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"Now the Chips Are Down" is a 1978 British television documentary episode about the importance and influence of microprocessors within the UK economy. Aired by the BBC as part of its Horizon series, it was produced by BBC Television and narrated by British radio and television presenter Paul Vaughan.

The documentary is a report on the "applications and implications" of microprocessors to employment within the British economy. Science historian Robert M. Young wrote in 1981 that the programme played an "important part" in raising awareness about microprocessors within government and the general public.

Consequences

Britain's lagging place in the worldwide technology race was widely acknowledged after the documentary was screened. The UK government launched the Microelectronics Education Programme in 1981, with a budget of more than £10 million. This included nationwide discounts on computers to schools and colleges, and was followed by government backing of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project. Funding for related education schemes continued until 1988.

References

1. "Now the Chips Are Down". BUFVC website. BUFVC. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
2. Huws, Ursula (14 January 2004). "Chapter 15: The fading of the collective dream?". In Mitter, Swasti; Rowbotham, Sheila (eds.). Women Encounter Technology: Changing Patterns of Employment in the Third World. Routledge. p. 321. ISBN 978-0-203-20861-8. Archived from the original on 27 April 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
3. Young, Robert M.; Gardner, Carl (1981). "Science on TV: A critique". In Bennett, Tony; Boyd-Bowman, Susan; Mercer, Colin; Woollacott, Janet (eds.). Popular television and film: a reader. British Film Institute in association with The Open University Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-85170-115-8. Retrieved 27 February 2013. Alt URL
4. ^ Tom Forester (1987). The High-Tech Society: The Story of the Information Technology Revolution. MIT Press. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-262-56044-3. Retrieved 27 February 2013.

External links

• "Now the Chips Are Down" at DocuWiki.net
• Now the Chips Are Down on the BBC iPlayer. This link contains the whole programme and also a studio discussion, but non-UK IP addresses are geo-blocked and cannot watch it.
• "Now the Chips Are Down" at IMDb
• "Now the Chips Are Down" at Archive.org

• 1978 British television episodes
• BBC television documentaries
• History of computing in the United Kingdom
• Horizon (British TV series)
• BBC Two original programming