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Private Notes
The first Micro Live of 1986 comes from the computer industry's most important exhibition - this week's Which Computer? show, at the National Exhibition Centre, near Birmingham. Ian McNaught-Davis and Fred Harris look at some of the new products and software on display, and Lesley Judd presents the Micro Live RITA awards for achievement in Information Technology. Some of the industry's personalities, including Sir Clive Sinclair , face up to the Micro Live version of Any Questions?
This week Micro Live visits a garden centre which uses a database to help its customers find the plants they need and Fred Harris explains how to use a database on a home micro. From America, Freff reports on the fascinating world of fractals and Ian McNaught -Davis takes a look at a promising new British development in flat-screen technology.
From America, Freff reports from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where Carnegie Mellon University is engaged in a massive computer project. The buildings in the university are being linked by fibre optic cable. Individual students will be required to have a computer and even to have access to the computer network from their rooms.
Is Prestel a world-beating information service or just a hacker's delight? Fred Harris investigates British Telecom's dial-up service, and compares it with the French system, Minitel. Lesley Judd trys out a micro-based system for training RAF air-traffic controllers, and visits a disused bra factory in the Cardiff docklands.
Long Distance Information Electronic information is changing the way we do business - forcing even the most ancient British institutions to update themselves. Andrew Neil , Editor of the Sunday Times, gives a special report on the way that the Stock Exchange, Fleet Street and the legal profession are falling dangerously behind as they struggle to keep pace with the booming electronic Information market. Eddy Shah talks about new opportunies to start your own newspaper; a leading barrister admits that now the law is electronic he makes fewer mistakes; while a computer programmer from the Stock Exchange is afraid that his work will destroy the Exchange's famous trading floor.
In this week's programme on Artificial Intelligence, Ian McNaught-Davis asks if the computer will ever be able to make judgments, learn from its mistakes, or write creatively. Freff visits a computer in New York's Greenwich Village that has just published its first book of poetry, and Lesley Judd tries the Turing test - to find out if she's working with men or machines!
Imagine a machine that can read out loud from any book or magazine; or a synthesiser that can reproduce the sound of an entire orchestra. Both were invented by Ray Kurzweil ... Freff reports from Boston. Lesley Judd tries out some software that lets you be your own Robert Maxwell. ... And Ian McNaught-Davis finds out why a £25,000 car needs ten computers to keep it going.
Computers have undoubtedly changed the way many people work since they were first introduced into business in the 1950s. Technology is poised to be much more widely used and to change some jobs hitherto seen as 'safe' - including those in the professions. Speculating with Ian McNaught-Davis and Fred Harris about the future effects of computers on work, are The Rt Hon Shirley Williams, who is also a director of the Turing Institute for artificial intelligence, and Bob Latin of Standard Telephones and Cables.
Training an RAF air traffic controller costs around £86,000. Lesley Judd tries out the multi-million-pound simulator at RAF Shawbury, and reports on a new micro-based training aid that will soon be installed in control towers around the country. How many languages do you speak? Most home micros come with only one - BASIC. It's fashionable to knock BASIC, so Fred Harris considers learning some other languages, like PASCAL, LOGO and C. And a music teacher in Reading explains how a computer has revolutionised her lessons.
Fred Harris talks to John Coll about the meaning of 'benchmarks', and contrasts the performance of the Commodore Amiga with the Atari 520ST. American reporter Freff explains why the computers of the future will have to be capable of doing many things at once. Ian McNaught-Davis looks at the British 'Transputer'. And Lesley Judd tries to fool a system that remembers and recognises faces.
Sir Clive Sinclair and Alan Sugar assess changes in the home computer industry.
The home computer industry has recently seen important changes of fortune for some of its major players, including Sir Clive Sinclair, Alan Sugar of Amstrad, and Bryan Long of Acorn. Their views, plus a look at the latest hardware and software, make up an assessment of changes since the last episode of Micro Live.
