An American Visits British Computer Museums

[@userlandia]

A few notes from the desk: 1. Thanks for all the kind comments and suggestions about places to go. If I do return, Bletchley Park is high on my list. I didn't make it on this trip because I had a week's worth of time to spend and I wanted to see other local attractions too. 2. The use of the Union in the opening bit was part of an attempt to poke fun at what Americans see as stereotypes of Englishness and Britishness. They say if you have to explain a joke that it isn't funny, and that's fair. I thought in combination with the tea, biscuits, and then undercutting it with computers that it would have been obvious, but in retrospect I should have been more over-the-top in making the joke. I'm well aware of the political and geographic subdivisions of the UK, the British isles, the constituent countries, et cetera. I intentionally used the Union instead of the St. George cross because the bit didn't quite hit without it and when I consulted with some UK friends ahead of time they thought the Union was fine. Clearly it didn't land for everybody though. Please accept it for the intended joke at my expense that it is. 3. Some helpful commenters have pointed out that "Dome" in "Domesday" actually rhymes with Doom! I had done a bunch of reading on the project but didn't actually hear anyone pronounce it. It's been duly noted and I've added it to my vocabulary.

[@HalianTheProtogen]

The original Domesday Book was so called because its assessment of the lands of England was, like the biblical Day of Judgment (the original meaning of “doom”), final and beyond question.

[@gleggett3817]

@@HalianTheProtogen Though it's not called that until about 100 years after it's been written.

[@Sim-rh4tj]

The tea and biscuits thing is funny because it's basically true!

[@Rockhopper1]

5:25 thats my mum and dads digital computer, we donated it to the museum when Dad died, it was fully complete, with floppy discs, manuals and a printer,

[@RMCRetro]

It was a real pleasure meeting you and thank you again for your generosity. This is a great guide for the many wonderful museums in the UK, brilliant video 👍

[@userlandia]

You're welcome and thank you for being a class act. Onwards and upwards!

[@ukdnbmarsh]

thats very cool thank you

[@TheSulross]

the Cave has to be a must-see on any UK tourism itinerary

[@DavidNewmanDr]

In Kenya in the 1980s, students learned microelectronics on a network of Sinclair Spectrums. They became the people who repaired computers in the country. Previously you had to send computers to Saudi Arabia for repair. As there was 160% duty and sales tax on computers at the time (President Danial Arap Moi said the purpose of computers was to put secretaries out of work), the Sinclair QL became the most common business computer as you could smuggle it in. I wrote and ran a multi-tasking program on a QL to do the timekeeping for the Nairobi Round Table 24 hour pedal kart race.

[@userlandia]

Thanks for sharing that great story about the QL!

[@mikeselectricstuff]

Other UK essentials are mational Museum of computing at Bletchly Park, London Science Museum, and This Museum is Not Obsolete, next door to the Micro museum in Ramsgate

[@DarrenPoulson]

Came to the comments to mention Bletchly. Definitely one to visit for the full history.

[@AndrewHelgeCox]

Is Bletchly Park fun for computer nerds? I got a vibe off its website of national trust type property: garden and tea rooms with a dash of ww2 history.

[@exile2828]

​@@AndrewHelgeCox yes and no. Bletchley park not so much (but still worth a visit) the The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC) is however and is separate but on the same site. One ticket used to get you into both but that has not been the case for a few years now.

[@AurumUsagi]

The TNMoC is my favourite! Though I've yet to visit the other computing museums in the UK. I also once went to the Computerspielemuseum along the Karl-Marx-Allee in the former DDR part of Berlin, Germany, and they have some amazing exhibits there too.

[@highpath4776]

@@exile2828 Is there still a computer museum at Manchester University (one of the departments at least ?)

[@trubblebubble1]

The BBC Micro was my introduction to computers when I was 12 years old. I'm autistic and programming was one thing that made absolute sense to me. I've been programming/software engineering since I was 12. I have no idea where I would be without that machine, but I suspect I wouldn't have had the life I've enjoyed ever since.

[@TerryTheNewsGirl]

My first introduction to computers too when was 13/14-ish.

[@jimbo6059]

Certainly was mine. Computer lab at school was full of the original BBCs. They brought out the BBC B when I left school.

[@tonysansom]

I'm glad you found something that made sense to you and purpose in your life 👍

[@davidwallin7518]

Did you read 'Popular Computing Weekly' in the early/mid 1980s?

