2026

One benefit to researching tech history is that you realize: Yes, venture capitalists have always been this dumb. 😆

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Carolyn Petit @carolynmichelle.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Always enjoyed this guy’s vibe. One of the quintessential figures of California media in my childhood memory, alongside the late, great Huell Howser.

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 24/09/2026

In 1984, Stewart Cheifet testified before a Senate subcommittee, chaired by Barry Goldwater, in favor of continuing a pilot program allowing PBS stations like KCSM to run two minutes of ads between programs:

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 24/09/2026

Today would have been Stewart Cheifet's 88th birthday. Born in Philadelphia on September 24, 1938, Cheifet's career began at ABC News in 1964. In 1978, he took over as general manager of KCSM in San Mateo, California, where he created "Computer Chronicles." www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3tF...

youtube.com

In Memoriam: Stewart Cheifet Introduces the Computer Chronicles

YouTube video by S.M. Oliva

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 24/09/2026

George Morrow on Steve Jobs: "Most of us in the early days had entrepreneur's sickness—we wouldn't do anything that would dilute our control of our companies. Steve Jobs of Apple was the only one smart enough to see that he had to give away parts of his company to get the most talented people."

George Morrow, delivering a commentary on "Computer Chronicles."

Steve Jobs, dressed in a suit and tie, at the introductory press conference for the Apple Macintosh in 1984.

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 24/09/2026

I think I've now entered the era of "Computer Chronicles" where just about every guest will become involved in some sort of dot-com bubble-era fraud.

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 23/09/2026

Re: "I am the code." My father was a tile contractor in NY for decades. Never worked for POTUS. But he dealt with a rival developer who could be equally problematic. One day the developer calls my father and starts screaming: "Michael, why haven't you put in the floor in Unit 37?!?" Lots of cursing.

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 23/09/2026

I didn't expect to spend the afternoon reviewing an $8 million fraud judgment against a guy who appeared on "Computer Chronicles" 37 years ago, but hey, it turned out to be a nice little side quest!

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Frank Cifaldi @frankcifaldi.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I don't know if this gets talked about too much, but we are starting to get a lot of archive requests that feel like LLM-generated research slop. The second one was a real bummer, I pulled the book and tried to help them, then got a second near-identical email a week later from a different address.

Robotically written request for hyper-specific files from a delisted Android game

Suspiciously formatted email with bolded terms and bulletpoint lists requesting a very specific set of data

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 23/09/2026

The best part of reviewing an episode where there's a segment at a trade show is I need to go through every item mentioned, and in many cases correct factual errors or even identify the item they're talking about because the narrator couldn't be bothered to. 😆

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 23/09/2026

Jim Edlin appeared in a 1983 "Computer Chronicles" to demonstrate "WordVision," a word processor he developed and published through his two-man company, Bruce & James. It was a barebones outfit run from Edlin's kitchen table, and they could only answer customer support calls for 1 hour each day.

Jim Edlin appearing on "Computer Chronicles."

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 23/09/2026

My September newsletter on the "Computer Chronicles" 1989 coverage of #AI came in at around 8,500 words—or in Imperial units, not even half a @edzitron.com newsletter. www.computerchronicles.blog/computer-chr...

computerchronicles.blog

Computer Chronicles Revisited 138

Download the September 2026 issue, where The Computer Chronicles discusses artificial intelligence

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 22/09/2026

"Finally, pity the poor Macintosh workers at Apple. In the heyday, one benefit for the Mac team was company paid-for massages at your workstation. They were called 'stress reduction treatments.' But with a little pain in the muscle of Macintosh sales, Steve says, 'No more back rubs.'"

Stewart Cheifet delivering the news in a 1985 "Computer Chronicles" episode. The insert graphic shows an image of a woman giving a man a back rub with the caption, "No More Back Rubs."

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 22/09/2026

You know how in parliamentary systems you sometimes create a special, short-term cabinet portfolio, like the "Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union" was in the UK? The next Democratic president will need a "Secretary of De-Trumpification" to change all the names of shit back.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

The earliest Microsoft shell interface: DOS Manager. Many first-time dos users experimented with it before moving on to Norton or XTree, and it was rather clunky compared to them, although it did the job overall. Photo shot in my studio, IBM PS/1 model 2133.

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Computer Chronicles Revisited @deviledeggpress.com · 22/09/2026

In 1985, Jack Tramiel personally appeared, together with his son Leonard, on "Computer Chronicles" to discuss the Atari 520ST. Gary Kildall was chairman of Digital Research, which developed the GEM graphical interface used in the ST's operating system. www.computerchronicles.blog/computer-chr...

Jack Tramiel, chairman and CEO of Atari Corporation, appearing in a 1985 episode of "Computer Chronicles."

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