Also a review of do-it-yourself computer animation software and then, hotfooting it from this year's Computer Animation Film Festival ceremony, Lesley Judd reviews the best of this year's mainframe masterpieces.
Fred Harris looks at some of the best games for the home micro - including those which involve more than mindlessly 'zapping' aliens - from the electronic version of "Trivial Pursuit' to a game that tests your knowledge of physics and allows you to design your own pin-ball machine. Ian McNaught-Davis tells the sad story of the Wingsail - an ingenious computer-controlled sail which when bolted to a ship saves a tenth of its fuel bill, but has almost ruined its inventor. And award-winning journalist Steven Arkell reports from the City of London on the technology, and the mistakes, behind the 'Big Bang'.
Choosing a word processor? Advice on how to get what you really need. Are computers going to the dogs? Harringay stadium is one of the few tracks which haven't replaced their electromechanical tote system with a computer. And tomorrow's computers, will they run on laser light rather than electricity?
Miami city managers have commissioned a new system of computerised radios that can be reprogrammed from headquarters - particularly useful for the police. If you run a small business and are considering a computer Ian McNaught-Davis and Kathy Lang from "Personal Computer World" give some basic advice. And a unique project in Northamptonshire where programmers in a sheltered workshop are writing software for an adult training centre.
Finding your way around a computer system can be frustrating; psychologist Professor David Canter explores the endless corridors of unfriendly operating systems. All software great and small in a country practice - vet John Drew 's specialist business needs. And a look at Life-Card, a new kind of 'read/write' optical storage device on a credit card. It's soon to be introduced into the wallets and purses of 85 million Americans to hold medical information which could be vital in an emergency.
Twelve-inch laser discs had a short, unsuccessful life for domestic video, but the smaller compact discs have really taken off. Now discs similar to CDs can be used to store data for computers. But the larger video discs are making a come-back in 'interactive' systems, such as the one launched this week by the BBC's Domesday Project and are potentially ideal for education and training. If primary schools don't yet have video disc players at least most of them do have a computer. British educational software leads the world, but lack of teacher training and resources may mean it is simply not used. Kenneth Baker , Secretary of State for Education, spearheaded the introduction of computers in schools when he was Minister for Information Technology. Now he faces his critics over the lack of follow-up.
Fred Harris and Lesley Judd look at the increasing use of computers in cars and show how the Rover Sterling uses a micro to control everything from its fuel supply to its anti-lock braking. With so many electronic devices appearing in some cars the manufacturers are looking for other solutions to the problem of how to connect the electrics together. On the racing circuit, Tyrrell cars demonstrate how higher speeds are achieved by designing their cars on computer. And from America, Freff reports on ETAK, a remarkable car navigation system which shows a driver exactly where he is on a street plan which moves in front of his eyes on a screen as the car moves along the road. Also from the States, a simple touch screen which will do away with most of the levers and knobs which hang off a car's dashboard.
A recent survey showed that about 70 per cent of telephone calls fail to get through - either because numbers are engaged or people aren't at their desks. The consumers' magazine Which reported that two in five first-class letters don't get there the next day; and people doing business with, say, Australia or California can find virtually no time when both they and their business contacts are at their desks. Faced with these frustrations, many people are turning to electronic mail - including 'voice mail' - to get their messages across. Electronic mail systems offer the chance for people to send written documents immediately to their offices over the phone, from home or from anywhere in the world. Increasingly the systems also offer - at a price - access to databases such as World Reporter and the Official Airlines Guide. This week's programme looks at this fastest-growing use of the personal computer, expanding at a rate of 100 per cent a year. One commentator says that 'E-mail' may rival the use of the telephone by 1995.
This week the latest hardware and software for creating music on micros, a look at an amazing new driving simulator just arrived in this country which was the sensation of the recent Tokyo Electronics Show, and from California comes a story of a wine grower who is trying to use computer-controlled analysis equipment to discover what makes a good wine.