[@trubblebubble1]

@@davidwallin7518 not so much. I think they got a copy at school but, at home, we would get the monthly magazines that had type-in BASIC games.

[@geoffjones5421]

They still run the first electronic computer, the Colossus, at Bletchley. Runs at 300K instructions per second! The science museum also has a great collection of some of the first mechanical computers.

[@Non-Doctors-Music]

It's a pleasure to see an American video about the US that doesn't involve differences in language or culture. Also, your style and manner were interesting and the travel advice really useful for foreign visitors. Hats off to you, sir!

[@saintuk70]

Nice you visited the Cave, Neil has put a huge amount of work into it and deserves all the support he gets.

[@marjon1703]

😂"Where Danger Mouse called Bilbo Baggins colourful names!" Brilliant!

[@LosPeregrinos51]

About 12 years ago we had a young intern working through the summer at the civil engineering company I worked for and I was telling her about the strides that had been made in office technology since I had started work in 1968 (I'm 72 now). The calculator we had in our room back them was a hand cranked FACIT machine but computers such as the Olivetti 101 were creeping in. Then came electronic pocket calculators and I told her of one, the Sinclair, that you could build yourself from a kit. "Oh yes" she said, "My Grandfather use to make those." "Was he a keen hobbyist then?" "No. he owned the factory where they were made." Pause "Your Grandfather's Sir Clive Sinclair isn't he?" "Mmmm" Charming young person, went on to study Civil Engineering at Cardiff.

[@samuelbeckett4632]

Thanks for sharing this adventure; good the see some US appreciation for the groundworks of UK computing. And also impressed with your grasp of UK phraseology.

[@jonathanhill9748]

There was a BBC tv show for kids called Blue Peter that ran a project where they appealed for accounts of daily life in Britain from viewers with a view to collating them and storing them on a 12” laser disc using a BBC B micro. Sort of a modern day Domesday Book to preserve a snapshot of history for posterity. A few years ago they had to have another appeal for anyone who had the hardware or a workaround for reading it as the hardware they had didn’t work and the file formats were obsolete.

[@hendy643]

it wasn't just blue peter. It was done in collaboration with the education system. Schools all around the country were chosen and had to make entries. My school was one of the ones chosen. We tied it into learning about the Normans and the original domesday book.

[@NiklasRichardson]

@@hendy643 My primary school also did it! My class was responsible for some of the entries and photos from our local area! Funny to look back at it now.

[@nickbeer2658]

This is a stupendous video. So many memories for me.

[@textnotepro]

was "take a jumbo across the water" a reference to the Supertramp song Breakfast In America ?

[@userlandia]

Yes, yes it was. Thank you for getting my joke! I was really bummed that I arrived a week too late to see the 50th anniversary Crime of the Century presentation at the Royal Albert Hall. (Alas, I couldn't take a literal jumbo across the water, because the 747 has long since vanished from BOS-LHR, but I never pass up the opportunity for a good Supertramp reference!)

[@Piddemannen]

You forgot the most important bit of riding the bus, saying thank you to the driver as you hop off.

[@AriinPHD]

i thank them, hopping off, only if they announce stops. other than that i already thanked them on the embark.

[@RojamZane]

I didn't know we had some many computer museums here in the UK! A real eye-opener. Nice commentary and presentation style. You've a new subscriber.

[@davidmyford8258]

Glad you mentioned the often overlooked Dragon 32. I still have mine, in working condition.

[@GaryBigg-ll7yv]

so glad you enjoyed your trip. I would recommend the Bletchley Park Site where the code breakers were based during ww2. They have a working colossus machine amongst other things of what was really the first computer. Enjoyed the video.

[@lesh4357]

You can trace all your ARM based phones and other devices including the latest Apple M1 & M2 chips back to the BBC Micro and Acorn Computers. It came about when Acorn wanted to design a second processor board for the BBC Micro. I had an Oric-1 at home.

[@Rocky1138]

I made a similar pigrimage to the cave from Canada in 2022. I took a taxi from in front of Coffee #1/Lloyd's Bank in Stroud but then walked back after the day was done. It was a good walk and a great way to come down off of the excitement of meeting Neil, his team, and all the rest of the retro folk there. Will be back, for sure!

