Weekend Video: The Machine that Changed the World

Remember this? If you do, you must have a long memory. “The Machine that Changed the World” is probably the most complete documentary created about the history of the computer; it aired on PBS in 1992 and it’s been nearly impossible to find since then. What’s more, the documentary features interviews with the pioneers of modern computing, a number of whom have since passed away.

Andy Baio, Simon Willison and Jesse Legg have tracked down and digitized all five parts of the documentary, and you can find them on Viddler or on BitTorrent (not that I have any idea what BitTorrent is )

Baio has included detailed notes for each episode, along with the promise to remove all of it immediately, should the content owners “reach out” to him, or if the documentary comes back in print again.

I vaguely remember catching one or two of these episodes, long ago on WTTW. So this is my first chance to see the entire series. This kind of stuff is what the Internets are for, people.