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November 13, 2007
Thought of the Day: WarGames Edition
Reflecting on the Internetted-out labyrinth we now inhabit, my man Ken writes:
"i wonder if u made a 5 year old watch the movie wargames if he would have any idea what was happening. i wanted to be mathew broderick. hacking the pentagon on a 2400 baud modem. dialup!"
An excellent question indeed. I often wonder, lately, about precisely what parts of my daily e-life my kids will laugh at: This "blog"? Mp3s? "Instant messaging"? Playing Halo via "Xbox Live"?
Anyways, here's a marvelous commentary on the "many computer-based oddities" featured in WarGames.
There's even more here, too, from Thomas Fischer, one of the founders of IMSAI, which made the computers featured in the film. He served as a consultant; here's a chunk of his remembrances:
Our contact person for the film was Special Effects Supervisor Mike Fink. Bob Walker, and I would be in regular contact with for him the next three or four months. The production had the backing of MGM/ United Artists and promised to have a major budget to work with. Mike told me that the screenplay writer Lawrence Lasker stipulated that an IMSAI 8080 be used as the visual prop for the central character's computer. Still skeptical, I read the script trying to envision the equipment requirements.
A few items struck me as lacking credibility. First, the central character (Matthew Broderick) would access a military computer (the visually delightful W.O.P.R. in the movie) using his home computer connected to an acoustic coupler and his telephone handset. At that time, acoustic couplers had a maximum communications rate of 300 baud (ridiculously slow then, and now by today's standards).
The requirement of an acoustic coupler was mandated more for visual effect than for reality. I resolved the credibility issue by providing the only IMSAI 212A modem ever made (actually, a Cermetek 212A modem that I was evaluating as a possible addition to our product line). By repainting the front panel and carefully applying press-on lettering, I provided a plausible, if unstated high-speed data link (at a blazing 1200 baud!) for the movie's plot. An acoustic coupler was still used to satisfy the visual effect in the movie.
Posted by caps at November 13, 2007 11:32 AM