David K. Israel
4 Earnest Instructional Videos
by David K. Israel - February 22, 2010 - 9:07 AM

By my way of thinking, there’s nothing funnier than earnest videos that capture a moment in history when we were a little more naïve. I ripped the following four clips from various longer, instructional vids that came out in the 70s and 80s. It took a bit of time, but I think if you give them a click, you’ll find it was time well spent. Enjoy and feel free to share, please.

1. Slips, trips, and falls


Can someone please tell me why there’s a woman typing 500wpm non-stop in the background as our lovely host tries to explain how to avoid tripping in the office environment?

2. Interesting eye care models



I would have liked to have been at the casting call for this series of scenes.

3. A mouse in the house

This is an instructional video that explains what a computer mouse is and how it works. This particular mouse was the first ever shipped with a personal computer, the Xerox 8010 Star Information System in 1981. (Yes, predating Apple by a couple years.)

4. The acrobat!

I’m not sure why this woman doesn’t just keep her pens closer to her keyboard, or put the phone down before reaching for that file…

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Comments (8)
  1. Google “German forklift training video”

  2. Ahhhh…. aren’t they sweet!
    I kept waiting for someone to actually slip, trip or fall in the first vid; instead, they all navigate all those hazards with perfect precision. Sort of makes the video less forceful. A good crash, now that would have driven the point home!

  3. re the first comment- I just googled that one and watched it… gives me the shivers. that’s like the opposite of these…

  4. Also on the other end of the spectrum…

    I saw this commercial on late night TV a few years ago. I found it to be quite disturbing.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noFCekWiUGE

  5. Re: the lady typing 50wpm in the background- I suppose that’s to prove that it’s an “office environment”! ha!

  6. Don’t forget about finger safety: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAxanQPynnU

  7. Boring and not funny at all. There is 5 minutes of my life I will never have back. I can only imagine how much wasted time the poor author spent watching them in the first place.

  8. Lawls @video 1, a woman typing, classic.

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