Guilty Pleasure: Miami Vice

I have been watching Miami Vice on-line lately through my Netflix account. I had forgotten how bad the acting was but I still love it. As I was watching, I was struck with the realization of what a good representation of pre-internet culture this show is. The show aired from 1984 to 1989. I think that I started using GOPHER in 1992 and Netscape in 1994, so this show takes place well before regular citizens were introduced to the Internet. For that matter, few people even had a computer in their home when this show first aired. The US census showed that only 8.2% of homes contained a personal computer in 1984 compared to current estimates of over 90%. This is made apparent when looking at the desks in the police office. Not a single computer! No one is looking up anything on a fingerprint database or any of the other conveniences we have all grown accustomed to seeing on CSI. This applies to any show from the 80’s of course. The next time you are watching a rerun of some 80’s sitcom, take a little time to think about the technological differences that have grown up around you since that show first aired and what life was like just on the cusp of the new age of computers and the Internet.