Stewart Cheifet, PBS Host of Computer Chronicles, Dies at 87

Stewart Cheifet, the longtime host of the PBS series Computer Chronicles, died on Dec. 28 in Philadelphia. He was 87. The cause was the flu, his daughter, Dr. Stephanie Cheifet Koven, said. Cheifet launched Computer Chronicles in the Bay Area in 1983 while he was station manager of KCSM-TV (now KPJK) in San Mateo and hosted the show from that modest set.

The series — a mix of news, interviews and how-to segments that introduced early adopters to products such as the first Macintosh, Windows 95 and electronic mail — ran for 19 seasons through 2002 with 433 episodes and was seen in more than 300 cities at its peak. Guests included Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos.

Not a computer engineer or programmer, Cheifet had a law degree from Harvard and a background in television production and journalism. He said in a 1995 interview with Newhouse News Service that Computer Chronicles grew out of a desire to put a users group on TV after noticing people were beginning to buy Apple IIs and Commodore 64s and needed help and software.

He also hosted the PBS spinoff Net Café from 1996 to 2002 and became an assistant professor of broadcast journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, in 2013. Cheifet was born on Sept. 24, 1938, in Philadelphia, the oldest of three sons of Paul and Anne Cheifet. He graduated from Central High School in 1956 and the University of Southern California in 1960, and from Harvard Law School in 1964.

Key Topics

Tech, Stewart Cheifet, Computer Chronicles, Pbs, Kcsm-tv, Macintosh