Stewart Cheifet, creator of The Computer Chronicles, has died | Hacker News Reader

Stewart Cheifet, creator of The Computer Chronicles, has died

obits.goldsteinsfuneral.com

250 pointsspankibalt78 comments

I’m involved in a project to digitize “lost” episodes of Computer Chronicles that were missed in the first pass at the Internet Archive.

You can watch newly digitized episodes here. More are coming in the new year.

https://archive.org/details/@davidga/lists/2/computer-chroni...

We’re also building a comprehensive metadata database of every episode. Notably the TVDB metadata is not accurate or complete.

You can see that here, noting that it is still a work in progress.

https://computerchronicles.karpour.net/

How do you find the missing episodes?

We were granted access to the collection of Stewart Cheifet's tapes.

Thank you for your team’s work to preserve this collection.

Thank you for doing this

Searchable transcripts would be a fun addition! I would love to be able to find mentions of specific software (in addition to a formal segment on it)

I've had this on my back burner! Glad to see someone else wants this as well. The Internet Archive already has transcripts generated by whisper.cpp, so it's (just) a matter of gathering them into one place and making a good search feature.

Example transcript (JSON): https://archive.org/download/episode_1109/episode_1109_whisp...

Screenshot from a month ago: https://wonger.dev/assets/chronicles-screenshot.png

I can reach out to their project to see if they're interested.

The issue with Whisper is that it messes up both names of both products and guests. What we aim to do is make new subs, but including all the product names and guest names as hints, so Whisper will get them right.

Thank you for doing this.

Thank you for the interlacing-preserved files!! For archival's sake I hope you have some sort of Lagarith/ProRes/etc versions stashed instead of just h264, although those would be prohibitively large to share.

The tapes are not in good enough condition that any intermediate codec would contain any extra information. In most cases, they’re not master tapes, they’re copies Stewart made for his own collection.

  After leaving television production, he worked as a consultant for the Internet Archive, helping to preserve and provide public access to cultural and technological media, including Computer Chronicles and other technology programs.

The full archive of Computer Chronicles is online because Stewart put in the work to make that happen. He talks a bit about it (and Computer Chronicles in general!) in a 2013 interview with Leo Laporte on TWiT: https://youtu.be/WdtHS_X1ibg

RIP Stewart – you’ve taught me a lot!

Some of the better quality video archives, too. Most of them have interlaced MPEG-2 versions available, although a handful of the older ones do unfortunately have incorrect field order set in the MPEG headers

There is work underway to replace those bad ones! When the IA is back up, you can find some uploaded here: https://archive.org/details/@davidga

There's been several people in the archive community identifying and pointing them out, digging through large tape collections as well of syndications of it. David however got to go through the original masters recently

If only TechTV had such an archive

I used to watch archived episodes of Computer Chronicles on YouTube almost every night before going to bed back in 2016~2018. It was my bedtime entertainment, watching those recordings from another era of computing and observing the hosts' enthusiasm for things we take for granted today. As a late millennial, it helped me experience a bit of what the 80s and 90s were like in computing.

RIP Stewart.

As an early Millennial it helped me remember a lot of my childhood in computing and robotics

Stewart Cheifet and Gary Kildall were a dynamic duo. Really appreciated the awareness they gave to the general public about computing and the wave of the future.

Very much agree. Being in the UK I never saw the original broadcasts, but I've enjoyed them on YouTube. (the ability to "time-travel" with YouTube never ceases to amaze me.)

We had a similar pair over here in .uk -- Chris Serle and Ian McNaught-Davis. They had a down-to-earth way of presenting the like of which we will not see again, mainly because of their characters, but also of the context in which they were presenting: as you say seeking to make the public aware about the wave of the future. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Computer_Programme (the theme music of which was Kraftwerk's "Computer World", no less!))

I'm sad to read that. CC is one of my favorite shows of all time, and Stewart was the perfect host: engaging, curious, knowledgeable, kind, friendly, charming. Like a tech Bob Ross, Fred Rogers, and Carl Sagan.

He and the rest of the team captivated generations of people interested in the booming personal computer industry, throughout all of its early phases. The show often had on some of the great industry pioneers, and reported on many trends and new innovations. It's still fascinating to revisit these old episodes and relive the sense of wonder and excitement around novel hardware and software. I highly recommend watching and making a copy of all seasons from the Internet Archive.

