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25th anniversary of BBC Micro TV series Published: 13th Jan 2007, 17:51:11. Where it all began This week marked 25 years since the first episode of The Computer Programme was broadcast, launching Acorn into the living rooms of millions. The BBC TV series, first shown on January 11, 1982, aimed to introduce computing and new technology to the UK using a new BBC-badged Acorn microcomputer - fondly known as the Beeb. Presented by Ian McNaught-Davis, pictured, and Chris Serle, each 25 minute programme covered various topics from BASIC programming to simple robotics and control. Kraftwerk provided the theme tune, taken from their 1981 track Computer World, and the series was followed up by two more: Making the most of the Micro in 1983 and Micro Live from 1984 to 1987. The 1982 series was part of the BBC Computer Literacy Project, launched after ITV produced a ground-breaking documentary, The Mighty Micro, which predicted the effects a computing revolution would have on the UK's economy, industry and lifestyle. Acorn won the contract to produce the hardware for the project after it impressed BBC executives with its 2MHz 6502-powered microcomputer offering. Legend has it Acorn's Cambridge university student engineers managed to get their prototype's Mode 0 graphics working the day they set off to London to demo their kit. The specifications of their computer exceeded the BBC's requirements, and the rest is history. Richard Russell, who was a BBC engineer involved in the selection of Acorn for the BBC and went on to produce a BBC Basic interpreter for Microsoft Windows, said the BBC project shaped the future of the UK's use of computers and technology. Russell said: "Twenty-five years ago, the first episode of the BBC's seminal television series 'The Computer Programme' was broadcast. This introduced the BBC microcomputer and BBC Basic, and changed the course of home computing in the UK. "Its influences are still felt today." • Qercus magazine is set to begin the new year with a series of articles celebrating the 25th birthday of Acorn User magazine. Qercus was formed from the merger of AU and Acorn Publisher in 2003. Links The Computer Programme history Listen to Kraftwerk's Computer World (ogg vorbis format) The early history of the BBC microcomputer Discussion Viewing threaded comments | View comments unthreaded, listed by date | Skip to the end Chris Steele? Wasn't it Chris Serle? spanners on 13/1/07 11:23PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ] The first series used Kraftwerk's Computer World from the Grammy-award -winning album of the same name, but series two and three used a BBC Radiophonic Workshop version which was close to the original without infringing copyright... Not a patch on the original. GeoffP on 14/1/07 1:17PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ] Makes me wonder - does anyone regularly use their BBC micro(s) any more? I used to use mine regularlyish up until about five years ago polas on 17/1/07 12:17PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ] Please login before posting a comment. Use the form on the right to do so or create a free account.

Login Username Password Create a new account Forgot your password? Search this website This week's poll Recent developments have left me feeling... Assured ROS will appear on new hardware 55% Pleased OS desktop features are being developed 10% ROL and ROOL will eventually kiss and make up 5% App developments are critical 10% Dave Holden sleeps easy at night 19% Discuss this | Archives Featured articles Wakefield 2009 wrap-up, photos and video The weekend's RISC OS event has been and gone and we've got the rest of our lives to look forward to. Here's a round-up of extra news and Drobe's show-related coverage and some photos taken from Wakefield 2009 - plus a video from the show floor.  16 comments, latest by AW on 29/4/09 7:41PM. Published: 27 Apr 2009 RISC OS 5 pictured running on ARM Cortex-A8 kit Picture exclusive - This grainy photograph shows a port of RISC OS 5, sourced from the RISC OS Open project, running on a Beagleboard - a device powered by a 600MHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor with a built-in graphics chip. The port, developed by Jeffrey Lee with help from Uwe Kall and ROOL staff, is seen as a major breakthrough for the shared-source project as it proves the OS can be ported to new hardware without the need for a large team of engineers.  75 comments, latest by rjek on 30/4/09 3:15PM. Published: 25 Apr 2009 Open documents from Windows-using pals with handy online tool It can be a pain when someone sends you a file that can only be opened on Windows, Mac OS X or Linux - but with the help of a free-to-use website and NetSurf, Paul Stewart reveals how these documents can be viewed on RISC OS.  6 comments, latest by AW on 8/5/09 12:12AM. Published: 19 Apr 2009 Useful links News and media: Iconbar • MyRISCOS • ArcSite • RISCOScode • ANS • C.S.A.Announce • Archive • Qercus • RiscWorld • GAG-News Top developers: RISCOS Ltd • RISC OS Open • MW Software • R-Comp • Advantage Six • VirtualAcorn Dealers: CJE Micros • APDL • Castle • a4 • X-Ample • Liquid Silicon • Webmonster Usergroups: WROCC • RONE • NKACC • IRUG • SASAUG • ROUGOL • RONWUG • MUG • GAG • RISCOS.be Useful: RISCOS.org • RISCOS.info • Filebase • NetSurf Non-RISC OS: The Register • The Inquirer • Apple Insider • BBC News • Sky News • Google News • xkcd • diodesign

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