Our Friend the Computer
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
i-mode and Japanese mobile internet (Mobile Phones)
27 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ana tells Camila about the flashing success of early Japanese smartphone tech. The girls discuss how the Japanese tech giants of the '90s and ear...
Fashion Phones and L'Amour (Mobile Phones)
21 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’re back chatting about the early 2000s Nokia “Fashion Phones”! These phones preferenced a positioning of mobile phones as a fashion accessory...
The Real Housewives of Bell Telephone (Mobile Phones)
02 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Although telephones were instated into the home as a business communication tool, the women of the house soon appropriated the technology for “socia...
Nokia and the Mobira Cityman (Mobile Phones)
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’re back for season 3! Cell phones! Camila and Ana chat about the history of Nokia (the town and the company), the connection between car phones a...
Poly-1 New Zealand (Edu-Computers)
11 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The girls talk cricket before launching into the final episode of this Education Computers season! We're heading over to New Zealand and talking ...
ICON Canada (Edu-Computers)
13 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Camila and Ana chat about Canada’s first standardised and purpose-built computer for eduction, the Icon. Prior to launching in 1984, it made promise...
BBC Literacy Project (Edu-Computers)
13 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Camila is super excited about a children’s toy computer and then the girls chat about the BBC Computer Literacy Project from the 70s/80s. They discu...
One Laptop Per Child (Edu-Computers)
10 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ana introduces the One Laptop Per Child scheme which auspiciously deployed millions of laptops to children in the Global South between 2005 - 2014. Th...
Australia's Microbee Computer (Edu-Computers)
07 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After the girls discuss recent tech-art exhibitions they've seen in New York and London, Camila introduces Ana to some stories about the history ...
TamilNet
10 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Virtual Tamil Eelam doesn’t connect itself to a physical label. Instead, it petitions to be recognised as a nation-state by publishing its heritage ...
The Coleco Adam
13 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Camila and Ana discover the infamous story of the 1983 failed Coleco Adam home computer and uncover the 1985 home computer crash, Ana learns the diffe...
Unitron and the Brazilian Macintosh clone
15 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ana and Camila discuss the world’s first macintosh clone, the Mac 512 by Unitron, and how Apple threatened to start a trade war on Brasil due to the...
The BBC Domesday Project
18 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Back after a summer break, Camila and Ana delve into a project they discovered at the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge when Camila was visiti...
Beltel / WorkNet (Pre-Internet Networks)
25 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The girls discuss how South Africa’s videotex network Beltel fell into the hands of an oppressive government during apartheid. Although the police d...
NABU (Pre-Internet Networks)
07 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Back from London, Camila tells Ana about Canada's NABU network which operated via cable television services. It also could be considered one of...
Bildschirmtext (Pre-Internet Networks)
24 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
West Germany’s network videotex system, Bildschirmtext, was largely used for payment services by the Deutsche Bank, while its system was supported b...
Videotexto/'Reabracadabra' (Bonus!)
10 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this bonus episode Camila and Ana look at the Brazilian Videotex network Videotexto through the lens of the artwork of Eduardo Kac. Camila also rec...
CAPTAIN (Pre-Internet Networks)
26 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Camila shares her research on the Japanese videotex system CAPTAIN. The girls discuss competing videotex protocols, how to informatize a country, bias...
Park Avenue (Bonus!)
12 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Camila tells Ana about the late 80s Teletext soap opera ‘Park Avenue’ written by Robbie Burns, which has been archived by Park Avenue Archives (TW...
Prestel (Pre-Internet Networks)
29 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ana chats to Camila about Prestel, a nationwide information network developed by the UK Post Office. The videotex system was developed during the 1970...
Pink Minitel (Bonus!)
15 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Camila and Ana delve deeper into the online world of Minitel this week with an exploration of the many sides of the “pink minitel” services provid...
Minitel (Pre-Internet Networks)
01 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After some hobby chat, Camila tells Ana about the French videotex network ‘Minitel’. Launched in the early 80s, it was the most successful version...
OGAS (Pre-Internet Networks)
15 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ana and Camila chat about the development of a Soviet nationwide information network in the 60s that was meant to run a planned economy for the USSR. ...
Project Cybersyn (Pre-Internet Networks)
01 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Camila and Ana explore Project Cybersyn – an early 70s socialist cybernetics project connecting factories in Allende's Chile. This is the first...