[@robdevenney]

Throughly enjoyed that... rarely would a 25 min video catch my complete attention for it's entireity. Nice work

[@frogandspanner]

5:15 The Elliott 903 was the first computer I used when I began my degrees in Physics and Computational Science at Leeds University in 1971. We began programming with Algol 60, punching paper tape on a Teletype ASR33, fed in through the paper tape reader shown slightly to the left of centre of the top, beside the paper tape dispenser cage (the blue thing). The inevitable error messages would be spewed, in full gaze of colleagues, onto the teletype console. I soon learned that, using the switches on top of the cabinet, I was able to redirect the errors to paper tape on a punch unit, to be taken and printed on a teletype in private, free from embarrassment.

[@gustinian]

Our school had a donated Elliott 803B (alongside TRS 80s), took 20 minutes to copy a miniscule program via paper tape. I wonder what happened to it.

[@SpikeBlighty]

Excellent video. I'm glad you enjoyed your visit. Apologies for our weather.

[@userlandia]

Actually I had pretty good luck weather-wise, all things considered. Most days was a pleasant mix of sun and clouds! Only one truly rainy and dreary London day.

[@Omarshmallow]

Great video. I recently travelled to London (I'm from Canada) and only had time to visit the museum in Bletchley. These other museums are definitely on my list the next time I go back. I only have the Computer History Museum in California to compare it to. The UK museums seem to have a nicer feeling to them - almost like you're visiting your friend's house who collects a lot of stuff.

[@highpath4776]

I went to Bletchley - overheard from a German couple who were also visiting "We couldnt find this place during WW2 and a terrible job trying to get here today too" - rail services to Bletchley are a bit flaky!!)

[@chriswatt2702]

⁠@@highpath4776 I remember Pratchett and Gaiman comparing Milton Keynes to hell. I doubt they visited the little corner of that city where Bletchley lies. It is the inner most circle of hell. That being said I really should visit it. Done Cambridge so best to visit the other local site.

[@highpath4776]

@@chriswatt2702 Bletchley was nice , one of the original villiages. MK has its uses - mainly as a diversion , roundabouts being a pain , when the M1 is blocked

[@robertopontone]

Quality of video and narrative is impressive 👍👍

[@Zer0kbps]

Nothing makes you feel old like seeing all your childhood computer kit in a museum.

[@1anwrang13r]

I've been to the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge and agree that it's fantastic, particularly for an old geek like me who grew up with the ZX81 and Spectrum at home and RM Machines computers at school. Cambridge itself is a beautiful city and is well worth a wander round. I've been toying with the idea of a trip to the Retro Computing Museum for a while and I think you've persuaded me!

[@userlandia]

Now that I've gotten my "greatest hits" out of the way, I could probably do a rail-crossing trip visiting a different town and a different museum every day.

[@1anwrang13r]

@@userlandia Bletchley Park is fascinating

[@highpath4776]

@@userlandia including off topic the Lawnmower Muesum at Southport, Television Musuems at Bradford (and resticted opening - Crystal Palace)

[@grabham59]

Sounds like you had an awesome time! God, that 80s School room took me back - I would have contributed to the Domesday project, programmed on the one BBC Micro in my Primary school, and can remember using RM Nimbuses at Secondary school!

[@BillDavies-ej6ye]

I miss my BBC computer, I also wish I'd bought the Archimedes. Went down the PC route, never so interfaceable. My original computer was a UK101.

[@favesongslist]

I loved my UK101, did you build and mod it yourself at all? So easy to get it to run at 2MHz, I did well selling my version of Space invaders for it. I increased the ram to 16K, built my own sound card for it. Got me into 6502 assemble language programming. Yet I preferred the later Z80 assemble language. With a friend I developed ZX81 game cartridges as showed them off at a Westminster Hall computer exposition. I became an self taught electronics design engineer designing specialised micro boards, and wrote their BiOS, The NSC800 was a very underrated CMOS micro. Those were great days, I later discovered I had written some simple Machine Learning algorithms without knowing it, as there was no WWW at the time, just what you could glean from snippets from computer magazines of the day.

[@BillDavies-ej6ye]

@@favesongslist Yes, I did the 2MHz mod, added extra RAM, did a bit of simple interfacing. Ditto machine code (discovered assemblers a bit later). Hand disassembled the ROMs, developed a good understanding of the working of the hardware. Led to me doing a degree, later worked in telecomms. All valuable experience. And those mags with dodgy code, I spent hours with coloured felt pens, working out the flow of control.

