There was apparently a roughly two-month gap between the taping of episodes of The Computer Chronicles in late 1983 and their initial airing in early 1984. Looking back 37 years later, this gap may not seem that significant. But in just the second broadcast episode, it may be that Chronicles unintentionally provided information that was already out-of-date to its PBS audience.

Integrated Software — The Descendants of Xerox

The subject of this episode was “integrated software,” i.e., a suite of business programs that all work together. Today, most of us intuitively associate integrated software with Microsoft Office, but that product would not exist for another six years. Indeed, Stewart Cheifet opened the host segment by reminding the audience, “And when we mention integrated software, you probably think of Apple’s Lisa,” the business-focused computer released in January 1983.

The Computer Chronicles debuted as a national television program in the United States in the fall of 1983. The series was the brainchild of Stewart Cheifet, then the general manager at KCSM-TV, a public television station based in San Mateo, California, located in the heart of Silicon Valley. Cheifet originally launched Chronicles as a live, local program in 1981, which was hosted by Jim Warren, the co-founder of the West Coast Computer Faire, an annual computer convention based in San Francisco.