by Paul Dueweke
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The NBC computer ran with all the speed and power humans could build into it. It commanded the studio, keeping every player on cue, switching the active camera, balancing light and sound according to complex optimization codes, adjusting prompts to fit the evolving scenario, which is never quite as rehearsed, synthesizing ecstatic audience responses, and interfacing with computers at a dozen NBC regional centers all over America that were taking the real time pulse of the electorate via millions of interactive TV dialogs.
The NBC computer executed countless instructions every second, calling subroutines and macros at a hundred software levels. Everyone expected a flawless production, and no one was disappointed. Network executives savored their system’s performance. Party leaders inhaled the rating uptick. Americans devoured the carnival.
But the computer was just a machine, just doing its job.