[@favesongslist]

@@BillDavies-ej6ye Awesome , So good to chat to a fellow UK101 computer nerd. So few people understand electronics and low level coding. I only disassembled parts of the BIOS, not the full 8k BASIC part. Totally agreed about some of the buggy code in some of the mags, normally easier to write your own code. I was lucky I lived just up the road from New Barnet where they had their shop that sold the UK101. Before I found the UK101 I was planning to import the 'Ohio Superboard'. Those were the days we could understand how all the hardware worked. The only bit I had problems understanding at the time was the PAL video modulator.

[@BillDavies-ej6ye]

@@favesongslist I initially wanted the Nascom-1, a Z80 micro, but it was unavailable as the Nascom-2 was nearly (but not quite) ready. I had an original Zilog Z-80 manual for many years, gone now. Lots of Superboard info was applicable to the UK-101. In fact, Dr AA Berk's article for a (PC-sized) calculator was my original project-to-be, but I jumped when his article was published a while later.

[@favesongslist]

@@BillDavies-ej6ye I forgot why I did not go for the Nascom board as I liked the Z80 instruction set, as also I was familiar with using the 8080, the 6502 IX and IY registers took me a while to understand. Dr AA Berk wrote the UK101 manual.

[@StepsOfStPhilips]

I’ve been leaving comments while watching and it’s been a blast. What an enjoyable video, thank you. For shame, I live in the UK and was in Cambridge a fortnight ago, but have never been to the museums you featured (though I have been to the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester to see The Baby! My dad was American. Our first computer was a Tandy TRS-80 Model I level 3 in 1979, when I was 7. I still recall the thrill of playing Worm and Star Trek on a green-on-black screen.

[@SodexGames]

I have no idea how I didn't know these places were in Stroud. I live 10 minutes away, and even went to school there! Ha! Will definitely be visiting soon

[@RobSchofield]

What an excellent travelogue & review! Can also add the EDSAC re-construction project in Cambridge.

[@Vlad-1986]

Man, you saw some amazing museums, and you missed some amazing museums. I can't even explain what they have here, even in small towns. It is just perfect. I even got an museum owner gifting me 8" Floppy disks after hours playing and using computers I knew and didn't knew about. All of the museum I saw where a pure display of love by its curators and they would let you use them and showcased them. I barely saw a computer just in display. I even saw how they real time deciphered enigma codes coming by radio from Germany in Bletchley park!

[@ME-ke7qc]

amstrad cpc 464 for me..great vid and hope you enjoyed your stay in the uk..

[@cooldad4]

I live in Stroud and didn't know the cave existed

[@vereybowring]

I was lucky enough to be in school during the late 80's. I had a Vic20 at home but studied computer science so got to use BBC B, master 128, Archimedes, a couple of apple machines as well as a few sinclair and amstrad machines at school. The pride and joy for our teacher was the Nimbus network. During school breaks he used to charge a small fee for pupils to play games on the machines including a MUD game which I helped maintain (I used to be pretty good at machine level coding and expnaded the MUD somewhat and used to be the moderator for it). To add on how progressive our teacher was he had The Hackers Handbook amongst the teaching materials lol. At home I graduated to an Amiga 500 for the last couple of years in school even modified it with real time clocks and memory etc. (I do not miss having to solder parts like in the old days). At the time not all schools had computing as an option since there was a lack of good teachers, especially in the scottish highlands, hence why I say I was fortunate. My "high" point was in the year after I'd actually passed my Higher exam in Computing but stayed an extra year to improve a couple of other subjects I'd already passed. Since I had more free time than most students I used to help the computing teacher a fair bit keeping machines running. The day of this new Higher class's prelim (an exam held a few months before the official final exam which allows the teacher to assess whether you should sit the final), just after the exam started I discussed the questions the teacher had set that day with him. Being shocked I knew what the questions were I showed him how I'd got a keylogger type program running in the background on his machine injected from another machine on the network sending me what he had on his machine live to mine and had basically printed out the exam after reconstructing the data into a document file while he was printing his exam papers that morning. We then went through how he could stop this happening in future since he trusted I hadn't passed the exam on to anyone (which I hadn't). He did quite rightly give me a bit of a roasting but no official action came about luckily. This was before any data protection law was on the books and I avoided getting myself into real trouble, the teacher could see I wasn't malicious, just creatively michevous since a couple of classmates and myself had pulled other stunts/pranks in the past. When I left school and was handing materials back in he told me he was both happy and sad to see me go lol. I went on to university to play around on Unix machines/networks but wasn't nearly as much of a nuisance. I still tinker but didn't go into a computing career, just an amateur these days and didn't keep up my coding so now the majority is forgotten but I still maintain/repair/build machines for friends/family.

