1980: Greatest REVOLUTION Since the PRINTING PRESS? | Goodbye Gutenberg | Retro Tech | BBC Archive

Anthony Smith examines some of the more far-reaching and subtle effects of the new information age. He asks: Can we foresee any of the cultural changes that lie ahead, and can we know what the haze of electronic pulses will do to our way of life?

In Japan the development of a voice-controlled word processor will revolutionise their offices. In Sweden 'text inspectors' have to check on any illegal entries on computer files. In the USA, private networks and remote computer terminals are enabling a work from home movement. The way information is stored and filtered enables political lobbyists to target people sympathetic to their cause with laser focus. In Britain, Prestel can supply all kinds of information into our homes and offices.

All these form part of an 'information revolution' - a rapidly expanding, globally connected, information network - which may prove to be as dramatic in its effect as Gutenberg's printing press was in medieval society. As more and more words fly free of the printed page and are processed and stored in computers, this fascinating documentary film looks at existing examples of the new information technology and its effect on democracy, national boundaries, language, bureaucracy and privacy.


Producer: Edward Goldwyn
Editor: Simon Campbell-Jones


Clip taken from Horizon: Goodbye Gutenberg, originally broadcast on BBC Two, 1 September, 1980





You have now entered the BBC Archive, a time machine that will transport you back to the golden age of TV to educate, entertain and enlighten you with classic clips from the BBC vaults.

Make sure you subscribe so that you never miss a single stop on our amazing journey through the BBC Archive - https://www.youtube.com/c/BBCArchive?...

You can also dive into plenty more BBC Archive on our website - https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive