Tomorrow's World: Nellie the School Computer 15 February 1969 - BBC on HackerTube: recommended by 1 Hacker News commenter across 1 month, 2010–2026.
documentary · evergreen
A 1969 BBC Tomorrow's World segment about Nellie, a school computer used by pupils at Forest Grammar School to solve equations and play music. Students learn programming and maintenance, and act out binary arithmetic.
Shared as a charming historical look at children learning computing, including kids acting as register bits.
“Kids acting as bits in a machine register and performing binary arithmetic by raising their hands if set, or not raising when cleared.”
3 Hacker News comments link this video. Each one links back to its thread.
Wow, I have never seen this: human digital logic. ▶ this video Kids acting as bits in a machine register and performing binary arithmetic by raising their hands if set, or not raising when cleared. Really cute.
in “Tomorrow's World - Home Computer Terminal (1967)” · View on HN
Is this close enough? it’s from 1969, I wonder what became of them: “Tomorrow's World: Nellie the School Computer 15 February 1969 - BBC” ▶ this video
in “"This Is Not the Computer for You"” · View on HN
Or was it a product of the computers at the time? Here's a 1959 computer, donated to a school in 1965. This was filmed in 1969. One of the children wrote a language - minigol - so the younger children didn't have to use assembler. ▶ this video Just turning the machine on requires coordination between several people using intercom.
in “Jean Sammet, co-creator of COBOL, has died” · View on HN