[@userlandia]

This is a great story. Thanks for sharing! And a great example of practical security research.

[@highpath4776]

@@userlandia Yes, try and get RM Nimbus in the PC range with all the bells and whistles, too expensive for me but probably the best spec on the market at any one time, really in the end lost out to cheaper Dell brands, but for schools it was the tech support that made it a best (if expensive) buy.

[@camf7522]

OMG. In secondary school in Melbourne Australia in the 1980s we had BBC Accorn’s in Computer Science classes. I had a Tandy TRS-80 at home to do my basic programming for Computer Science homework, and a Commodore Amiga 500 (?) after I got my first job.

[@lintfordpickle]

A very enjoyable video and great presentation, thanks for taking the time

[@LewisRowe-id6kr]

Great review! Thanks for posting

[@mrpositronia]

I'm glad you enjoyed your visit. I've been to the museum in Cambridge a few times and attended a couple of 'pub quizzes' there, which are great fun. But yes, as long as you don't mind travelling, there's lots to see and do.

[@sunnyjim1355]

Excellent video, which I hope will inspire others to do likewise, and I'm so glad that you obviously think the whole effort was worthwhile. And, as a Brit, I'm impressed and take pride that we've gone to such painstaking efforts to make such experience worthwhile.

[@guksack]

What a great video! Thanks for sharing your experiences here in BLADDY OL' INGLUND.

[@bujler]

This was such a good video. I keep meaning to go to the one in Swindon, but both the ones you've featured look very good as well. And the Amiga was better than the ST.

[@sawlau]

Spot on with the colloquialisms!

[@dazkgoodwin]

Fantastic video, thanks for sharing. I'm in the UK, my first computer was the Sinclair ZX81 - you're video has got me crazy excited to visit these museums now... I think I could spend a week in them both!!! 🙂

[@daveac]

Great video - and at 24m 14 right at middle bottom of the screen - there was a Yellow 'Phoebe' - Acorn's Phoebe/Risc Pc II prototype! Wonderful!

[@jmnetworkuk]

Missed a trick with the National Museum of Computing in Bletchley Park. Colossus is there (restored and running), which helped the allies win WW2 by cracking the enigma code.

[@phillippatryndal4255]

There's a retro computer museum in Leicester, too...

[@Sophie-Rose]

The best imo 😊

[@phillippatryndal4255]

@@Sophie-Rose I have a confession to make - I used to live nearby in Thurmaston, but never actually went there... And now I'm living in London, so... :(

[@Sophie-Rose]

@@phillippatryndal4255 shame.. it has a great atmosphere and bunch of folks running it.

[@favesongslist]

Troon Way Business Centre, RCM House (Unit Q, Humberstone Ln, Thurmaston, Leicester LE4 9HA Tickets: £3-7

[@f_worst_nightmare4499]

I went to the Cambridge museum a few years ago. Absolutely loved it.

[@jonathanstempleton7864]

1:00 Sussex Gardens, Lancaster Gate 🙂

[@userlandia]

Sharp eye!

[@DavidNewmanDr]

At Bletchley Park there are two museum. The Bletchley Park one celebrates the code breakers in the Second World War, who broke German communications encrypted using the Enigma machine. But behind it is the National Computing Museum. It starts with the very first valve computer, built to break more advanced codes, goes through all the mainframe and mini computers used in the UK and ending up with micro computers.

[@kjoh42]

No love for Bletchley Park?

[@userlandia]

Didn't intend to snub it, I just didn't have enough time. It's on my list for the next trip, though!

[@exile2828]

​@@userlandia just be aware it's separate to bletchley park despite being part of the same site (and being fairly hidden). If you like arcades check out the nearby pixel bunker and if you don't mind a trek the arcade club in bury

[@jeromekbeelzebub4172]

@@userlandia Yes, the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley is an absolute must, with some incredible ancient mainframes dating right back to the dawn of computing, plus loads of hands-on machines. And for those using public transport, Bletchley rail station is literally opposite the front gate. It's about half an hour from London Euston. It's worth noting that the computing museum, while on the same site as Bletchley Park, is not part of the same museum, so walk past their pay barrier and don't pay for the wrong museum. It has happened! But if you have the time, Bletchley Park has some great exhibits on Turing, Enigma and the Bombes. The two museums really complement each other.