So long, Stewart.

This news is worthy of a black banner on HN.

Here is a one hour talk Stewart gave at the 2016 VCF East (Vintage Computer Festival):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncnje4DdRxE

He mentions that the first year it was a live program and they didn't have the resources to record them, so they are not available.

From the obituary:

Stewart Douglas Cheifet, age 87, of Philadelphia, PA, passed away on December 28, 2025.

Stewart was born on September 24, 1938, to Paul and Anne Cheifet in Philadelphia, where he spent his childhood and attended Central High School. He later moved to California to attend college, graduating from the University of Southern California in 1960 with degrees in Mathematics and Psychology. He went on to earn his law degree from Harvard Law School.

In 1967, Stewart met his future wife, Peta Kennedy, while the two were working at CBS News in Paris. They returned to the United States and married later that year. Stewart's career in television production took them around the world, and they lived together in the Samoan Islands, Hawaii, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, before eventually settling back in Philadelphia.

Stewart and Peta had two children, Stephanie and Jonathan.

Stewart is best known for producing and hosting the nationally broadcast PBS television programs Computer Chronicles and Net Cafe. Computer Chronicles aired from 1984 to 2002, producing more than 400 episodes that documented the rise of the personal computer from its earliest days. Net Cafe, which aired from 1996 to 2002, explored the emergence of the internet. Both programs were widely regarded as visionary, capturing the evolution of personal computing and the early development of the digital age.

Stewart's professional interests and talents were wide-ranging. After leaving television production, he worked as a consultant for the Internet Archive, helping to preserve and provide public access to cultural and technological media, including Computer Chronicles and other technology programs. He also shared his knowledge as an educator, teaching broadcast journalism at the Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. After retirement, he spent his remaining years enjoying time with Peta, his children, his grandchildren, and his brothers.

Stewart is survived by his brothers Lanny and Bruce, his children Stephanie and Jonathan, and his grandchildren Gussy, Josephine, Benjamin, Freya, and Penny.

Services will be held for immediate family only.

A true pioneer who helped popularize computing in so many ways. Computer Chronicles absolutely helped catalog so many things that happened in computing, and in itself captured the changing computing culture of its era.

Suits, ties, combovers, oh my! But it also helped put faces and voices to names, introduce and show video of computing in action, trying to solve real problems, and showcasing businesses trying to figure out how to carve a niche for themselves in an emergent market.

It's also some of the best TV ever made, snappy, restrained, strangely calming.

RIP Stewart.

RIP. Was a faithful CC viewer. Anyone aware of something like this show today that regularly reviews general software/apps/hardware/tech for a more mainstream audience - on PBS, cable, network, or even podcasts? With the role tech plays in the lives of all ages these days, one would think there would be more tech info offerings for the general public today than what was available back in the 80's - Computer Chronicles, MSNBC shows, magazine/newspapers (including the NY Times!) - but nothing comes to mind.

It's strange to think nowadays that the "MS" in MSNBC meant Microsoft. How the times have changed.

Even more specifically, it was MSN + NBC.

There's almost too much volume these days. There's dedicated websites/apps/podcasts for Apple, Android, PC gaming, Xbox gaming, PS4 gaming, Switch gaming, etc. Product Hunt was a hot thing for a while and is still running. In terms of more general coverage, The Verge, Engadget, Lifehacker, Wired, and NYT Wirecutter are still good among many many others.

There was a good run of Computer Chronicles, TechTV, and G4 for a while there. These days, This Week in Tech still exists in podcast form. G4 had a short revival as G4TV a few years back. There's nothing nearly as popular these days, but there's still lots of good ones like Waveform, SomeGadgetGuy, and AwesomeCast.

There is very little with a) high technical quality in the presented content, b) an assumption that the average viewer is reasonably intelligent, and c) high production quality.

The Computer Chronicles was kind of unique that way.

Edit: OTOH I just saw a 55 minute well-produced youtube video on ASML's EUV photolithography machine that fulfilled all of that. I had some bias against this channel for some reason I don't remember, but anyway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiUHjLxm3V0.

Veritassium is in a league of its own. Just take a look at their last year's videos. The production value is just second to none.

