From GE's Differential Analyzer to the Raspberry Pi

June 12, 2024 12:31 PM

Starring the Computer is a website dedicated to the use of computers in film and television. Each appearance is catalogued and rated on its importance (ie. how important it is to the plot), realism (how close its appearance and capabilities are to the real thing) and visibility (how good a look does one get of it). Fictional computers don't count (unless they are built out of bits of real computer), so no HAL9000 - sorry.

Starring the Computer previously [2012], now with 12 additional years of computers, organized by title of Movie/TV Show and brand of computer.

posted by chavenet (16 comments total)

Can we still create a GUI interface in Visual Basic so we can track the IP address?
posted by slogger at 12:41 PM on June 12, 2024 [4 favorites]

Thorough. Frighteningly thorough.
posted by fairmettle at 12:46 PM on June 12, 2024 [2 favorites]

This is impressive, great job finding all these computers.
posted by GoblinHoney at 12:54 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]

I'm in!

Absolutely best of the web!
posted by Devils Rancher at 1:07 PM on June 12, 2024 [2 favorites]

I find it irritating whenever someone asks "in this scene from $MOVIE what software/ui is being used on this computer?" because with very few exceptions it's almost always a cruddy, non-functional mock-up the producers made.

Is this just an age thing? Am I being unfair to younger people who might not know what a computer from 1994 looks like? Or has technology reached a certain level of ubiquity that people just assume that real software is always shown in movies/television because why wouldn't it be? Or are Jurassic Park and The Matrix big enough exceptions to the rule that people just assume there's a decent chance what they're seeing might actually be real?
posted by RonButNotStupid at 1:28 PM on June 12, 2024 [2 favorites]

Sadly missing the three megabytes of hot RAM in the Hitachi.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 1:43 PM on June 12, 2024 [4 favorites]

In the 1994 movie K-9 Investment Banker there's a scene where the villain sits down at what's clearly a Macintosh LC-III and uses it to hack into the main character's bank account. The UI shows a centrally located window with a bunch of dollar signs ($) floating around in it. The villain manipulates a mouse icon that looks like a net to "catch" the dollars before depositing them on an icon that looks like a sack of money. He then removes a 3.5" floppy disk from the computer which he then kisses before exclaiming to his partner that the disk now has a million dollars on it.

Did any banks use this interface for online banking in the 1990s? What was the software called? I'm guessing there must have been some early form of crypto involved since the villain has clearly deposited the money into his wallet that is stored on the floppy disk. Was this an early form of UNIX?
posted by RonButNotStupid at 1:53 PM on June 12, 2024 [5 favorites]

In the 1994 movie K-9 Investment Banker there's a scene

Is that the name of the film? I can't find anything like that in IMDB, and Youtube returns actual Investment banker videos.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 2:06 PM on June 12, 2024 [3 favorites]

I was looking for Hawaii Five-O, and was not disappointed.
I remember the 2401 tape drives spinning. Didn't realize they showed the mainframe too.
(A 360/50, not a /40)
posted by MtDewd at 2:41 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]

In the 1994 movie K-9 Investment Banker there's a scene

Is that the name of the film? I can't find anything like that in IMDB, and Youtube returns actual Investment banker videos.

Could it have been the 1990 made-for-TV spinoff K-9000? Featuring a technophobic cop and a cybernetic dog! Trailer. Featuring plenty of vintage computers.
posted by JDC8 at 2:56 PM on June 12, 2024 [3 favorites]

Or possibly K9: P.I.? The third (gasp) movie featuring Jim Belushi and a German Shepherd. Includes more vintage computers and a microchip heist.
posted by JDC8 at 3:08 PM on June 12, 2024 [3 favorites]

I’m glad they listed the Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer 2 used in the final talent show scene of Revenge Of The Nerds. I always noticed that one because the movie was filmed in town and we had a CoCo at the time. The computer is running the Audio Spectrum Analyzer cartridge from Radio Shack.
posted by azpenguin at 5:53 PM on June 12, 2024 [2 favorites]

extraordinary! tho i'd add a ⭐ in any category for The Cat From Outer Space
posted by HearHere at 6:51 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]

This is awesome (even though the first film I looked for — “Sneakers” — isn’t there yet).
posted by Songdog at 9:01 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]

Could it have been the 1990 made-for-TV spinoff K-9000?

Maybe? Did it have a IBM PS/2 with a 3d holographic display? Why did IBM discontinue that technology? Is that why they lost the clone wars?
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:32 AM on June 13, 2024 [1 favorite]

Hmph. Where's Aziraphale's cute little bookshop Amstrad (I think it's an Amstrad)?

Seriously, though, this is very cool, thanks for posting.
posted by humbug at 7:33 AM on June 13, 2024 [1 favorite]