[@highpath4776]

@@userlandia The Cambrige-Bedford Bletchley Line might be in place, but then fast train Cambridge-Kings X and Euston-Milton Keynes might still be quicker, but mix it in with onward west coast line service to Manchester for following day and pick up that. There is a small amount of none interactive in London Science Muesum too I think , prob best left unless you fancy the entire exhibits of stuff.

[@gustinian]

Bletchley Park should be a UNESCO world heritage site.

[@triggerhappysound]

Seeing the dragon 32, the Amiga, BBC micros and 3D lander on the archimedes is a real stroll through memory lane.

[@pseydtonne]

I love that you posed at the Cave with Day of the Tentacle behind you! I would blow Saturday afternoons on my roommate's computer playing either that or Quarantine. This was junior year of college, so 1994-95. I should've known then that my earning time on a computer science major's machine by doing maintenance for him would be my future in system administration and software support.

[@beardyweirdy7936]

Back in the day,on my workbench I had BBC micro S/N 00002. We made interfaces and software for scools and colleges.. We also manufactured a 6502 board for machine code programming. Miss the simple 8 bit days

[@DivXDemonRik]

The W.H. Smiths homage also looked similar to Woolworths (woolies). I believe you also had them in America.

[@userlandia]

We definitely had Woolworth's since they started in America, though they didn't have as much of a presence in my neck of the woods.

[@TrainSimWorldTrainDrivin-eq1zp]

There is also another computer museum which is at Bletchley Park near Milton Keynes which is also the home of the team that cracked the Enigma Machines, there is a fully working replica of Colossus the worlds 1st computer. there is also an area with more recent computer tech to see as well.

[@tonywise198]

I'm glad you enjoyed your trip to out island Nation. The computer museum is place for great memories. It is really great to get hands-on.

[@BigBadBench]

Really great documentation and videography!

[@metmanjeff]

What a fantastic video and brilliant commentary. Thank you so much for the Dragon 32 shout out - my very first home computer. I was at school in the 80’s here in the UK and did the very first “O-level” course offered on the syllabus. All completed on the BBC Micro model B in a set-up just as shown in your film. I remember my parents having to make a case for my acceptance on the course as it was over subscribed. Fortunately I’d spent my early teen years trying to get my Dragon to replicate KITT from Knight Rider rather than aiming to get the highest score on Cuthbert in the Jungle. Thanks once again.

[@rafaelgadret]

Thanks for the awesome and informative video! I love it!❤

[@terminalterminus]

I've just been to the RAF Museum London, in Hendon. But that's easy enough for me considering I live in the east of Greater London...

[@userlandia]

That's where I went! It's very accessible via the underground. Great to see four authentic examples of the participants of the Battle of Britain. I've seen individual ones, but not all together like that.

[@terminalterminus]

@@userlandia Bit harder to get to from London but Duxford Museum and RAF Cosford are also well worth visits (next time you head this side of the pond).

[@favesongslist]

@@userlandia So glad you went to Hendon RAF Museum, great place, Yet what caught my eye was the V2 rocket there, I am a real space geek as well as into computers. The National Space Museum in Leicester is worth a visit, Admittedly not as good as KSC or the Smithsonian in DC. I hope to see a SpaceX Starship launch in person from TX. I took my Son to see the maiden flight of the Falcon Heavy.

[@Alpha8713]

Definitely make a point of visiting the computer museum at Bletchley Park on your next trip. I had a great time when I visited there in 2019.

[@geraldmcmullon2465]

@23:06 Sadly they still have not put on display the transparent NewBrain, one of six ever made. The BBC Micro computer programme was originally based around the Newbury NewBrain, transferred to them from Sinclair and then the project sold onto Grundy Business Systems who did not want to support the BBC project so it went to Acorn who already had a computer with colour display but they claim up with the Model B changing and improving the BASIC. The specifications for the Archimedes was brief. Make the fastest BASIC interpreter chip possible and they came up with the Acorn Risc Machine ARM. Many of the engineers worked on one micro and moved to another in Cambridge. I worked with the NewBrain and then on Acorn Risc-iX computers.

[@userlandia]

Thanks for the info!

[@northof-62]

Nice to see the brilliant Technomatic twin disk drives for the Beebs. I bought one in the late 80s and it still works.

[@scatton61]

Great viideo. I had a Sinclare Spectrum then a Sony MSX HitBit to which I added a 3.5" floppy drive and 4 colour plotter printer. Then at work I used a Newbrain, an ICL CPM PC and then a Panasonic IBM PC clone..... so many computers since then.