They have enough of a following now that they can dedicate 55 minutes to something and not worry about the algorithm, which usually dictates much shorter form factors

This was the first of their videos that impressed me. Looking back, I have watched a few of their videos per year. Previous were videos tended have much less content density and quality.

I really enjoyed the segments where they let ASML's (now former) CTO Martin van den Brink just talk.

Leo Laporte's TWiT podcast network is the only thing that comes somewhat close but it still falls well short of CC or TechTV.

YouTube has a few quality channels but they tend to fit into a particular niche. The bigger names are just lowest common denominator slop like LinusTechTips.

ExplainingComputers with Christopher Barnatt is a regular online series that tickles that right spot for me. He's got the professorial yet whimsical energy of an 80s BBC presenter, making the show feel a bit like The Computer Programme or Beyond 2000.

https://explainingcomputers.com

https://m.youtube.com/@explainingcomputers

Watching him on PBS as a kid made me realize that my fascination with computers was OK. Because he looked like a reasonable adult and he showed enthusiasm. 1980's.

So that helped to engender my enthusiasm, and encouraged me to essentially build my successful work-life around computing.

I suppose he was an influencer in today's parlance?

Computer Chronicles and MotorWeek were fixtures of my Saturday afternoons as a young kid in the 80s. 35+ years later both shows became fascinating and priceless time capsules of the era.

Agreed! Btw MotorWeek is still pumping out new episodes. Watched one yesterday.

For me it was those two, but also Bob Ross (of course!) and Star Gazers (Keep looking up!). I enjoyed drawing and astronomy and the entire reason I got into computers was to program the equations from the astronomy with your pocket calculator book.

Computer Chronicles, Byte, Compute!'s Gazette, 80 Micro and PC Magazine were windows into the larger world of computers as a kid in the 1980s. The Computer Chronicles episodes on computer networks and services sparked an interest in networking which turned into the focus of the 1st half of my professional career. I owe a debt of gratitude to Stewart Cheifet.

Don't forget Computer Shopper!

I never read a copy of Computer Shopper.

Many of us did!

(audio only) interview with Stewart that I enjoyed - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQSWeJUjy-k

skip to 2:30ish to bypass the podcast's nonsense

i had the pleasure of meeting him a couple times, truly a nice guy with a passion for sharing computing with everyone

As a kid I loved waiting for whenever this show would air. It was like looking into the future. Now I can look into the future any time I want and all I see is garbage.

Take care Stewart, thanks for sharing the magic that computing is.

He's joined his longtime collaborator, Gary Kildall. We lost a real one. Hey Hackernews, black band please?

Loved loved loved that show, a definite must-watch for a young nerd back in the late 80s. Thanks Stewart.

What a wonderful resource The Computer Chronicles has been. One of the core pieces of entertainment I use to fall asleep to when I am on the road and trying to sleep in hotels. Rest in peace, Stewart.

This deserves the black banner.

Stewart was a peak human.

If you watch Computer Chronicles, you will notice that little to nothing has actually changed in computing in 40 years.

I worked with Stewart for several years on a play on Gary Kildall. He would drive down from the Bay Area and I would drive up from the Monterey Peninsula and we would meet in inbetween towns such as Watsonville, Morgan Hill or Gilroy, and work on the manuscript. We did this until Covid struck, then stopped because of Stewart's health, connecting mainly through the internet or phone. . I had written the play first on my own, and he saw it and contacted me and after we met a couple times I asked him if he wanted co-authorship and he said he did. I had called the play A Mild Concussion, because that's what Gary had been diagnosed with after the fall in the Franklin Street Bar and Grill in Monterey. Also, I didn't use real names. Stewart wanted to, so we did, and changed the title to The Forgotten Computer Genius, a title he liked. I have emails from Stewart discussing the play. It is set in the final few days of his life, as he nurses his injury and tries to recall to a friend, a woman, all that has happened. The play, which was praised, after reading, by Sir Harold Evans, the late author of They Made America, which includes an incisive chapter on Kildall, and is ready for production - Steve Hauk.

Such sad news. As a kid growing up in RI I used to love watching Computer Chronicles on our local PBS station each weekend. Stuart and Gary were the best. RIP to a legend

Born in Central Europe, I've never had a chance to watch The Computer Chronicles in my childhood. I've discovered them via twitch a few years ago and I adore the series.

