• io9
  • science
  • overmind
  • kotaku
  • gizmodo
  • Profile logout login

#maxheadroom

io9

Share Cancel
   
Upload an image | Add an image URL
×

logging in
  • FAQ. Include # before tag:
  • #observationdeck,
  • #tips,
  • #calendar,
  • etc.

San Francisco, 7:17 PM
Sat Dec 19
18 posts in the last 24 hours

Team

Tip your editors:

Editor-in-Chief:
Annalee Newitz |

News Editor:
Charlie Jane Anders |

Associate Editor:
Meredith Woerner |

Assistant Editor:
Lauren Davis |

Weekend Editor:
Graeme McMillan |

Contributors:
Joshua Glenn
Stephen Goldmeier |
Ed Grabianowski |
Austin Grossman
Paul Hogan |
Lauren Davis |
Chris Hsiang |
Lynn Peril |
Ann VanderMeer
Alasdair Wilkins |

Graphic Designer:
Stephanie Fox |

Interns:
Tim Barribeau |
Julia Carusillo |
Alex Eichler |
Cyriaque Lamar |
Caitlin Petrakovitz |
Mary Ratliff |
Josh Snyder |

More:
io9 on Facebook
follow io9 on Twitter

SUBSCRIBE TO io9 RSS

New: Breaking news and daily top stories via email
1428 Subscribers
io9
  • posts about #maxheadroom more →

    The Binary Snowjob - A History Of Cinematic Computers That Never Were

    Max Headroom's Blipverts Infiltrate The Superbowl

    Science Fiction TV Classics You're Not Allowed To Own On DVD

    Time for a Max Headroom Movie

    Top 10 Unsung Science Fiction TV Classics

    Science Fiction's Army Of Rupert Murdochs
  • Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.
    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of gargravarr gargravarr
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Binary Snowjob - A History Of Cinematic Computers That Never Were
    What pisses me off is when they use Apple hardware ('cos it looks cool), but match it to some other machine/interface. Or is the fact this bothers me just too geeky?
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz promoted this comment gargravarr was starred gargravarr was unstarred
    Image of Trystero Trystero
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Binary Snowjob - A History Of Cinematic Computers That Never Were
    Another good example of practical effects being used to fake CGI occurs during "Escape from New York." The film-makers couldn't afford render the vector graphics for the glider's landing computer, so they used green-colored tape on a flat black model of Lower Manhattan.
     Reply
    Trystero was starred Trystero was unstarred
    Image of HowardRoarkLaughed HowardRoarkLaughed
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Binary Snowjob - A History Of Cinematic Computers That Never Were
    The greatest computers/robots EVER were featured in the 1978 classic "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz promoted this comment HowardRoarkLaughed was starred HowardRoarkLaughed was unstarred
    Image of Eriamjh Eriamjh
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Binary Snowjob - A History Of Cinematic Computers That Never Were
    Vector Graphics are so awesome! I forgot that War Games used them.

    I thought this article was going to be about just about every TV show that shows a computer interface that isn't windows or Mac.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz promoted this comment Eriamjh was starred Eriamjh was unstarred
    Image of salthegeek salthegeek
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Binary Snowjob - A History Of Cinematic Computers That Never Were
    That end-tital card was awesomely retro. ( like mid- 90's )
     Reply
    salthegeek was starred salthegeek was unstarred
    Image of Emmett Plant Emmett Plant
    12/11/09

    @salthegeek: Thanks! It's got a very PTEN/Universal Action Pack feel to it, which I like.
     Reply
    Emmett Plant was starred Emmett Plant was unstarred
    Image of salthegeek salthegeek
    12/11/09

    @Emmett Plant: Ah sweet after school memoirs hope you guys keep up with the vid-casts.
     Reply
    salthegeek was starred salthegeek was unstarred
    Image of vesperblogs vesperblogs
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Binary Snowjob - A History Of Cinematic Computers That Never Were
    Hey, great video report! I almost felt that it came from NPR Radio instead of your guys. You should do many more of these. Very entertaining and informative!
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz promoted this comment vesperblogs was starred vesperblogs was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    12/12/09

    @vesperblogs: I know! Emmett is awesome.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of reddingofish reddingofish
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Binary Snowjob - A History Of Cinematic Computers That Never Were
    I liked the computers on Time Tunnel. They had thousands of blinking lights and people who walked around looking at them and flipping switches.
     Reply
    reddingofish was starred reddingofish was unstarred
    Image of neorandomizer neorandomizer
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Binary Snowjob - A History Of Cinematic Computers That Never Were
    what about Colossus the Forbin Project that is an oldie but goodie.
     Reply
    FrankenPC promoted this comment neorandomizer was starred neorandomizer was unstarred
    Image of FrankenPC FrankenPC
    12/11/09

    @neorandomizer: Colossus was great. What about Proteus from Demon Seed?
     Reply
    FrankenPC was starred FrankenPC was unstarred
    Image of Emmett Plant Emmett Plant
    12/11/09

    @neorandomizer: Indeed -- That was an uncredited Paul Frees, who is a voice actor of intense renown. He was KARR in 'Knight Rider.'

