The Dream Machine

1991 · Documentary

A five-part series about the origins, history and impact of the computer, a machine that changed the world.

Episodes

▶1. Giant Brains57m · Englishman Charles Babbage conceived the basic idea of a computer about 150 years ago, as a machine that would eliminate error and relieve humans of the tedium of calculation. But it was not until the Second World War that the race to build the first computer began. In 1946, the Americans unveiled the ENIAC - it filled a large room, cost the equivalent of $3 million to build and had less power than a modern pocket calculator. Interviews: Paul Ceruzzi (computer historian), Doron Swade (London Science Museum), Konrad Zuse (inventor of the first functional computer and high-level programming language, d.1995), Kay Mauchly Antonelli (human computer in WWII and ENIAC programmer, d.2006), Herman Goldstine (ENIAC developer, d.2004), J. Presper Eckert (co-inventor of ENIAC, d.1995), Maurice Wilkes (inventor of EDSAC), Donald Michie (Codebreaker at Bletchley Park)▶2. Inventing the Future58m · Forty-five years ago a few brave souls risked everything to prove that computers were destined for more than just the laboratory. Interviews: Ted Withington (network engineer, industry analyst), Paul Ceruzzi (Smithsonian), J. Presper Eckert (ENIAC co-inventor, d.1995), Morris Hansen (former US Census Bureau, d.1990), John Pinkerton (Chief Engineer, LEO, d.1997), Thomas J. Watson, Jr. (Chairman Emeritus, IBM, d.1993), James W. Birkenstock (retired Vice President, IBM, d.2003), Jean Sammet (programming language historian), Dick Davis (retired Senior V.P., Bank of America), Robert Noyce (co-inventor, integrated circuit, d.1990), Gordon Moore (former Chairman of the Board, Intel), Steve Wozniak (Co-founder, Apple)▶3. The Paperback Computer57m · The manuscripts of the Middle Ages, available to only a select priesthood, turned into the paperback book. How close are we to the "paperback" computer? The development of the personal computer and user interfaces, from Doug Engelbart and Xerox PARC to the Apple and IBM PCs. Interviews: Canon John Tiller (Library Master, Hereford Cathedral), Mitch Kapor (Founder, Lotus), Robert Taylor (Xerox PARC), Ted Nelson (Creator, Project Xanadu), Douglas Engelbart, Larry Tesler (Xerox PARC), Alan Kay (Xerox PARC), Ted Hoff (Co-inventor, microprocessor), Steve Jobs (Cofounder, Apple), Steve Wozniak (Cofounder, Apple), Mike Markkula (Investor, Apple), Lee Felsenstein (Designer, Osborne 1), Bill Gates (Chairman, Microsoft), Chris Peters (Manager, Office), Anne Meyer (Center for Applied Special Tech.), Dr. Henry Fuchs (UNC, Chapel Hill), Dr. Jane Richards (UNC, Chapel Hill), Dr. Frederick P. Brooks, Jr (UNC, Chapel Hill)▶4. The Thinking Machine58m · By the 1960s, a computer could do university-level calculus and play chess, but the search for a true thinking machine turned out to be a lot more difficult than anyone had dreamed. The history of artificial intelligence, from Minsky to neural networks. Interviews: Marvin Minsky (MIT), Hubert Dreyfus (UC Berkeley), Edward Feigenbaum (Stanford University), Hans Moravec (Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute), Doug Lenat (University of Texas, Austin), Dean Pomerleau (Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute), Terrence Sejnowski (Salk Institute)▶5. The Passing of Remoteness58m · The tens of millions of computers in the world have begun talking to one another. This "networking" has allowed all sorts of new communities to grow up, regardless of distance. But now, errors in information and programming can wreak havoc. Computer networks, including the Internet, and their global impact on communication and privacy. Interviews: Robert Lucky (AT&T Bell Labs), Dave Hughes, Kathleen Bonner (Trader, Fidelity), George Hayter (Former Head of Trading, London Stock Exchange), Ben Bagdikian (UC Berkeley), Arthur Miller (Harvard Law School), Forman Brown (songwriter, d.1996), Tan Chin Nam (Chairman, National Computer Board of Singapore), B.G. Lee (Minister of Trade and Industry, Singapore), Lee Fook Wah, (Assistant Traffic Manager, MRT Singapore), David Assouline (French Activist, now a senator), Mitch Kapor (founder, Lotus), Michael Drennan (Air traffic controller, Dallas-Fort Worth)

More Like This

Sander versus the socials

2023

Sander Schimmelpenninck investigates the far-reaching influence of social media on our society and politics. To this end, he talks to journalists, moderators, philosophers, lawyers and troll hunters. How does social media use undermine our democracy and why is no one doing anything?

More info →

Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates

2019 · ★ 7.2

Take a trip inside the mind of Bill Gates as the billionaire opens up about those who influenced him and the audacious goals he's still pursuing.

More info →

The Silicon Factor

1980 · ★ 7

A series of three programmes investigating the so-called microelectronics revolution.

More info →

Silicon Fucking Valley

2024 · ★ 7.5

No synopsis available.

More info →

Dark Net

2016 · ★ 5.9

A documentary series that explores the furthest reaches of the internet and the people who frequent it, Dark Net provides a revealing and cautionary look inside a vast cyber netherworld rarely witnessed by most of us. Provocative, thought-provoking and frequently profound, each episode illuminates an exciting, ever-expanding frontier where people can do anything and see anything, whether they should or not.

More info →

The Computer and the Mind of Man

1962

In the 1940s a different kind of tool was invented a tool for extending certain powers of mans mind, the electronic computer. It is the fast, reliable, and tireless performance of a variety of arithmetic and logical operatic is which gives the computer its great utility and power. What this exciting invention means to mankind now and in the future is the subject of this provocative series.

More info →

The Linux Action Show!

★ 7

Weekly news, commentary, and reviews for the Linux and Open Source Software communities.

More info →

Lazy Game Reviews: Tech Tales

2014 · ★ 9

No synopsis available.

More info →

The Great Acceleration

2020 · ★ 7

This remarkable science-history series investigates the blistering pace of human endeavour in space exploration, computing, energy, resources, Earth science and our understanding of the evolution of life itself.

More info →