Documentary - Fate decreed that Orwell's book title, 1984, would anticipate the year that saw the beginnings of the development of the computer technology with which networking and surveillance would become possible. The documentary travels back to the Orwellian year 1984 and traces the last quarter century: between demand and need, technology and ergonomics, the cultural environment and frantic development. A timeline follows the most important stages of the computer to the present day.