Two weeks ago Sir David Attenborough turned 100. The tributes were well deserved, but beyond the birthday celebrations, the milestone felt like an invitation to pause and reflect on just how much the world has changed in his lifetime.
Born in 1926, Attenborough came of age in a world where the most advanced “technology” in most British homes was a wireless radio set. The idea that one day a single person’s voice would reach hundreds of millions of people across streaming platforms, smart speakers and handheld devices would have seemed like science fiction. And yet, here we are.
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From valves to the cloud
When Attenborough joined the BBC in the early 1950s, computing was barely a discipline. The machines that existed filled entire rooms, ran on vacuum tubes and were accessible only to governments and universities. The transistor had only just been invented. Storage was measured in bytes, if at all.
By the time he was narrating Life on Earth in 1979, the personal computer was arriving in homes. By The Blue Planet in 2001, the internet had changed everything. And by Our Planet in 2019 – streamed simultaneously to 190 countries on Netflix – technology had become the very medium through which his message travelled.
In his lifetime IT has moved from rooms to desks to pockets to the cloud. From punch cards to touchscreens. From hulking mainframes to the slim, powerful laptops that today sit on desks in every school, office and public sector building in the country. It’s arguably the fastest and most consequential transformation in human history.
How technology changed the way Sir David worked
Attenborough’s career is in many ways a direct chronicle of how technology evolved the art of wildlife filmmaking.
In the early days of his BBC natural history programmes, cameras were heavy, film reels were limited and location shoots were logistical expeditions that required months of planning. Footage had to be physically transported back to the UK for editing – a process that could take weeks.
Digital cameras changed everything. Lightweight, high-definition equipment meant smaller crews could access remote locations that were previously impossible. Drone technology opened up aerial perspectives no human could ever have climbed to. And underwater cinematography – the kind that made Blue Planet II so breathtaking – became possible only through advances in pressure-resistant housings, low-light sensors and remote submersible vehicles.
Post-production transformed too. What once took months of manual film editing can now be achieved on a laptop – digitally, in a fraction of the time, with colour grading, sound design and global distribution all handled through software that didn’t exist when Attenborough was controller of BBC Two.
What to do with a century worth of devices
Of course for every leap in technology there’s also the question of what happens to the hardware we leave behind. In 100 years the world has produced an almost incomprehensible volume of electronic devices – and the environmental cost of that is something Attenborough himself has spoken passionately about.
The laptop on your desk right now is part of that story. Millions of devices are retired every year by businesses, schools and public sector organisations – many of them still in excellent working order – simply because a lease has ended or a refresh cycle has come around. Too often they end up in a skip rather than someone else’s hands.
At pure IT we think about this a great deal. We take those devices, test them rigorously and restore them to as good as new – giving quality laptops and IT equipment an extended life. All refurbished devices from pure IT are clean, certified and ready to work.
It feels fitting in the month of a birthday belonging to a man who has dedicated his life to protecting the planet to reflect on the simple choices that can make a difference. Choosing refurbished IT is one of them.
Here’s to 100
Sir David Attenborough has spent a century watching the world change – often sounding the alarm, always inspiring wonder. The technology that now surrounds us every day was shaped in no small part by the ambitions of broadcasters like him who pushed for colour television, championed nature programming and embraced every new tool that helped them tell the story of life on Earth.
If his life’s work has taught us anything, it’s that small choices add up.
Refurbished IT is one of the easiest ones your organisation can make – better for the planet and better for your budget. Browse our current stock and see what’s available today.
Contact us today and we’ll be delighted to help.
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