    Also, 'Poppin' Fresh' the Pillsbury doughboy, Toucan Sam and Little Green Sprout. Boris Badenov, Ludwig Von Drake, and the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' ride at Disney. He's also the voice of the 'Ghost Host' of the Haunted Mansion, as well.

    Holding a very special place in my heart, he's also the narrator of 'Donald in Mathmagic Land.'
     Reply
    Emmett Plant was starred Emmett Plant was unstarred
    Image of ♥AntiSocialSocialite♥ ♥AntiSocialSocialite♥
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Binary Snowjob - A History Of Cinematic Computers That Never Were
    Who can forget Lawnmower man's birthcry being the sound of every phone in the world ringing in unison after projecting himself into the mainframe computer and becoming pure energy.

    WHHHAAAAA????

    I love fake technology. And though this isn't exactly in the same vein, every time I heard about cells being bombarded with "slightly greasy solar atoms" while rewatching The Fifth Element, I can't help but laugh a little.
     Reply
    ♥AntiSocialSocialite♥ was starred ♥AntiSocialSocialite♥ was unstarred
    Image of tamahome tamahome
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Binary Snowjob - A History Of Cinematic Computers That Never Were
    Robert Vaughn as the computer Proteus in Demon Seed, ftw.

    [www.youtube.com]
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz promoted this comment Edited by tamahome at 12/11/09 10:16 AM tamahome was starred tamahome was unstarred
    Image of AmishJohn AmishJohn
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Binary Snowjob - A History Of Cinematic Computers That Never Were
    Shouldn't an 'AE 35 Repair Tech' wear a red suit?
     Reply
    AmishJohn was starred AmishJohn was unstarred
    Image of lightninglouie lightninglouie
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Binary Snowjob - A History Of Cinematic Computers That Never Were
    One of the things that always pissed me off about Hyams' 2010 (there are many) was that he used clunky Reagan era VDTs for the displays, instead of the elegant cel animation Kubrick utilized in 2001. (The characters are using friggin' flatscreens and tablet computers in that movie!) It only adds injury to insult that the graphics in 2010 look as if they were designed by a fifth grade computer science class as part of a lesson in BASIC.

    This, on the other hand, is just plain cool (and just the thing to add deep space anomie to your desktop):

    [www.halproject.com]
     Reply
    lightninglouie was starred lightninglouie was unstarred
    Image of Emmett Plant Emmett Plant
    12/11/09

    @lightninglouie: I think that all things considered, I'm annoyed most by the idea that Dr. Chandrasegarampillai should be played by a white guy from Chicago.

    My wife has that HAL thing going on with her iMac downstairs; Her monitor is pretty much the only light there after bedtime. Walking past it to get something from the fridge is a harrowing experience.
     Reply
    Emmett Plant was starred Emmett Plant was unstarred
    Image of Lassus Lassus
    12/11/09

    @lightninglouie: "...a fifth grade computer science class as part of a lesson in BASIC."

    Me and my school's PET computer resemble this remark.
     Reply
    Lassus was starred Lassus was unstarred
    Image of lightninglouie lightninglouie
    12/11/09

    @Emmett Plant: Try that with Khatchurian's Adagio cued up on the speakers, and you'll feel like you're on a 28 month expedition to Jupiter...
     Reply
    lightninglouie was starred lightninglouie was unstarred
    Image of Emmett Plant Emmett Plant
    12/11/09

    @lightninglouie: "What's in the fridge?" "Something wonderful."
     Reply
    Emmett Plant was starred Emmett Plant was unstarred
    Image of goldfarb goldfarb
    12/11/09

    @lightninglouie: I think it was more that the designs were heavily influenced by Alien, Blade Runner etc
     Reply
    goldfarb was starred goldfarb was unstarred
    Image of joetato joetato
    12/11/09

    @lightninglouie: In Russia software uses YOU! ;-D Probably a nod to the rugged simplicity that the Soviet era was known for. They favored utility and strength over looks for a lot of tech. Maybe/maybe not. I could be way off. Just my two cents.
     Reply
    joetato was starred joetato was unstarred
    Image of lightninglouie lightninglouie
    12/11/09

