back in the 1960s, the digital age was still dawning

the computer was something new to us; it was an
oddity, something we hadn't fully comprehended,
something removed from great majority of us

in corporate and government laboratories, learned
men in white coats carrying stacks of punched cards
brought it questions; in much the same manner as
the priests of ancient times consulted the Oracles

back then a bulky digital watch would cost upwards
of $400; and its proud owner would be the toast of
the neighborhood; today, we put more sophisticated
timepieces in children's cereal boxes

many still referred to the computer as the "electronic
computer" to differentiate it from those of us who
worked with data and whose tools were paper,
pencil, calculators, and well-used erasers

it was in this context that the video essay below
was produced

Richard Moore, its writer and director, defined the
computer for his 1960s Public Television audience
and speculated about how it would change our lives