RIP Stewart!

What a tremendous loss for our industry. Stewart's genuine curiosity was infectious.

We are loosing so many of the legends. I don't distinctly watching the Chronicles when it first aired - was too young, not in the right market - but as a computer history nerd watching the videos on the Internet has been eye opening. It is also a really good way to get a sense just how advancing things were in the 1980s and how in many ways we have gone backwards in many areas.

You can watch these on YouTube if you want. They are quite fascinating.

https://youtube.com/@computerchroniclesyt?si=1eQ8yROJ-191yHX...

I heard that the YouTube channel isn't official and that watching them on Archive.Org is preferred. But they're not especially well organized on the Archive. Here's a link to a torrent with all the episodes, which might be a bit of overkill if you're just trying to find a single episode.

https://archive.org/details/computer-chronicles-full-epidose...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46447499

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46447235

Preferred by who?

By Cheifet.

When I was around 10yo in the early 1980s in New England, I loved to watch the Computer Chronicles - which usually was shown late at night for some reason. It's hard to describe now how awestruck I was at everything the show covered. I was too young to understand what a studio was, so I really thought they were filming from some far away skyscraper with a view of the city behind them. I wanted to be there! I still get that buzz of excitement and wonder when I watch recordings even today.

After moving to Silicon Valley, one of the things that still gives me joy is the idea that I now live close to where the show was recorded in San Mateo. It's one of those small dreams as a kid that became reality.

RIP Stewart.

I have this same feeling every time I drive by the Jameco office. I used to read their catalog and buy components from them and now living right near them reminds me of growing up

Ah, rest in peace. I recommend you watch Computer Chronicles. It’s a treasure. If nothing else, it’s a solid trip down memory lane.

To many it's a trip to a time before they existed. I imagine my kids would have some difficulty to understand some key aspects of the computing experience back then.

I don't think they ever used a dial up modem...

I am so nostalgic for that time in my life. Nothing at all matches the aww of all that I was learning at that time.

I have fond memories of watching Computer Chronicles as a kid in the 1990s on PBS in Sacramento. Even though Sacramento is only a two-hour drive from Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley felt like a far-off place as a kid from a low-income family; it wasn’t until college when I visited Silicon Valley for the first time. While we couldn’t afford the latest and greatest of computing, Computer Chronicles enabled me to keep up with computing news. Even when we got Internet access in 1998, I still regularly watched Computer Chronicles until it stopped airing.

There seems to be a sense of wonder, excitement, and positivity about technology back in the 1990s and 2000s. I miss those days.

List of episodes, with direct links to Archive.org streams: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Computer_Chronicles_ep...

Such a loss! I like many others was captivated by this show. How many future IT industry professionals did Stewart inspire I wonder? Has to be thousands. A great legacy.

Still my favorite show to put in the background while I code.

I think I would have enjoyed the chronicles back then. Alas too young.

Oh. Have you talked to a grey-beard about users groups? Computer Chronicles was sort of like having a users group presentation in your living room every week. I learned about computers by users groups, computer chronicles, hanging out in computer stores and a few long distance phone calls to the bay area.

Stop it, you are making me nostalgic for a time i never completely lived through.

My first memories are of sitting on my father's lap as a 3y old, connecting to a BBS. Even as small as that I understood completely that was special. The interconnectedness of our society is now taking for granted, but man how special it was.

SKREEEEE... BLORT BLORT SKREEEE.... CACHUNK BLORT SKREEE...

At least you got to experience the carol of the modem tones.

A few years ago I used the 1200 baud connect sequence as a phone ring tone. Everyone chuckled, my child asked "what the he'll was that, I think I heard it in a movie."

I honestly never paid that much attention to Computer Chronicles back in the day. But when I clicked on the link to the obit, I instantly recognized him from the photo.

The chronicles are great; I like watching them today, like I enjoy reading EWDs today as well. Well done Stewart.

I remember watching Computer Chronicles back in the 90's! I still watch it on YouTube occasionally.

Such a shame. He was a great presenter: always enthusiastic but never over the top.

Man, I love watching old episodes of Computer Chronicles on Youtube. RIP.

Hacker News of the eighties

This crowd is precious.

Loved that show. RIP.

I love watching these on YouTube, RIP Stewart

Legend

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