Popular_Science_Australia_November_2016

78 POPULAR SCIENCE

Archives

November 1986

Satellite TV! The ultimate in

entertainment! Again, the 1980s

was all about the transition from

pure electronics to computerised

gadgets. Satellite TV somehow

encapsulates this era perfectly,

freeing neighborhoods (sic) from

cables but also needing a computer

descrambler. This issue also

includes a “special electronics

section” which shows off... gasp...

CD players for cars!

Early Adventures in

Smartcard Technology

YOU CAN EASILY IDENTIFY

which decade of the 20th

century any Popular Science

back issue comes from, not

necessarily by the design and

certainly not by reading the

cover date (pfft, who would do

THAT). No, you can always tell

by whatever technology the

issue is obsessed about.

Pre-war, it’s crazy machines.

During the war it’s about how

US machines will WIN. In the

50s, it’s planes, trains and

automobiles. The

60s is all Modern

Conveniences

(ovens, vacuums,

moon rockets).

The 70s and 80s?

It’s cover-to-cover

ELECTRONICS.

By November 1983,

rumours of the Apple

Macintosh were flying, you

could buy a home computer that

actually did stuff, and there was

a growing sense that computers

• even moreso than our
  beloved electronic
  gadgets - were going
  to be a big part of the
  future. And they
  were going to be
  really, really small.
  Meanwhile, also
  because it was the
  1980s, America was
  falling in love with the
  concept of credit. With a single
  plastic card, you could buy
  things before you earned the
  money to pay for them, and
  worry about servicing the

crippling debt later! No more

putting on a suit and grovelling

in front of a bank manager just

to get a cheque. Or rather, check.

But those of us old enough

to actually remember the 1980s

will also remember that credit

cards were kind of a hassle.

First, retailers had to use a sort

of carbon-copy machine, or else

take card details manually. The

magnetic strip came along soon

enough, but people waking up

to the kind of damage a rogue

credit card could do wanted

more security than a scrawled

signature (which no one

checked anyway).

Today of course we have

EMV. Created by Europay,

MasterCard and Visa (thus the

acronym), these “Chip and PIN”

cards are scanned by a device

and the payment is authorised.

Various systems and standards

keep the process, hopefully,

secure. What’s more, using a

PIN is safer than a signature.

by

ANTHONY

FORDHAM