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Jun 1, 2014 · With Lee Pace, Scoot McNairy, Mackenzie Davis, Kerry Bishé. The Texan company Cardiff Electronics gets a new employee from New York. He's apparently working for IBM, but after he gets the new job it gets clear that he has a hidden agenda, and is not exactly what he claims to be.
- (1.3K)
- Drama
- Juan José Campanella
- 2014-06-01
- Overview
- Episode Overview
- Featured Music
- Trivia
"I/O" is the first episode of Season 1 of Halt and Catch Fire, and the premiere episode of the series overall. It originally aired on June 1st, 2014 on AMC.
The story begins in 1983, with a man named Joe MacMillan speaking in a college classroom, guiding a discussion on what computers will be able to do in ten years. He asks questions to find out the computer skills and experience of the students in the classroom. One student in particular, Cameron Howe, gets his attention as she makes statements about computers that show she knows what she is talking about. Joe later finds Cameron at an arcade where she hangs out and tries to learn more about her.
Meanwhile, computer engineer and Cardiff Electric employee Gordon Clark is bailed out of jail by his wife. He is living in a reckless and depressed state because of his failure with a previous engineering attempt. Joe gets on at Cardiff Electric and makes contact with Gordon. He uses an article that Gordon got published in the past to harness Gordon's desire to make computers more advanced.
It takes several conversations, but Joe convinces Gordon to reverse engineer an IBM computer. Gordon explains that most of the parts inside the computer are common but that a specific chip in the computer is the part that IBM actually has copyrighted. This part of the computer is what makes it work successfully. Joe and Gordon work in Gordon's garage and decipher the source code for the IBM computer.
Even though what they are doing is illegal, Joe has already anticipated some legal loopholes. Cardiff Electric's attorney figures out that the company can reverse engineer their own computer system if they meet certain criteria. One of these criteria is that they have to keep Joe and Gordon on the project. The other criteria is that they have to hire an outsider who has no prior knowledge of the project.
Joe recruits Cameron Howe to be the "outsider". The attorney for Cardiff Electric asks Cameron questions that are necessary to meet the legal requirements. He nods his head "No" to guide Cameron to answer "No" to the questions.
The executives at Cardiff Electric discuss IBM coming in and insist that everyone keep their stories straight. The episode ends with a group of IBM executives showing up at Cardiff Electric, with Gordon asking Joe what he is trying to prove.
•The episodes title, I/O, stands for "Input/Output". An "Input" is the data received by a computer or related system, and the "Output" is the data sent from it.
•Before the official series premiere, this episode was made available on AMC's Tumblr page on May 19th, 2014. It was the very first TV series to do this.
- 3 min
May 24, 2014 · Verdict. Halt and Catch Fire has me excited for a new drama in a way that I haven’t felt about a show in a very long time; the characters are sympathetic and interesting, the premise is...
- Cliff Wheatley
Jan 1, 2014 · 43min. TV-14. After surviving a visit from IBM, Joe's team must overcome internal differences and begin the technical feat of building the new machine. Free trial of AMC+ or buy.
May 31, 2014 · Halt and Catch Fire - I/O. Buy. TV-14. CC. Halt and Catch Fire. 178M subscribers. Subscribed. 36. Halt and Catch Fire S1 E1. The 1980s computing boom through the eyes of...
Jun 1, 2014 · Inside Episode 101: Halt and Catch Fire: I/O. Joe recruits Gordon and Cameron to build a computer that the world has never seen before. For more Halt and Catch Fire videos:...
- 6 min
- 22.5K
- amc+
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Jun 1, 2014 · A handsome, carefully crafted machine, Halt And Catch Fire looks good coming out of the box. Set in 1983 Texas, the show has an unobtrusive period feel—the fashions feel right, and the decade ...
