Acorn Computers
The British computer pioneer
Acorn Computers built the BBC Micro, won hearts in British schools, and spawned ARM—the processor architecture now in billions of devices.
Overview
Acorn Computers defined British computing education. Their BBC Micro, developed for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, became the standard machine in UK schools throughout the 1980s. More significantly, Acorn’s need for a better processor led to the creation of ARM—originally Acorn RISC Machine—whose descendants now power most smartphones on Earth.
Fast facts
- Founded: 1978 in Cambridge by Hermann Hauser and Chris Curry.
- Key products: BBC Micro (1981), Electron (1983), Archimedes (1987).
- ARM origins: designed in-house for the Archimedes, later spun off.
- BBC contract: won the Computer Literacy Project tender over Sinclair.
- Demise: acquired by Olivetti (1985), eventually wound down (1998).
The BBC Micro era
The BBC contract transformed Acorn:
- Educational dominance: nearly every UK school had BBC Micros.
- Quality hardware: robust 6502-based design with expansion ports.
- Software ecosystem: educational software, games, programming tools.
- Elite debut: the landmark space game launched on BBC Micro first.
ARM: the lasting legacy
Acorn’s processor design outlived the company:
- RISC philosophy: simple instructions, fast execution.
- Low power: critical for portable devices.
- ARM Ltd: joint venture with Apple and VLSI (1990).
- Modern dominance: ARM powers most mobile devices worldwide.