Electric Dreams - Episode 2

Last week I did a live commentary and opinion on that show on TV called Electric Dreams that covers a whole decade where a family lives back in the day with the technology only found during that time.

This weeks episode is set in the 80's. This is where a lot of our reliance of electricity comes into play. Sony Walkman, Microwave ovens, Video game consoles and computers.

Interestingly, the walkman is a hit with dad who jogs every morning. The Microwave oven, once mother had got accustomed to using a stove and over, she actually thought the microwave was a silly idea and couldn't see how it ever became a popular.

The son was straight on the video game.

Now we're on to the Video Cassette Tape. Beta vs VHS. And even some laser discs too. Since VHS was the popular choice at the time, the show sends the family a video player and also a video camera.

At this point, they find that they have nothing to play on he player. The father heads out to find a player, which is a bit unfair considering they've provided him with old tech in a new world. With no such things as DVD's or Blu-Rays he finally finds a video store that has some video cassettes for sale. $1 each.

Bringing the newly purchased videos home, he finds that the player doesn't work. It turns out the daughter of the house has tried to put in a betamax tape and has possibly ruined the player.

In the morning, the father wakes up to a knock at the door. Coming out to the front yard, he gets great news, a new set of wheels. Although, it turns out that he gets access to a C5. No, not a Citroen. An electric car that never took off. If anything, it was the biggest technological flop every. Though I can't see why it did.... electric powered, and has pedals for some human assistance.

The father likes it, but considers it a death trap due to the more modern traffic surrounding him.

Meanwhile at home, the family receives a "Compact Disc Player". The father isn't impressed. He much prefers vinyl (me too). Dad isn't happy and consoles himself by saying "That's progress".

The computer still hasn't been utilised well. So the father sits with the son and work on it together, loading tapes and they finally get a game to load.... several hours later.

It's now 1987 and they have launched the microwave dinner. Something I cringe about every time I see one.

The show is nearly over, it's 1989 and mum is on teletext and getting a recipe off the channel to cook for dinner for their celebration.

The younger daughter accepts that the 80's pushed technology, but nothing worked. It wasn't really plug and play like things are today.

Since the family received a camcorder earlier, they got to use it as he kids got to make an 80's music video. The father ends with his opinion that he loved the 80's and the technology. He recalls how awesome it was to see all this technology come about. But in reality, it was all a bunch of rubbish.

The show ends, roll credits. Next Sunday will show the family living in the 90's. Can't wait to see the Play Stations and laptops appear in the home.