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CBC Explains

CBC Radio always tries to track, uncover and explain the latest trends and ideas. But when cutting edge inventions become part of daily life, it can be illuminating, even downright hilarious, to look back to a time when they were brand new and confusing.
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Rewind54:59CBC Explains

An English Electric KDF9 transistorised computer in use at the first regional computing centre in Edinburgh, 1967. (Getty Images)
Over the years, CBC Radio has tried to keep up with the times. We've told you how new ideas and inventions will affect you. CBC Explains takes you from the 1940's to the 1990's for a look at the early days of the metric system, mobile phones, the internet and wacky new food like pizza and fondue. Remember fondue parties? CBC Radio reporters were kept busy explaining all things new, sometimes with ease, sometimes with incredulity.
Suburban sprawl in Saskatoon's south end. (Google Maps)
 The way we lived changed too as people moved away from the farm and the city and into brand new suburbs.
Victor Surerus of Roseneath, Ontario, posing with his vintage cell phones, including the first cell phone in Canada. (THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Computers have probably changed all our lives more profoundly than all those other changes put together. Remember first trying to wrap your minds around the revolutionary concept of the WorldWide Web? CBC Radio was there, working hard to explain it. It might be second nature to most of us now, but oh, the trouble it caused then.  

"We're moving into an age when data banks and information banks will change society. And broadcasting will become part of a huge system, of which the largest element will inescapably be the use of computers."

---Graham Spry, 1970


Until the 1960s, the idea of a global information network was the domain of science fiction. Early computers were enormous, expensive monstrosities, and the idea of linking them together seemed absurd. By 1970, business started to rely on computers even if most Canadians had never even seen one. A few visionaries realized computer networks would change the world.

These days computers reflect the world back to us through the Internet. Both Internet technology and the devices we use to connect with it have changed in leaps and bounds. 

For a sonic trip down Memory Lane, visit the Museum of Endangered Sounds to remind yourself what a rotary phone, typewriter, and dial-up internet connection used to sound like.

One more note. Last week we celebrated Karin Wells, documentary maker extraordinaire. Rewind listener Anna Marie wrote a note that summarized a sentiment shared by many of you. 

Thank you so much for today's retrospective of some of Karin Wells' great work. It has been an absolute pleasure to listen to her documentaries over the years. Always thoughtful, clear and intensely interesting, Ms. Wells has produced a body of work that stands as a national treasure. Thank you, Karin Wells, for telling us strong stories beautifully, for so many years.