Stephen Fry was a keen Beeb user

[jms2]

Whilst on holiday my wife was reading the second instalment of Stephen Fry's autobiography when she burst out laughing and read a bit out loud to me - it turns out that Mr Fry was a very keen Beeb user in the 1980s, up until about 1985 when he got one of the first Macs.

There are several references to the BBC micro in his book, and the details he quotes make it quite clear that he was a genuinely enthusiastic and technically competent user. I particularly liked one bit where he gets a bad review for a TV show and consoles himself by going out and buying "a BBC micro magazine" (Acorn User presumably).

I found this all very interesting, and was quite reassured that someone of such huge and wide ranging talents can appreciate the appeal of our hobby!

[regregex]

Naturally, someone has to produce a Twitter client in time for the next Acorn World.

--G

[andyt31]

Don't forget, "Stephen Fry's 100 Greatest Gadgets" will be on Channel 4 on Bank Holiday Monday from 8PM until 11PM

Wonder if the Beeb will get a mention?

Some gadgets/computers were supplied by The Centre for Computing History.

[mga1103]

Don't forget, "Stephen Fry's 100 Greatest Gadgets" will be on Channel 4 on Bank Holiday Monday from 8PM until 11PM
...

What date? (Remember, there's an International audience here, and not all Bank Holidays fall at the same time!!! )

[andyt31]

Monday 29th August.

[BeebMaster]

I always think of Stephen Fry as a technophobe - even though I know full well that he's anything but! I think it's probably because two of my favourite roles he has played (Melchett/Jeeves) don't necessarily lend themselves to the thought that the man playing them is a computer whiz!

I didn't know about his involvement with the Beeb, but I knew he was involved with computers "early on", I think I'd read somewhere that he & Douglas Adams were (among the) first two Mac owners in the UK.

[jms2]

A bit more detail from the book:

- He used Wordwise (OK, that's not really unusual)
- After initially buying a tape-only BBC he later bought a second processor and disk upgrade.
- He used to "sit up until the early hours writing essentially pointless programs in order to master some particular technique or other".

I think we can probably all relate to the third item!

I wonder if StarDot needs an official patron?!

[Stoppers]

I missed the first forty minutes or so, but...

"Stephen Fry's 100 Greatest Gadgets"

Clive Sinclair and the Spectrum?

Really?

ZX80, I could live with (several firsts with that one), but the Speccy? That's just mean.

[jms2]

I thought about watching this, but decided against it when I realised that it wasn't about Stephen Fry's own personal favourites, but just another one of those crappy "100 greatest" shows.

Apparently, people vote for the entries on these programmes - but who actually votes I wonder? I've never seen the surveys on the web.

[BeebMaster]

Mebbe you have to vote using a Speccy!!

Missed it as well - it was on for about 7 hours. I can only cope with 25 mins of anything at once.

[Samwise]

I always think of Stephen Fry as a technophobe - even though I know full well that he's anything but! I think it's probably because two of my favourite roles he has played (Melchett/Jeeves) don't necessarily lend themselves to the thought that the man playing them is a computer whiz!

I didn't know about his involvement with the Beeb, but I knew he was involved with computers "early on", I think I'd read somewhere that he & Douglas Adams were (among the) first two Mac owners in the UK.

Hmm ... He is undoubtedly a well-read fellow, but I'm not sure he'd be my first port of call for technical support.

Sam.

[BeebMaster]

Hmm ... He is undoubtedly a well-read fellow, but I'm not sure he'd be my first port of call for technical support.

Sam.

Sounds like he's been reading some of the explanations of how the world works on my website!