Online Shopping is on its Way

From the collection of

East Anglian Film Archive at the University of East Anglia

The East Anglian Film Archive, the UK's first regional film archive, offers a unique record of the East of England's social and cultural history. As part of the University of East Anglia, we continue to lead moving image heritage research and inspire audience participation through community projects and events. Our collections represent a broad range of amateur and professional creativity, from 1896 to the present day.

Online Shopping is on its Way

East Anglian Film Archive at the University of East Anglia
Norwich
1987-12-30
Sound

Home shopping through dedicated computer terminals linked to supermarkets provides a glimpse of the retail future.

Looking forward at New Year 1987/1988, Anglia Television reporter Tony Adams considers the tedious effort of supermarket shopping, as seen at a store in Norwich, Norfolk. He visits Cambridge computer chip developers Qudos to discuss the prospect of computerised shopping from your armchair. Besides the bespoke software, the Keyline system depends on the shopper finding room at home for sizeable computer hardware, which the developers intend to supply free for early adopters. Electronics millionaire Chris Curry will give away 500,000 computers to Keyline users.Peter O'Keefe of Qudos explains that the customer will not require specialist computer skills, as the system will recognise the user and pressing the 'buy' button will link to the customer's bank. The promoters are enthusiastic, but this shopping vision would not take off until the development of multi-function domestic computers and the internet. There had been a pioneering project by a supermarket in Gateshead, and Interviewee Dr Ross Davies of Manchester University refers to the relatively low take-up of the Mintel home shopping system in France. Teleshopping at this point meant shopping through a telephone line rather than television shopping channels. Andy Hopper established Qudos with Christopher Curry, one of the founders of Acorn Computers. The silicon chips were a breakthrough but a parallel development was required in computer hardware.The reporter was Tony Adams for this video made to be shown in a news story on Anglia Television's early evening news / magazine programme About Anglia.

Video filmed to be inserted during live broadcast of Anglia Television's early evening news / magazine programme About Anglia. The live studio presentation provided context for the video as part of a news story or magazine feature within the programme. About Anglia was not recorded during broadcast, so it is usually just the pre-recorded programme inserts which survive. In the 1980s Anglia Television was broadcasting to a wide area in the East of England including Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Suffolk and adjoining parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Rutland where there was some overlap with neighbouring ITV regions.

Silicon Fen

Computers and digital innovation in Cambridgeshire 1982-1988.

In the 1980s, Cambridgeshire had a concentration of individuals and businesses working on computer technology, often connected with the University of Cambridge. This earned it the nickname Silicon Fen, linking the East England fenland to California's high-tech Silicon Valley. Clive Sinclair, Acorn's BBC Micro and Alan Sugar of Amstrad became household names, but many smaller companies contributed to the regional success story. Silicon Fen was and still is at the cutting edge of UK information technology, credited with innovations in integrated circuits, computer hardware and software, graphics, games and information resources, not to mention launching Britain's first affordable home computers. This selection of news items from Anglia Television's About Anglia highlights some key developments and examples of early adoption of computers for work and home.

11 videos in this collection