1980: BRITISH TECH and the MICROPROCESSOR Revolution | Nationwide | Retro Tech | BBC Archive

Sue Cook and Hugh Scully report from the National Microprocessor and Electronics Centre in St Katherine's Dock, London, on Britain's position in the thriving global microelectronics market.

Will Britain be a major player in the technology-focused world of 1980s manufacturing, or is it likely to lose out in the face of fierce competition from Japanese and American companies? Hugh and Sue look at some British products , including a Satellite Navigation system for boats, an electronic weighing machines, a functioning robotic arm, personal computers, and a variety of domestic products that take advantage of the latest advances in microchip technology.

Finally, Hugh speaks to Dr Alan Shepherd of British electrical engineering company Ferranti, about the kind of impact that he expects the microelectronics revolution to have on our daily lives.

This clip is from Nationwide, originally broadcast 10 April, 1980.

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[CyclingSteve]

The interview at the end almost touches on an important point. To take advantage of innovation we need a skilled workforce. It is in all our interests to make further and higher education free for anyone who wants it so we can innovate in this country, the jobs don't just appear without a workforce trained to do them and research to enable them.

[AlleyCat]

At the end he says that in only a few years we would basically have the current Google Maps, i.e. GPS navigation which updates depending on traffic and what not. That took 30 years. There are, however, a gazillion things that did come out sooner that changed the world. Very fascinating

[scaredyfish]

Sometimes these shows were overly optimistic in what we would get in the future, but this one was 100% accurate!

[amber]

We've progressed so quickly we're now in a similar situation, only now it's AI disrupting everything. We're currently at the stage where compute power on our devices is becoming less relevant, for a lot of the heavy lifting is now done remotely 'on the cloud' using vast arrays of servers and supercomputers. Our portable devices and apps are slowly becoming mere interfaces for these giant machines, instead of being powerful portable computers that do the bulk of the computation. We went from giant centralized computers in the 60's-80's to the unfathomably powerful portable smartphones we have today, back to giant centralized powerful computers to perform the neccessary computation for modern AI and language models. It's crazy.

[davidpanton]

1:57 Had the woman at the desk gone into a coma?

[FoundReflection]

"The microchip is also going to give you access to more information than you'll ever likely to need".

[Da_Juice]

These looks into the past are fascinating, especially since this is before my time.

[roberts]

UK has since optimised to research develop and manufacture locally made British pasties and sausage rolls

[leeosborne]

"Sue Cook's pulled out!"

[workonesabs]

Imagine if i took my car back to then, Sat Nav, voice controlled things, 128gb memory card full of music, mobile telephone and safety features.

[lilacfloyd]

We are starting to have similar conversations about the future AI revolution.

[dglcomputers]

And that car had an indicator to show when something is wrong, it's called the Lucas logo!

[JarrodBaniqued]

2:07 I like the Bach chiptune, I wonder what Bach work it is

[dave]

And sir Clive was thinking about the C5 and America developed the Tesla

[Matt.Willoughby]

My parents bought my an Amstrad CPC464 in about 1984, I suppose they thought it would stand me in good stead for the coming computer age. Who would've dreamt that a TV, Radio, Maps, telephone calls, camera, video recording, record player, heart rate montor, jazz magazine, pocket calculator and translation device would all be something as small as a packet of cigarettes and be available for the price of a pair of shoes in 1980 😅 i think the home computers of the time were the price of a new car!

[justinklenk]

4:15 - Ahh... an early-model scam letter on a computer screen...❤

[bvim]

O que aconteceu com todas essas empresas britânicas?

[RickPacker]

In car navigation system? I can't see that ever catching on!

[beeniemen]

Unbelievable how everything changed with the computer !

[stephengow]

It's St Katherine Docks not St Katherine's Dock