August 13, 2012, 11:49 AM — In this video from the AT&T Archives, we get presented with a bunch of films from 1964 through 1969, courtesy of artist Stan VanDerBeek and computer scientist Ken Knowlton, entitled "PoemField".
As AT&T explains, "each film was constructed using Knowlton's BEFLIX computer language, which was based on FORTRAN. The films were programmed on a IBM 7094 computer. The films were created in black and white, with color added later by Brown and Olvey."
While by today's standards, this is pretty basic stuff (even in the early '80s, I was programming graphics like this on my TRS-80 Color Computer) - but back then, this was mind-boggling (although I'm not sure about the freeform jazz music).
Keith Shaw rounds up the best in geek video in his ITworld.tv blog. Follow Keith on Twitter at @shawkeith. For the latest IT news, analysis and how-tos, follow ITworld on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.
Now watch:
Star Wars/Gotye parody video proves how unhip I am
32-year-old talks to 12-year-old self via VHS
Meet the YouTube Complaints Department
Watch a water balloon pop in space
Did this 1985 film coin the phrase 'information superhighway' and predict Siri?
Follow Keith on Google+
