1979 Computer Genius Gamer Speaks Geek Talk To Ignorant Adults

Back in 1979 before they were computers by Dell and others there was Apple and IBM and Atari. My team and I were producing a television special on the coming of the information age titled The Information Society. We went to Cedar Rapids Iowa and walked into a Computerland retail computer store and started filming. This boy and his dad were there to buy a new computer. When I first posted a version of this clip, people asked me who he was and what happened to him. A subscriber using sophisticated software found him– Jay Ehrlich - and he is doing just fine in Chicago as a corporate executive. Jay was a 12-year-old kid then. At the time there were about 800,000 computers being used in the world. Of course, out in the Silicon Valley (it wasn’t called that yet) Steve Jobs and Steve Woz had already founded Apple making home computers and they were for sale in this store. Computerland was one of the largest retail stores where computer hardware and software was available – predominantly focused o
Back to Top