In one of his earliest software reviews for the “Random Access” segment of Computer Chronicles, Paul Schindler praised Ken Uston’s Professional Blackjack, noting that while “most computer games will just play blackjack with you,” this program “will teach you how to play the game and win using various point counting methods.” Schindler said it was also “pretty rare when the writer gets top billing when they name a computer program, but Uston deserves it.” Schindler explained Uston was a “former official of the Pacific Stock Exchange and now he’s a full-time gambler.”

When Computer Chronicles first delved into the topic of computer graphics back in April 1984, the focus was largely on high-end professional systems, such as the $150,000 Quantel Paintbox. More than a year later, in June 1985, Chronicles closed out its second season with another computer graphics show that looked at more affordable offerings for personal computer users.

Would Artists Abandon Paintbrushes for Graphics Pads?

Stewart Cheifet did his cold open at a California museum standing in front of what he described as “a fine example of abstract expressionist art” by artist Dan Cooper that was made using an Apple II. Cheifet quipped that old artists’ tools like brushes were becoming “passe” and replaced by touch-sensitive graphics pads and sophisticated graphics software.

In 1963, Japan’s government decided to build a planned scientific community about 35 miles north of Tokyo that would meet the country’s growing demand for high-tech research and technology. Known as Tsukuba Science City, the site today is home to roughly 150 research, educational, and high-tech business institutions. From March to October of 1985, Tsukuba also hosted a world’s fair called Expo ‘85, which was the sole focus of our next Computer Chronicles episode.

As we round the home stretch for the second season of Computer Chronicles, the show makes its first extended foray abroad. The next two episodes focus on Japan. This first episode from May 1985 examines the state of the Japanese personal computer market, while the second looks mostly at the country’s robotics industry.

Had Japan’s Window of Opportunity Closed?

Stewart Cheifet presented his cold open from Japantown in San Francisco. He said that while many Japanese products had become popular in the United States, one export that had not been very successful was the Japanese computer. This episode would explore why that was the case.

A prominent feature of early-era Computer Chronicles episodes was Paul Schindler’s software reviews, which normally appeared in the middle of the “Random Access” segment. This post keeps a running list of the products that Paul reviewed.

Episode	Date	Title	Description	Publisher	Price
118	May 1984	Archon: The Light and the Dark	Game	Electronic Arts	$40
125	October 1984	Ken Uston’s Professional Blackjack	Game	Intelligent Statements	$70
201	January 1985	Be Your Own Coach	Workout Scheduler	Avant-Garde	$50
202	January 1985	dBASE III	Database	Ashton-Tate	$700
203	January 1985	Free Will	Estate Planning Tool	San Francisco PC Users Group	$6 (Shareware)
204	February 1985	TuneSmith/PC	Music Converter	Blackhawk Data Corporation	$50
205	February 1985	Night Mission Pinball	Pinball Game	subLOGIC	$40
206	February 1985	PFS:Plan	Spreadsheet	Software Publishing Corp.	$140
207	February 1985	WordMaker	Crossword Dictionary	Word Associates	$10
208	March 1985	ExecuTime	Calendar Manager	Advanced Productivity Software	$50
209	March 1985	The Overhead Express	Presentation Software	Professional Software	$95
210	March 1985	TopView	DOS Shell	IBM	$149
211	March 1985	PFS:Proof	Spellchecker	Software Publishing Corp.	$95
213	April 1985	Higgins	Desk Organizer	Conectic Systems, Inc.	$400
215	April 1985	Ability	Office Suite	Xanaro	$495
218	May 1985	Copy II PC	Disk Copy Utility	Central Point Software	$50
219	May 1985	Bank President	Management Simulator	Lewis Lee Corporation	$75
222	June 1985	The Stickybear ABC	Edutainment	Xerox Educational Publications	$40
301	September 1985	CataList	Mailing List Manager	Automation Consultants International	$250
302	September 1985	Ultimate Trivia	Game	Mentor Learning Systems	$50
303	September 1985	Da Vinci	Outline Editor	Applied Microsystems	$50
304	September 1985	PC Color	Screensaver	Affirmware	$35/$44
307	October 1985	Bakup	Backup Utility	InfoTools	$150
308	October 1985	NFL Challenge	Sports Management Simulator	Xor	$99
309	October 1985	Concepts Computerized Atlas	Atlas	Software Concepts	$5/$50
310	May 1986	Paradox	Database	Ansa Software	$695
311	May 1986	An Apple a Day	Medical Information Organizer	Avant Garde	$79.95
312	May 1986	Zoomracks	Database Manager	Quickview	$125
313	November 1985	PC Planetarium	Astronomy	Light Software	$52
314	December 1985	Wizard of Wall Street	Stock Market Simulator	Synapse Software	$45
315	December 1985	Rocky’s Boots	Edutainment	The Learning Company	$50
316	December 1985	Golden Oldies	Games Compilation	Software Country	$35
317	January 1986	PFS:Access	Communications Package	Software Publishing Corp.	$95
320	February 1986	Volkswriter 3.0	Word Processor	Lifetree Software	$300
323	February 1986	411	Indexing Tool	Select Information Systems	$149
401	September 1986	Word Finder	Thesaurus	Writing Consultants, Inc.	$80
402	Septemebr 1986	Q-DOS	File Manager	Gazelle Systems	$30
403	September 1986	Color Magic	EGA Palette Selector	Lifetree Software	$40
404	October 1986	Tornado Notes	Note-taking Manager	Micro Logic	$50
405	October 1986	ServTech	PC Repair Guide	Rylos Technologies	$50
406	October 1986	Mean 18	Golf Game	Accolade	$45
407	October 1986	Get!	Electronic Mail	Signet Technologies	$90
408	October 1986	The Idea Generator	Decision Support System	Experience in Software	$200
409	November 1986	Scriptor	Television Script Utility	Screenplay Systems, Inc.	$300
410	November 1986	IQ Test	IQ Test	Rational Designs	$40
411	November 1986	The Toy Shop	Design Tool	Broderbund Software	$65
412	November 1986	Time Bandit	Maze Game	MichTron	$40
413	December 1986	Perspective	3D Graphing	3D Graphics	$300
414	June 1987	TMPC	Time Management	Acroatix	$50
416	January 1987	The Page	DOS Utility	Orion Microsystems	$22
421	February 1987	UX-Basic	Programming	Human Computing Resources	$400
422	February 1987	Ford Simulator	Advertisement	Beck-Tech	Free
425	December 1988	In-Synch	Remote Workgroup Tool	AVTC	$500
426	March 1987	KidsTime	Educational Games	Great Wave Software	$50
427	March 1987	IS-2000	Integrated Software	Noumenon Corporation	$40
428	October 1987	TimeSlips	Hourly Billing	North Edge Software Corporation	$100
429	April 1987	MORE	Outliner	Living Videotext	$295
430	May 1987	HFS Backup	Backup Utility	Personal Computing Peripherals	$50
431	September 1987	Dark Castle	Macintosh Game	Silicon Beach Software	$50
502	June 1988	Smart Alarms	Reminder Tool	Imagine Software	$50
503	November 1987	Klondike 3.0	Solitaire	Computer Capabilities Corporation	$50
504	November 1987	MultiMate	Data Manager	Broderbund Software	$80
505	November 1987	Webster’s Electronic Thesaurus	Thesaurus	Proximity Technology	$90
506	December 1987	‘Twas the Night Before Christmas	Holiday Card	Simon & Schuster	$10
506	December 1987	Science Toolkit - Body Module	Science Kit	Broderbund	$40
506	December 1987	Microsoft Bookshelf	Reference CD-ROM	Microsoft	N/A
508	December 1987	Smartcom II	Telecommunications	Hayes Microcomputer	$100
509	December 1987	Leather Godesses of Phobos	Text Adventure Game	Infocom	$50
511	December 1988	Gofer	Indexing & Search	Microlytics	$60
512	January 1988	Stepping Out	Virtual Monitor	Berkeley Systems Design	$95
513	July 1988	Microsoft Excel Templates	Shareware	Heizer Software	$4
514	July 1988	Test Drive	Racing Game	Accolade	$40
515	March 1988	Ad Lib Personal Computer Music System	Music Hardware/Software	Ad Lib	$250
516	July 1988	Mentor	Intelligence Testing	Heuristic Reserch	$50
517	March 1988	The Electronic Encyclopedia	CD-ROM Encyclopedia	Grolier Electronic Publishing	$300
518	August 1988	Suitcase	Accessories Manager	Software Supply	$60

