1981 Video Predicts Future Of Online Newspapers: “We’re Not In It To Make Money”
Jan 30th, 2009 | By James Lewin | Category: General
This video captures a KRON news report about The San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle’s forays into online news – in 1981.
It’s an amazing look back at the technology that was high-tech in 1981, but it also foreshadows the current state of online newspapers when the Examiner’s David Cole explains, “We’re not in it to make money.”
Is that the most accurate prediction in the whole report?
via BoingBoing
That’s awesome!
Haven’t seen a “Trash-80” in years.
Ron
Ron
It is pretty awesome, isn’t it. Except that I actually remember people using this stuff.
The good old days of dial-up Bulletin Boards. One wrong number and someone would get an earful of strange buzzes. And one would often have to track down local BBSs to dial into.
Here’s a game: name all the computers shown in the video. I’m sure I saw an Tandy computer and an early Apple. It looked like the office was filled with PETs. The only one that doesn’t look familiar is the curvy one shown around the 1:59 mark. It could be just a terminal for a mainfraime.