[@erolbrown]

Loved this video. Glad you had a great time.

[@TrainSimWorldTrainDrivin-eq1zp]

The cave is also the home of Herber who made the micro processors for some UK fruit machines along with other units.

[@amcadam26]

I live 8 miles from Cambridge and love the Centre for Computing History. the best part being that most computers there are running and you can just sit and use them.

[@techtipsuk]

You should have gone with An American Computer Nerd in London.

[@userlandia]

Titles are a funny thing... I really wanted to play off Mark Twain's "An American Yankee in King Arthur's Court" but it wound up being too inscrutable. I don't like clickbaity or misleading titles, but I like being fun and playful. So I went with something that I thought was honest but also tantalizing. I wrote this for an American audience, but it turns out KZbin is pushing it mostly to UK viewers, which is funny to me but people seem to like it so I'm not complaining.

[@favesongslist]

@@userlandia So glad they pushed it into my UK account. BTW do you know about the 'Ohio Superboard' the became in Britain the affordable UK101 self build computer kit? that got me hooked and a career in electronics and computing.

[@digitalarchaeologist5102]

Just an awesome video - thank you!

[@davidrmcmahon]

19:38 We had Battleship Command, played it as a family. You had white and red pegs... Little trays for the pegs. Worked well!

[@lordofthe6string]

What a great video, it looked like a fun itinerary. Also it's so nice to see people having a decent time in this country. I think there's a lot to like, but I am always worried visitors will see the awful side too and get really put off. I suppose it's the same for every country though 😂

[@SirHackaL0t.]

Great video. A shame you missed out on TNMOC at Bletchley Park.

[@LaughingAndy]

Ahh the 48k spectrum.. it was said the pressing the keys felt like squashing a small sea creature. That was my first computer. My brother had a ZX81. It needed a school exercise book under the ram pack to make sure it didn’t fall out.

[@FatNorthernBigot]

If I was visiting London for the first time, I'd probably spend two days sight seeing and the rest of the week drunk-as-a-skunk in one of the many pubs.

[@eddyd8745]

You'd need to take out a lone! 😅

[@codeloch]

As a scot living now in yankee territory - you deserve way more subscribers sir! Cambridge was the last town I lived in. In secondary school you can leave the property to get lunch or go home. One lunch I left and went to a "pawn shop" (cash convertors I think) and bought an old power pc, plus a CRT for 20 quid and lugged it through school for the rest of the day. Did I mention I had to walk and take a bus? I brought a bag just big enough to fit the actual computer in but it totally busted out the seams. Great stuff

[@userlandia]

Reminds me of lugging my PC and CRT to LAN parties across Massachusetts all those years ago...

[@AuntieBuddie]

Thank you for such an interesting video - aah, those were the days. I've just moved up to Cambridgeshire, so that's definitely one for my 'must visit' list. Hope you enjoyed your stay in our country. 😎

[@userlandia]

I did! I'd love to come back.

[@Spiklething]

Got a ZX spectrum back in 1982 , my first computer with its massive 16k RAM. I also went to computer club at school, no computer lessons back then. At computer club we got to see the schools only computer, a BBC micro. We weren’t allowed to touch it though, just watch the teacher use it

[@AndrewHelgeCox]

Listened to this as an audio podcast earlier, and now I get to see pictures too!

[@gamesessions]

Great video - thanks for sharing :)

[@amberfranklin5512]

Next time you come to the uk you might want to check out Bletchley park and the national museum of computing.

[@Millennial_Manc]

We have a huge national chain of vintage computer and fax machine museums, called the NHS.

[@highpath4776]

That is unfair on the highly useful fax machine

[@Millennial_Manc]

@@highpath4776 Until a couple of years ago, the NHS was the world’s biggest operator of fax machines

[@michaelwant8501]

Way back in the 80s I used to have a Jupiter Ace, which bizarrely ran on Forth (which is so cryptic that it has been called a write-only language)!! I wonder whether Cambridge had one of those?

[@userlandia]

It may not have made it into the video but they did have an Ace on display at the Centre for Computing History. It’s in a case in the lobby.

[@mageprometheus]

Loved it. I had a BBC Micro and an Amiga. Wish I'd kept them. Luckily, I did keep music tech from the 80s. The DX7, Juno, 808, etc. Still useful today in my modern home studio. After a career as a software dev, these 'toys' help to make retirement bliss.

