I recently acquired some old copies of ‘Manx Life’ magazine, a popular journal from years past, and was taken with an article by the late journalist and author Robert Kelly, who passed away in 2018.

The piece I am reviewing this week was from 1982, and the title was ‘Chips with Everything’.

It really is interesting to read about emerging technologies from the past and compare them with today’s world, where the importance and value of data in informing decision-making is key for policymakers.

It commenced with the premise: ‘Imagine Manx schoolchildren with desktop computers teaching them spelling, arithmetic and history…telling them by mechanically spoken words when and where they are wrong.

‘Imagine, too, a television set at home that can talk back to you, play games with you and solve the most intricate of calculations on your behalf through microwave and satellite links with computers perhaps thousands of miles distant.’

He then hints that this would be what life on our island would be like in his lifetime. He states: ‘The electronic revolution is with us. Already it is changing our lifestyle beyond recognition… in offices, at home, at play and at school.’

For someone my age, 1982 doesn’t feel all that long ago, but it was, of course, 44 years ago!

Almost all shops had cash tills which calculated bills and then told the cashiers what change to give.

In offices, typewriters with memories, which would type out repetitive sentences or paragraphs in documents, thereby speeding up the process, were making their presence felt.

Electronic calculators, once large, expensive and only for professionals, were now slim, light and so cheap that parents were buying them as stocking fillers for children. Schools had accepted their use, not only in the classroom but also during the sitting of O- and A-level examinations.

Mechanics at local garages were already coping with new cars with sophisticated computer systems, with features registering miles per gallon, or with cruise-control features, and something I had not heard of, the ‘Econoscope’, which apparently warned by lights if the motorist was not driving efficiently!

What we have today on most cars, which I have to admit sometimes irritates me, is the audible sound telling me that I haven’t put my safety belt on yet, or other things for which it dictates I am not equipped to make an independent decision about!

For young people, popular toys were no longer a £5 board game but the up-to-£50 computer-controlled video games like Space Invaders.

Another I don’t remember was ‘Speak & Spell’, in which the machine spoke a word and the player had to tap out on the keyboard the correct spelling.

Local educationalists were talking of the day when machines would revolutionise teaching methods.

The then Director of Education, who I recall with fondness, and in particular his rich Welsh accent, confirmed that even then the Board of Education were already considering the application of computers in primary and secondary settings.

He stated that failure to do so would mean the island selling its young people short.

It was suggested that the cost may not be all that expensive either. Computers were no longer the big, bulky and expensive machines they once were, thanks to the silicon chip and mass-production techniques.

Apparently, the UK, according to Robert, had designated 1982 as ‘Information Technology Year’… who suggested that ‘unless we learn to take advantage of the latest technological developments, the UK could be reduced to the status of a third-world country, exporting precious oil, coal and gas reserves to pay for imported manufactured goods’.

The message had not been lost on Tynwald. Grants were made available for the first time to local industrialists to call in consultants to advise on the benefits of the introduction of new technology here.

Computer science had become an examination subject at all island high schools and, at the College of Further Education, strides were being made in the introduction of computer education, particularly in response to increasing demands from local engineering factories, banks and insurance offices.

It was only three years on since the first class had been established, and there were already three levels of instruction underway and a heavily oversubscribed list of people wanting to join.

The first computer had arrived in the island only 10 years prior to the article being written in 1982.

The pioneer was Jack Edmonds. Having sold his stake in Tours (Isle of Man) Ltd, he promptly purchased three second-hand ICL 1900s from UK businesses and shipped them to the island.

His plan was to install one on the ground floor of Centre House, Victoria Road, Douglas, and attract business from government offices and local firms; to use a second to encourage computer education at the College of Further Education and then cannibalise the third for spare parts.

The impressive computer was duly installed at Centre House, one of the buildings at the Isle of Man Holiday Centre, and considerable interest was aroused.

Several analyses of public opinion polls were run through the computer on behalf of the Tourist Board, and a pilot project was undertaken on behalf of the Electricity Board to feed meter readings into the computer and let it produce addressed bills.

Unfortunately for Mr Edmonds, the idea failed to catch on. His system certainly interested government in computerising its various departments, but government decided to install its own, more advanced system at Government Offices instead.

After 12 months, Mr Edmonds decided to call it a day.

Next on the scene, and certainly the pace-setter in the mid-1970s, was the Manx Computer Bureau.

Launched in Circular Road, Douglas, in 1974 by Captain Stuart McKenzie together with his wife, Barbara, four years earlier they had formed the Marine and General Consultancy, which advised on and installed computer systems elsewhere.

They saw demand rising for computer systems here and, as they needed improved computer resources for consultancy work, decided to launch the bureau.

Under this scheme, Manx businesses could be linked directly with the main computer through office terminals.

Following that successful launch, the bureau moved to M & G House in Lord Street, where one of their associated companies, ‘Data Dayprint’, used a £100,000 press, partially financed with government assistance, to print the island’s first home-produced computer stationery.

At the time of Robert Kelly’s piece in ‘Manx Life’, it was reliably estimated that at least fifty full-scale computer systems had been installed in the island, with Captain McKenzie optimistic about continued growth.

Stuart McKenzie was appointed an MBE in 2023, and the citation described his contributions to the Isle of Man community as the ‘Father of Manx Computing’.

Together with his wife, they were pioneers in bringing computers to the island, introducing payroll and BACS services, and ‘possibly laying the groundwork for infamy by establishing the first internet service provider’.

Sadly, his wife had passed away when he received the honour, which he dedicated to her. He has been central to the restoration of the Queen’s Pier in Ramsey since 2015.

Together with Barbara, he established the McKenzie Trust in 2001, providing would-be entrepreneurs with advice, grants and loans. I became friends with them when they provided reliable, value-for-money haulage services when we had the shop.

An interesting, forward-thinking, hard-working couple.