The Chip Shop, 31st March 1984

This is the only other recording I have of The Chip Shop, from another of my old cassettes...

"The Chip Shop"
Presented by Barry Norman
BBC Radio 4
Saturday, 31st March 1984, Programme 12

(11:12) I had the complete 25 minute show for a couple of years but then copied these highlights onto another tape before re-using the tape.

This weeks show reports from the 9th West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco.  Includes a speech by Bill Gates who Barry Norman says sounds like Kermit!  Also includes talk by Andy Goldberg of Lexisoft talking about their word processor "Spellbinder", Larry Tesla of Apple talks about software that'll tell you if a piece of writing has enough impact.  Then there's a feature on the DECtalk speech synthesizer (it's the one Professor Stephen Hawking uses) with its different voices, and it can even sing!

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 [The broadcast date is a guess. The 9th West Coast Computer Faire was 22-25th March so the earliest possible date for the show would be 24th March but I feel that's too soon and 31st March is more likely.]

The Chip Shop, 14th Jan 1984

This isn't from a reel, and I didn't find it as I never lost it, but it definitely fits the category of old recordings you thought you'd never hear again.  This is from one of my older cassettes that survived not being recorded over (apart from the first few minutes) ...

"The Chip Shop"
Presented by Barry Norman
BBC Radio 4
Saturday, 14th Jan 1984, Programme 01

(22:29) Incomplete - the first 2:48 of the cassette was recorded over.

- The recording starts with a piece about teenage programmers and whether they're getting a fair deal.
- Barry Norman announces the Chip Shop takeaway service where software will be broadcast on Radio 4 late at night using a new language called Basicode, an idea started by the Dutch. He interviews Dutch broadcaster Jonathan Marks to talk about it.
- William Horsley talks about Japan's significance in the computer market & Robin Webster talks from Silicon Valley.
- Jane Bird (editor of Personal Computer World) talks about the latest news. This week talking about the launch of the Sinclair QL.
- Limerick competition.
- Tessa Shaw goes to the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop and talks to Nick [2nd name not mentioned] to find out how the shows signature tune was done.

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Incidentally I diligently recorded all the basicode programs (broadcast late at night after the shipping forecast) and sent off for the software. When the cassette arrived it included the software for a whole variety of computers including some pretty obscure ones but there was no version for one of the most popular computers the Spectrum. Since I had a Spectrum I was pretty annoyed.  I got a refund on the Basicode cassette and taped over the programs I'd been recording.  What a waste of time that was!  I have no idea if a Spectrum version was written at a later date but by then the moment had passed.