In my last post, I discussed Bill Gillis, then a Charles Schwab executive in charge of its technology division. Gillis came to Schwab from Mattel, the toy manufacturer best known for Barbie. In the early 1980s, Gillis oversaw Mattel’s efforts to compete in the video game console and low-cost computer markets with the Mattel Intellivision and the Mattel Aquarius, respectively. The Intellivision proved to be a modest success. The Aquarius, however, was such a bust that Mattel effectively pulled it off the market after just four months in 1984.

In the early 1980s, there were two major antitrust settlements that significantly impacted the evolution of the computer industry. The first was the the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision to withdraw its long-running antitrust case against IBM, which began in 1969. That lawsuit focused on IBM’s dominance in the mainframe and minicomputer markets, and the government’s retreat helped clear the path for IBM to aggressively enter the microcomputer market with the IBM PC.

In my posts covering the first season of Computer Chronicles, I noted that some of the episode recordings included interstitial segments presented by Herbert Lechner, who also occasionally guest hosted for Gary Kildall during this 1983-84 period. These segments were part of a “telecourse” marketed by Wadsworth Publishing Company as part of its “continuing education professional series.” The idea was to pair the first 26 Chronicles episodes with a companion textbook for students to follow along and learn more in-depth about the topics discussed on the show. Lechner authored the book (as H.D. Lechner) in addition to hosting the special segments.

One late night in the summer of 1972, an electrical engineering graduate student at the University of Washington named Tom Rolander was working in the school’s computer science lab when he saw a “fellow who looked like a student” sporting red hair and wearing cutoffs enter the room. The red-haired man pulled out a teletype, plugged it into a Sigma 5 computer, and started programming an Intel 4004–the very first commercially produced microprocessor, which had been released the previous November.

David Bunnell, a previous guest of Computer Chronicles, was well known in the mid-1980s as the publisher of PC World and Macworld magazines. The latter publication launched a companion trade show, the Macworld Expo, in February 1985, one year after Apple debuted the original Macintosh computer. Macworld went on to be a staple of the tech industry calendar for the next three decades.

One person who did not attend the initial Macworld–held at San Francisco’s Brooks Hall–was Apple Chairman (and Macintosh project lead) Steve Jobs. Bunnell, recalling that first Macworld weekend in a 2008 column for the San Francisco Chronicle, said Jobs was in town that weekend. Indeed, Jobs attended a dinner with Bunnell, Apple CEO John Sculley, and roughly 20 other people, to celebrate the conference. (Jobs arrived late, of course.)