    @joetato: Uh, no, even the monitors on the Discovery are suddenly supersized (though they're running a video feed of the animations done for 2001, versus clunky PC graphics). Again, Hyams probably felt that having real monitors on the sets would look more realistic, though the effect dates the movie horribly, while 2001's graphics, while simpler, resemble modern day hi-def screens.
     Reply
    lightninglouie was starred lightninglouie was unstarred
    Image of reddingofish reddingofish
    12/11/09

    @lightninglouie: I don't think the guys that made the 2010 movie ever watched the first movie or read any of the books. They just wanted to make a space movie with Roy Scheider.
     Reply
    reddingofish was starred reddingofish was unstarred
    Image of lightninglouie lightninglouie
    12/13/09

    @reddingofish: Who doesn't?
     Reply
    lightninglouie was starred lightninglouie was unstarred
    Image of Anekanta - Go Play! Anekanta - Go Play!
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Binary Snowjob - A History Of Cinematic Computers That Never Were
    Max Headroom always confused me... How did a cyberpunk icon speaking out against the evils of big corporations end up becoming the spokesperson for Coca-Cola?
     Reply
    Anekanta - Go Play! was starred Anekanta - Go Play! was unstarred
    Image of reddingofish reddingofish
    12/11/09

    @Anekanta - Go Play!: You have to see Max's show on HBO. Forget about the futuristic TV show. His talk show was a hoot.
     Reply
    reddingofish was starred reddingofish was unstarred
    Image of Anekanta - Go Play! Anekanta - Go Play!
    12/11/09

    @reddingofish: I didn't even know about that--how long ago was it?
     Reply
    Anekanta - Go Play! was starred Anekanta - Go Play! was unstarred
    Image of reddingofish reddingofish
    12/11/09

    @Anekanta - Go Play!: It was in the eighties. I didn't have cable at the time but I would go watch it at a friend's house. It was nothing like the later show. We were very disappointed when they made him a guy that got sucked into a computer. The talk show said that he was created in a car crash involving a cell phone or something. I can't remember parts of the eighties that well.
    Here is a link to the IMDB site.
    [www.imdb.com]
     Reply
    Edited by reddingofish at 12/11/09 12:27 PM reddingofish was starred reddingofish was unstarred
    Image of Anekanta - Go Play! Anekanta - Go Play!
    12/11/09

    @reddingofish: Cool--thanks for this! I managed to find "20 minutes into the future," maybe if I can look hard enough I can find the talk show too!
     Reply
    Anekanta - Go Play! was starred Anekanta - Go Play! was unstarred
    Image of FrankN.Stein FrankN.Stein
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Binary Snowjob - A History Of Cinematic Computers That Never Were
    of course you blissfully ignored that nowadays Val Kilmer + red light = KITT
    but then - Max Headroom is in the CGI-character-poll because....? (because we were deceived, I guess ;) )
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz promoted this comment Edited by FrankN.Stein at 12/11/09 9:25 AM FrankN.Stein was starred FrankN.Stein was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    12/11/09

    @FrankN.Stein: Yeah I threw in Max Headroom and the Tron characters because they were *supposed* to be CGI, even if they weren't.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of Roklimber Roklimber
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Binary Snowjob - A History Of Cinematic Computers That Never Were
    Riiiiiight.... Next, you'll be telling me that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Invisible Pink Unicorn don't exist. Nice try, smart pants, but I don't buy into any of that. Do you think I'm a fool?
     Reply
    Roklimber was starred Roklimber was unstarred
    Earlier discussions Other discussions Show all discussions Show featured discussions only Start a new discussion

Login

Enter your username and password.

Please enter a username.
Please enter your password.
logging in
Login via Facebook | Sign Up | Forgot Password?

Reset Password

Please enter your email address to have your password reset.

Please enter your email address.
Please enter a valid email address.
requesting password reset

Register

Registering will give you a user profile and the ability to add other users as friends. To become a commenter, however, you need to audition.

Want to know more? Consult the Comment FAQ and legal terms.

Please enter a username.
Please enter a password.
Please confirm your password.
Passwords are not identical.
Please enter a valid email address.
registration sent, waiting for reply

Submit Your Comment

You don't need to login to comment. Just enter your email address below.

See how your address will be displayed in the Comment FAQ.

Please enter a valid email address.
Please enter a valid email address.
logging in

Login with your Facebook or io9 account.

Sign up here.



  • Archives
  • About
  • Advertising
  • Legal
  • Help
  • Report a Bug
  • FAQ
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.