https://youtube.com/@computerchroniclesyt?si=1eQ8yROJ-191yHX...
https://archive.org/details/computer-chronicles-full-epidose...
RIP Stewart!
So that helped to engender my enthusiasm, and encouraged me to essentially build my successful work-life around computing.
I suppose he was an influencer in today's parlance?
After leaving television production, he worked as a consultant for the Internet Archive, helping to preserve and provide public access to cultural and technological media, including Computer Chronicles and other technology programs.
RIP Stewart – you’ve taught me a lot!
There was a good run of Computer Chronicles, TechTV, and G4 for a while there. These days, This Week in Tech still exists in podcast form. G4 had a short revival as G4TV a few years back. There's nothing nearly as popular these days, but there's still lots of good ones like Waveform, SomeGadgetGuy, and AwesomeCast.
We had a similar pair over here in .uk -- Chris Serle and Ian McNaught-Davis. They had a down-to-earth way of presenting the like of which we will not see again, mainly because of their characters, but also of the context in which they were presenting: as you say seeking to make the public aware about the wave of the future. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Computer_Programme (the theme music of which was Kraftwerk's "Computer World", no less!))
skip to 2:30ish to bypass the podcast's nonsense
i had the pleasure of meeting him a couple times, truly a nice guy with a passion for sharing computing with everyone
RIP Stewart.
If you watch Computer Chronicles, you will notice that little to nothing has actually changed in computing in 40 years.
You can watch newly digitized episodes here. More are coming in the new year.
https://archive.org/details/@davidga/lists/2/computer-chroni...
We’re also building a comprehensive metadata database of every episode. Notably the TVDB metadata is not accurate or complete.
You can see that here, noting that it is still a work in progress.
He and the rest of the team captivated generations of people interested in the booming personal computer industry, throughout all of its early phases. The show often had on some of the great industry pioneers, and reported on many trends and new innovations. It's still fascinating to revisit these old episodes and relive the sense of wonder and excitement around novel hardware and software. I highly recommend watching and making a copy of all seasons from the Internet Archive.
So long, Stewart.
This news is worthy of a black banner on HN.
spankibalt•2h ago
Stewart Douglas Cheifet, age 87, of Philadelphia, PA, passed away on December 28, 2025.
Stewart was born on September 24, 1938, to Paul and Anne Cheifet in Philadelphia, where he spent his childhood and attended Central High School. He later moved to California to attend college, graduating from the University of Southern California in 1960 with degrees in Mathematics and Psychology. He went on to earn his law degree from Harvard Law School.
In 1967, Stewart met his future wife, Peta Kennedy, while the two were working at CBS News in Paris. They returned to the United States and married later that year. Stewart's career in television production took them around the world, and they lived together in the Samoan Islands, Hawaii, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, before eventually settling back in Philadelphia.
Stewart and Peta had two children, Stephanie and Jonathan.
Stewart is best known for producing and hosting the nationally broadcast PBS television programs Computer Chronicles and Net Cafe. Computer Chronicles aired from 1984 to 2002, producing more than 400 episodes that documented the rise of the personal computer from its earliest days. Net Cafe, which aired from 1996 to 2002, explored the emergence of the internet. Both programs were widely regarded as visionary, capturing the evolution of personal computing and the early development of the digital age.
Stewart's professional interests and talents were wide-ranging. After leaving television production, he worked as a consultant for the Internet Archive, helping to preserve and provide public access to cultural and technological media, including Computer Chronicles and other technology programs. He also shared his knowledge as an educator, teaching broadcast journalism at the Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. After retirement, he spent his remaining years enjoying time with Peta, his children, his grandchildren, and his brothers.
Stewart is survived by his brothers Lanny and Bruce, his children Stephanie and Jonathan, and his grandchildren Gussy, Josephine, Benjamin, Freya, and Penny.
Services will be held for immediate family only.