Raymond Baxter

The death of Raymond Baxter, broadcaster, is one of those sad items of news which is particularly significant, to my generation, it was he, who helped explain and introduce many of the technologies which we have now taken for granted.

Tomorrow's World, the television programme with which, he is most remembered, used to be the highlight of my week (in TV viewing terms), as a viewer I remember his style as relaxed, informative and unpatronising whilst still maintaining authority.

Raymond Baxter, made a great contribution, towards understanding a changing world technologically, and maybe it's fitting, that I first read this sad news in my own publication Bignews Margate (RSS feed from BBC).

The suggestion, that an ordinary bloke, could sit at home, dictate to a machine, thought and opinion, publish instantly and be read locally, nationally and around the globe, would have been beyond belief, in the 1960s, especially to me then a schoolboy, frequently described as a fat lazy lump by teaching staff, unless of course it had come from Mr Baxter.

Obviously the world has moved on, since the Sixties and Seventies, I personally regret the passing of television presentation as was, when presenters could speak with authority and at the same time, in a relaxed manner, whereas today our presenters are not only relaxed but have replaced authority with arrogance and either a Yob or Chav personality (just look at any motoring programmes for instance).

The days when substance, was more important than personality are part of yesterday's World.