[HN Gopher] My favorite 1980's Canadian TV show: Bits and Bytes
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       My favorite 1980's Canadian TV show: Bits and Bytes
        
       Author : fallingsquirrel
       Score  : 105 points
       Date   : 2024-06-08 16:43 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (omarshehata.substack.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (omarshehata.substack.com)
        
       | germinalphrase wrote:
       | Let's not forget Mighty Machines.
        
         | thanatos519 wrote:
         | I watched all of Mighty Machines with my kid recently and
         | learned so much!
        
           | victor106 wrote:
           | where can you watch them?
        
             | germinalphrase wrote:
             | There are some available on YouTube.
             | 
             | One of the first shows that we let our kid watch. The
             | trucks have voices (sort of of) but mostly it's just a
             | narrator describing what machines do while they calmly do
             | machine stuff.
        
               | victor106 wrote:
               | thank you. I found it on YouTube
        
         | acheron wrote:
         | My oldest kid loved Mighty Machines so much when he was little.
        
       | jszymborski wrote:
       | Shocking to see Luba Goy presenting a serious show about
       | computers! I think most Canadians know her as a sketch comedian
       | from her work in the Royal Canadian Air Farce.
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/eRDTCE7DEMY
        
         | Waterluvian wrote:
         | I went to a filming as a kid. They're all naturally hilarious,
         | but especially Goy and Morgan.
         | 
         | Also here's my favourite. The look on Morgan's face when he
         | delivers the punch line of the sketch is one of such supreme
         | satisfaction.
         | 
         | https://youtu.be/67-GeNYShbc?si=SlvGmFnZ9akGiD7M
        
           | jszymborski wrote:
           | An amazing skit.
           | 
           | Happens to be that Abbott and Fergusen are alumni of my high
           | school (where they met).
        
             | cmcconomy wrote:
             | small world - me too!
        
       | thanatos519 wrote:
       | As part of the generation who grew up along with computers (that
       | is to say that computers were _also_ growing up) I am concerned
       | that this level of understanding is no longer common. What
       | happens when not enough people remember how the foundations of
       | our towers of abstraction work?
       | 
       | I've been shopping for a C=64 for my kid.
        
         | rbanffy wrote:
         | I would recommend the TheC64 Maxi. It's a replica, but very
         | faithful, and can be setup to start as a C64 would (disk and
         | tape are emulated from USB sticks, but that's a minor
         | compromise).
        
         | vunderba wrote:
         | The same thing that happens with every level of technology that
         | eventually becomes ubiquitous enough to be considered a
         | household appliance. How many people understand the internal
         | workings of a combustion engine, how a telephone works, or how
         | a microwave heats up their food?
         | 
         | Here's what happens, society chugs along just fine until a
         | catastrophic event like an EMP which effectively drops them
         | back into the Stone Age, except even worse because many people
         | have jobs with skill sets that don't really serve a purpose
         | outside of the modern capitalistic economy.
        
       | ulrischa wrote:
       | In Germany: WDR Computerclub
       | https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/WDR_Computerclub
        
         | elfrinjo wrote:
         | And they (well, one of them) are still active
         | https://www.youtube.com/@computerclubzwei
        
           | ulrischa wrote:
           | Yes that is cool. I think the other guy is already dead
        
       | binarysneaker wrote:
       | I'd love to watch all of them. Does anyone have a torrent?
        
         | timbit42 wrote:
         | YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@bitsandbytestvo
        
       | timbit42 wrote:
       | Jim Butterfield was a consultant on this video series.
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Butterfield
        
       | localfirst wrote:
       | wish i could watch YTV again online like netflix
       | 
       | all my old favorite shows: little hamster show, wishbone,
       | whatamess, dragonball z , gunda wing, uh-oh (my friend was a
       | contestant), video arcade top 10
       | 
       | and the most iconic of all: The Zone
        
         | vhodges wrote:
         | https://www.stacktv.ca/ Has YTV (probably not older shows
         | though) and Stack is a bit pricey in my opinion.
        
       | demondemidi wrote:
       | I loved this show. I taught me the difference between a compiler
       | and an interpreter a decade before the web even existed, when our
       | school had one commodore PET. Core memory: I was in 7th grade and
       | I got teased mercilessly for mentioning it during science class
       | once. Ironically, the kid who teased me the most went on to
       | become a founder of a very successful internet company in the
       | late 90's and then retired in his early 30's and just flies
       | around the world teaching people to surf. Grrr...
        
       | unsupp0rted wrote:
       | For me it was Dotto's Data Cafe (1990s Canadian TV show):
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1wEOoCDNmg
        
         | brandon272 wrote:
         | Me too!
        
         | qwll wrote:
         | He has his own youtube channel as well:
         | https://www.youtube.com/@dottotech
         | 
         | Fantastic show for sure.
        
       | 31337Logic wrote:
       | Oh my god, thanks for the memories! I grew up watching this, just
       | across the border in Buffalo!
        
       | vhodges wrote:
       | http://www.davidstringer.ca/index.htm Is worth a mention too
        
       | deskamess wrote:
       | History Bites was another good one.
        
       | louthy wrote:
       | In the UK we had The Computer Programme [1] (with Kraftwerk -
       | Computer Love as its theme) and Making the Most of the Micro [2]
       | 
       | [1]
       | https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOtimvwAoYtnCtLiLspq_Gnng...
       | 
       | [2] https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOtimvwAoYtlWZdX-
       | MgnHrr-G...
        
         | thomassmith65 wrote:
         | You may already realize this, but the backing track and
         | production of the "Bits and Bytes" theme slavishly borrow from
         | the song "Neon Lights" by Kraftwerk.
         | 
         | https://youtube.com/watch?v=rbARvOyyjUI
        
       | coin wrote:
       | Jim Butterfield Commodore 64
       | 
       | https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J9WnHuGjZ38
        
       | rbanffy wrote:
       | This show was aired in Brazil while I was growing up. Dubbed, as
       | it was common in TV back then. IIRC, it aired in my state's
       | educational channel.
       | 
       | It was weird to see computers we didn't have access to (most
       | Brasilian ones were TRS, Sinclair, and Apple II compatibles. No
       | PET and no PCs just yet. And no Xerox 820 either.
        
       | rbanffy wrote:
       | For most people here I imagine Computer Chronicles is already
       | known. It's on YouTube and on the Internet Archive, and one of
       | the presenters is the guy who was the Bill Gates we needed, not
       | the one we deserved.
        
       | macote wrote:
       | There was also a French Canadian version of this show called
       | "Octo-puce".
       | 
       | https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octo-puce
        
       | type0 wrote:
       | > Richard Feynman on explaining technical matters to the average
       | person
       | 
       | Richard Feynman lecture on computing
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKWGGDXe5MA
        
         | koolba wrote:
         | Every time I've watched that video I wonder what it would have
         | been like to be in the audience and correct Feynman that 8x7 !=
         | 16.
        
       | ChumpGPT wrote:
       | I met Luba Goy at a comedy show many years ago. I also knew Billy
       | Van, when Billy Van was moving to California in the 70's from
       | Toronto, he gave me his German Shepard called Lobo. Kind of weird
       | to see a post with those 2 people....
        
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       (page generated 2024-06-08 23:00 UTC)