5 ms·
The Secret Life of Machines
- Breadmaker 5y agoremastered and upscaled
- sigio 5y agoBeen watching the episodes on youtube over the past weeks, some of them I remember from TV, but they are still great to see restored on youtube.
- fanf2 5y agoThe Secret Life of Machines is a brilliant classic, and it’s great to hear Tim Hunkin’s behind-the-scenes memories. Also great is Tim Hunkin’s Secret Life of Components which he released on YouTube earlier this year https://www.timhunkin.com/a241_component-videos.htm https://www.timhunkin.com/a241_component-videos.htm
- johnwalkr 5y agoThis is awesome. I love a lot of the maker stuff on YouTube these days. It’s content dense in the same way that secret life of machines and This Old House were.
- AndrewStephens 5y agoA show so brilliant that I used to skip school in order to watch it when it aired on Friday mornings in New Zealand. My favorite episode is the one on VCR machines - probably the most mechanically complex device to have been mass marketed.
- fanf2 5y agoThe VCR episode has the marvellous "THIS IS RECORDED ON STICKYTAPE AND RUST" experiment.
- AndrewStephens 5y agoPrecisely the sequence I had in mind. I wowed a news.ycombinator commenter with this a couple of weeks ago in a thread about how spinning drives store data. Here is a direct link to the scene: https://youtu.be/g1JlUcFKm5o?t=537 https://youtu.be/g1JlUcFKm5o?t=537
- calpaterson 5y agoI watched the boiler episode to learn how central heating worked and got drawn in, they're all excellent and explain a lot.
- mcguire 5y agoWatch the sewing machine episode! It has the best demonstration of the magic in one of those beasts.
- rjmunro 5y agoAs a kid this was one of my favourite programs ever, but I could never figure out when it was on and only ever seemed to catch bits of it here and there. There is also a "Secret Life of the Home" interactive exhibit in the London Science Museum, also made by Tim Hunkin: https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/learning/secret-life-home-school-info https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/learning/secret-life-home-s...
- fanf2 5y agoHe has two amusement arcades filled with his own interactive machines, "The Under the Pier Show" in Southwold https://www.underthepier.com/ https://www.underthepier.com/ and "Novelty Automation" in central London https://www.novelty-automation.com/ https://www.novelty-automation.com/ He talks about making some of the machines in his "Secret Life of Components" series on YouTube.
- simonw 5y agoNovelty Automation is one of London's best hidden gems: if you ever have the chance to go and visit I cannot recommend it enough.
- pinewurst 5y agoThat was one of my favorite exhibits at the London Science Museum - a place full of great stuff.
- angry_octet 5y agoI wish I was a Tim, but I think I'm Rex in search of a Tim.
- frosted-flakes 5y agoTim Hunkin's website is an absolute gem. Poke around, he's written about almost everything he's done or made.
- sixothree 5y agoI have been looking for a documentary I saw maybe 10 years ago. I think it was called the History of the VTR. It focused on the VTR as part of broadcast television. And I vaguely remember a section talking about the kind of errors and how they would present themselves in the broadcast. If anyone know about / remembers / knows where to find this documentary, I would be thankful!
- nieksand 5y agoMr. Hunkin has been publishing a new Secret Life of Components series to youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JAgXz6xO0s&list=PLtaR0lZhSyANYB0Xxb9OSp47pHuQmj3Ol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JAgXz6xO0s&list=PLtaR0lZhSy... It is really great stuff if you enjoy building things.
- john-tells-all 5y agoeven better: they're now remastered and upscaled, with an extra "behind the scenes" segment at the end! Lovely, wonderful, inspiring stuff.
- adds68 5y agoFantastic!
- jbaber 5y agoThis is the best news I've heard in years.
- space_ghost 5y ago"The Secret Life Of Machines" was a very bright spot in my childhood. My mother recorded the episodes on VHS cassettes and I wore those things out playing them. I've been rewatching them as Tim posts them on YT and I'm delighted to find that they're as brilliant and hilarious now as they were 30 years ago.
- open-source-ux 5y agoI was struck by this passage on Tim Hunkin's website: "...making things had made me realise just how much clever human activity in the world can not be explained in words or suit the format of a book, let alone fit with the publishing fashion of the day." I think this is one of the reasons why posters here have fond memories of this series - it's full of inventive ways to explain technology (with a dash of humour). The Word Processor episode (1991) is excellent for anyone looking for something computer-related. It's broader than just looking at word processors but also explains how computers developed. The Secret Life of the Word Processor (1991): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNcP7KgWaXg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNcP7KgWaXg This is a nice description of Word Processing from the TV programme: "It's an extraordinary elaborate way to write something with a separate keyboard, monitor, computer and printer. But the ease of trying sentences out and moving them about does give writing a whole new freedom."
- raaxe 5y agoIf you live in London, Tim Hunkin operates an arcade filled with machines he's built. It's well worth a visit: https://www.novelty-automation.com/ https://www.novelty-automation.com/
- marshray 5y agoIn the vacuum cleaner episode @ 20:34 "This is a pig, built for The Pink Floyd, by a local firm."
- johnwalkr 5y agoThis and “Computer Chronicles” are on repeat for my background noise.
- johnwalkr 5y agoI was a bit surprised to see he is still active, but it turns out he was only 38 when the series started!