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1979: Will WORD PROCESSORS start a HOME WORKING revolution? | Past Predictions | BBC Archive

BBC Archive

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  • Recommended by 2 people: 1 on Hacker News and 1 in engineering communities.
  • Presented by Luke Casey, reporter

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460K views4 years ago2 recommendations

History and cultureTools and practiceHistory of computingDeveloper productivity

A prophetic 1979 BBC news report exploring how early word processors and networked microcomputers could enable a work-from-home revolution.

Luke Casey examines the impact of the microprocessor in the workplace. Already, the adoption of word processors and text editing software in offices has been shown to provide massive efficiency boosts. Could sophisticated networking systems - using existing telephone wires to allow microprocessors to communicate with one another - spell the end of office work altogether, enabling employees to work effectively from home? There is some remarkably prophetic stuff in this report. This clip is from Nationwide, originally broadcast 11 December, 1979. The inefficient office What is a word processor? Floppy disks Wordplex system in Bradford Council Home working with networked word processors Micropad Author Cy Enfield's Microwriter The end of the Industrial Revolution? You have now entered the BBC Archive, an audiovisual time machine that will transport you back to the golden age of TV to educate, entertain and enlighten you with classic clips from the BBC vaults. Make sure you subscribe so that you never miss a single stop on our amazing journey through the BBC Archive - youtube.com/c/BBCArchive?sub_confirmation=1

Why it's here

2 people recommend this

What people say. Recommended as a fascinating historical look at early remote work predictions and the introduction of word processors in the office.

Moments people linked to

u/Hultner-in r/vim • Recommends

One of us!
67View on Reddit

aasasdon Hacker News • Recommends

On “Ed is the standard text editor (2014)”

Perhaps it's better to see for a minute how people used this kind of editors when they first appeared, than to keep reading about them for ages: link to this video (BBC from '79, mentioning how people start working from home with the aid of newfangled microcomputers and network connectivity). I'm reminded most of all of the fdisk util, where the workflow is pretty much the same: print, modify, print, save. But also I can see where Vi/Vim come from, as I regularly do the same thing as in the vid: %s/something/something else/g and then wq.
View on Hacker News

daenzon Hacker News • Mentions

On “Will word processors start a home working revolution? (1979) [video]”

The example of a mother working from home0 feels very modern. It's strange to know that we drifted away from that direction at some point. 0. link to this video
View on Hacker News

newmanaon Hacker News • Mentions

On “A woman named "Steve" – IT pioneer, entrepreneur, philanthropist (2019)”

Video from 1979 about F International (Dame Shirley's company) - working from home, as a computer a programmer, is the greatest revolution for working women since the pill. link to this video
View on Hacker News