Apple had a few false starts when it came to local area networks in the 1980s. In February 1983, the company announced AppleNet, which it described as a “scaled-down version” of Bob Metcalfe’s Ethernet standard. The idea was that AppleNet would offer a decentralized LAN that didn’t require a full server and could connect up to 128 Apple II, Apple III, or Lisa systems across a distance of up to 2,000 feet. Apple claimed this approach would make its LAN more affordable, with a per-node connection cost of under $500. The trade-off was that AppleNet would be slower than other Ethernet LANs.

Local area networks were a regular topic during early seasons of Computer Chronicles. In a first-season episode from 1983, 3Com’s Ethernet was still “under discussion” as a possible industry networking standard. In 1985, IBM tried–and ultimately failed–to gain control of the standard with Token Ring. Now, with this next look at networking from November 1987, the topic had grown so much in complexity that this would be the first of a two-part series. This first episode focused on networking technology for IBM PCs and compatibles, while the next program addressed the state of LANs on the Macintosh.

Steve Boros managed the Oakland Athletics in 1983 and 1984, and the San Diego Padres in 1986. While he failed to lead either team to a pennant, he still made his mark as one of the first Major League Baseball managers to embrace the use of computers for statistical analysis. Boros appeared in a 1995 Computer Chronicles episode to discuss how he made use of a system built partly on the Apple II to assess player matchups. Although Boros’ role in bringing computers to the A’s was exagerrated in the press, he was a well-liked, well-respected baseball lifer who helped lend credibility to the new technology at a time when it was still not common in most American homes.

The second annual Computer Chronicles episode to focus on the fall COMDEX show in Las Vegas aired in November 1987, just a few days after the event concluded. Back in the San Mateo, California, studio, Stewart Cheifet and George Morrow looked at some video footage recorded on the show floor. Cheifet noted this was the biggest COMDEX ever, with the most exhibitors and attendees. But what went on at the event? Was there any buying or selling actually taking place? Or was it just PR and gawking?

Even as stock markets around the world crashed in October 1987, business owners could still take comfort in the fact that laser printers had finally broken the sub-$2,000 barrier. Hewlett-Packard’s LaserJet II printer was now available from some retailers for just $1,795, a significant discount from the original $2,595 list price. And laser printers from smaller companies such as Epson could be had for as little as $1,400.

With that in mind, this next Computer Chronicles episode from November 1987 focused on the latest developments in laser printers. Stewart Cheifet opened the program by showing Gary Kildall some examples of printed documents. Normally you would have to go to a professional printer to get such documents, but these were all printed on a personal computer with a laser printer. Laser printers had become associated with desktop publishing. But was that the only reason to go out and buy one?

Zenith Data Systems (ZDS) was a company often featured on ‘Computer Chronicles’ for its innovative PC compatibles. ZDS was never a major presence in retail, but it enjoyed great success in the government, business, and educational computing sectors throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. But after closing its doors in 1996, the Zenith name effectively disappeared from the American computer landscape and faded into history.

Yet there’s another name–Heathkit–that is still fondly remembered today for its DIY electronic kits dating back to the 1950s. Heathkit was actually the progenitor of Zenith Data Systems. And the story of a how the Heath Company traced its own history back to a pair of airplane crashes that occurred 23 years apart provides an interesting look at how the modern PC industry was shaped by human events that had nothing to do with microprocessors.

On August 11, 1987, Apple announced the release of HyperCard at the opening of the Boston Macworld Expo. In modern parlance, HyperCard was a type of middleware. It was software that allowed users to create Macintosh applications without having to understand the underlying operating system or traditional programming languages–both of which had been substantial barriers to entry for potential third-party developers.

At its core, HyperCard was a relational database management program. But the way it related data was through the use of hyperlinks. Today, we know hyperlinks as the glue that holds the World Wide Web together. Of course, the first web browser was still several years away when HyperCard debuted in 1987. So the commercial application of hyperlinks–something that had been around in academic computing circles since the late 1960s–was big news among the late 1980s tech press.

Adam Osborne made a name for himself in the 1970s as one of the first successful authors and publishers of computer books. After selling his publishing company to McGraw-Hill, Osborne launched a computer hardware manufacturer, which produced the famous Osborne-1 portable microcomputer. When that business collapsed in 1983, Osborne shifted to software with his third and final venture, Paperback Software International. Unfortunately, Osborne’s decision to copy a competitor’s menu design for his own program proved his undoing after a lengthy lawsuit that proved a critical battle in the evolving legal battle over software copyrights.

Before moving on to the fifth season of Computer Chronicles, let’s return to the earliest days of the program to discuss an episode that had been lost until recently. There are several episodes still missing from the Internet Archive’s repository. Thankfully, one was recently located and digitized by the Stanford University library.

This first-season episode from March 1984 focused on software utilities. Herbert Lechner of SRI International joined Stewart Cheifet as co-host. (Gary Kildall was on a business trip to Japan.) Cheifet noted that many people who used computers didn’t know much about utilities. Was there an easy way to define what a “utility” was? Lechner said it was one of those terms that had not been precisely defined. Most people would agree that utility programs were those that helped you perform routine housekeeping functions that would otherwise occupy a lot of the user’s time and energy.

A February 1986 Computer Chronicles episode featured a number of software (and hardware) products designed to help people use their personal computers to invest from home. This podcast looks at the ultimate fate of four of these products and the companies behind them.

• Computer Chronicles Revisited, Part 57 — QuoTrek, Spear Securities, Signal, Dow Jones Information Service, and the Telescan Analyzer
• Computer Chronicles #319 — Investment Software
• Hoggett v. Brown (Texas Court of Appeals, 1997)
• Podcast Music: “Scenic Detour” by Melody Ayres-Griffiths

Download this podcast (MP3)