[@ukdnbmarsh]

when i was at school they had a dozen BBC Micro B's with an Archimedes as the server (the used to have Zaxxon running on it alot)

[@applerabbits]

Thank you, I really enjoyed this. I also found out that this place exists and I grew up just north of Cambridge.🙂

[@SharpblueCreative]

As you went past Swindon on the way to Stroud you missed the Swindon Computer Museum - they have a load of stuff (several items I donated) so maybe next time.

[@wingnoit]

I had an Amstrad CPC 6128! Sorcery + was my jam

[@userlandia]

Amstrad CPC6128: The Al Jarreau of microcomputers.

[@SimonZerafa]

If you return to the UK you absolutely must go to Bletchley Park and The National Museum of Computing. Both are on the same site in Milton Keynes. Best stay locally at least overnight (possibly two) as you will need two days to do both justice. TNMOC has a working replica Colossus Mark 2 and also the world's oldest working computer. The main site has a very good historical walk through of the WWII history of cryptography including the Enigma and Lorentz systems in the original grounds where it happened. It's a must for all Retro Computing, Mathematics or History nerds 🙂👍

[@wingnoit]

​@@userlandiaGreat video man! Are you still over there?

[@userlandia]

@@wingnoit You know me better as kefkafloyd when listening to the smooth grooves of Radio PVS (on Yacht Rock Discord)

[@wingnoit]

@@userlandia yep! I think you mentioned your channel before on the discord and ive had you in my sub box

[@richardtwyning]

I'm from Nottinghamshire in the UK and I grew up with the greatest machine of its era, the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A. It would already support something like the doomsday project, but the BBC had to have a whole new computer for that. However, the custom graphics chip the BBC Master used was supplied by Texas Instruments

[@paul_boddie]

It could have used the existing BBC Model B since Acorn already had an interactive video system based on that machine. The BBC Master was just an evolution of the technology, already being planned to take advantage of newer components, notably RAM devices, and to consolidate board logic where appropriate. Which custom graphics chip are you referring to? The BBC Master's video ULA, carried forward from the BBC Micro, is surely fabricated by VLSI Technology not Texas Instruments. The sound chip in the Beeb was the SN76489 from TI, however.

[@chrisst8922]

I don't know about BBC Basic but I do remember something called a BBC Master Compact. And a computer called Nimbus Research Machines. Never used them much.

[@chrispalmer7893]

The Amiga v. ST debate? There is NO debate. The Amiga was the superior machine, it's simply not something you can question.

[@oddball_the_blue]

Regarding the Arcade Archive - there's a group of them further up North (in Bury (pronounced 'Berry') and Leeds) which has a similar sort of setup including some of the earliest machines like a SEGA Pong cabinet, as well as big collection of pinball tables for extra fun.

[@StepsOfStPhilips]

That’s a bit controversial. I’m from Lancashire and I pronounce Bury as Bhurry but Bury St Edmond’s as Berry St Esmomd’s.

[@StepsOfStPhilips]

Bury St. Esmond’s 😂

[@TrainSimWorldTrainDrivin-eq1zp]

The QL Was taken on by ICL and made into there One Per Desk computer aimed at business, but as far as i know its only mass use was as the computer in every bingo hall in the country when the National Bingo Game was launched, it was used to print the call numbers and enter the winning ticket numbers

[@torspedia]

It still seems strange to see the first computers I've used in a museum... BBC Micro at primary school and a ZX Spectrum 48k (my first machine).

[@martinarscott3524]

Sold a pretty rare Acorn Atom with colour board addon some time back, the computer I learnt to write assembler on, still have a BBC model B with 5 1/4 inch floppy drive and an unused box of discs in the attic....

[@StephenButlerOne]

Fond memories of grannys garden on the BC in the 80s.

[@crcomments8509]

That’s nothing like my experience in the U.K. of computing in the classroom. My school had 2 Research Machines 380Z’, a 480z and one BBC Micro model B. That was it for two computing classes of over 30 pupils each.

[@jrd33]

I started an O level in Computer Science in the UK in 1980. Our school had one RML 380Z with a cassette tape drive. That was it. When I started an A level at a technical college two years later, we had a classroom of BBC micros, one per person, networked to a server with floppy disks. It was a time of rapid progress.

[@ThePolaroid669]

So easy from the USA. A trip to the UK from Sydney takes at least 22 hours each way. Very jealous! If I lived as close as you do, I'd be there monthly!