Oral History of Hermann Hauser

Interviewed by Gardner Hendrie, on June 20, 2014 in Cambridge, United Kingdom, X7214.2014
© Computer History Museum
Hermann Hauser was born in Austria, but received a PhD in physics from Kings College, Cambridge University. As he was finishing his degree, through social contacts he met some one interested in starting a company, and with that Hermann’s entrepreneurial career was launched. They started by building slot machines (for gambling) and eventually personal computers. The company was Acorn Computers.
Acorn later grew quite large after it won the contract to build the BBC Computer. This was based on the 6502 microprocessor. When it came time to upgrade to processor in this machine, they couldn’t find anything which fit the bill, so they designed their own microprocessor-the ARM. After its spinout from Acorn, this processor became the largest selling processor in the world.
Acorn was eventually taken over by Olivetti, and Mr. Hauser became the vice president of Olivetti’s worldwide research organization in 1986. In 1990, he returned to his entrepreneurial roots and helped start several companies in both electronics and biotech, most of which were quite successful.
Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - www.computerhis...
Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/ for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.
Catalog Number: 102739950
Lot Number: X7214.2014

[@TheSecretVault]

noise and stomach gurgles made it a legendary interview.... lol

[@brane2379]

I was just about to ask, has crew just sh*t themselves ?

[@fritzkuhne2055]

i almost died laughtin xD HILARIOUS

[@davidjoelsen3399]

It was my second computer while the first one was a Texas TI57 calculator with 50 programming steps. I loved my Acorn Atom. With it made a lot of interesting tasks. My very best and warmest regards to the entire Atom team!

[@Tim_Small]

The BBC documentary referenced at 1:04:10 was "Now The Chips Are Down" made in 1977 by the BBC's long-running "Horizon" Science and Technology documentary series (later some Horizon programs were made in cooperation with and or broadcast by PBS Nova). It can be found on KZbin and is indeed an amazingly prescient and fascinating program to watch. As someone who worked briefly in Santa Clara and the UK in the semiconductor equipment industry, just watching the 70s chip fabs is fascinating.

[@GodmanchesterGoblin]

I had the privilege of meeting Hermann Hauser around 2004 or so. This interview captured him perfectly, but also taught me so much more that I did not know about the foundations of Acorn and ARM. Thank you..

[@kentonevans]

Good to know Mr Hauser is such as affable chap. This wasn't my first experience of him, though! I remember meeting Mr Hauser (I think in 1980, when I was 14). It was Christmas, and I'd saved up many birthdays and Christmas presents to finally get an Acorn Atom, which I unwrapped straight away, probably on the 23rd December. It worked, but only for about 5 minutes! Unacceptable!! Even in those days, it was obvious to me that it was a cooling issue, so I removed the cover to confirm, which allowed it to operate for a bit longer. I took it to the Acorn offices (I don't remember it being Cambridge, but I suppose it must have been), told them about the machine, and waited in reception for ages. Finally, Hauser came in, and the girl told him about me. He was furious! I don't know exactly why, but some kid showing up in the middle of the most hectic time of the year for supply/sales may have had something to do with it. I remember being given a brand new replacement, and feeling like I left on the end on Mr Hauser's boot (though it was almost certainly not like that at all), but with a huge smile. Then again, I was really just thinking "I hope this one works... " It didn't. It had pretty much the same problem. Back I went to Cambridge, on Christmas eve. "I want my money back!" More waiting - must have been two hours. Hauser arrives in dark mood. It can't have been pleasant to have this verdict delivered on the quality of shipped units at the time of highest sales volume, I suppose. He does the right thing, though - cheque is written, kid leaves. Looking back at the way the industry was in those days, it's impressive that things worked as well as they did - top-down design requires thousands of good decisions and no significant mistakes, ending in a single test by flipping a switch. These days, even incremental development is often less successful than those Cambridge companies were able to achieve with brand new machines. Good times, and I'm glad Hauser and Curry remember them foldly.

[@EnglishBob256]

Absolutely fascinating. Thank you so much for recording all Herman's stories for posterity.

[@brucehauser6826]

What a brain, businessman and gentleman. I’d love to see a follow up to Micro Men based in n what he did after Acorn, it sounds like quite a story!

[@jucieandrade8573]

Fantastic story. Worth each minute. I loved it. Thanks.

[@0cgw]

That was a fascinating interview. It looks like this was recorded at Hughes Hall in Cambridge (specifically the Peter Richard's room), where Hermann is an honorary fellow (and where I hold a fellowship in mathematics).

[@RayR]

Great interview. Hermann is interesting and likeable and knows how to tell a story.

[@GraphicalRanger]

Good interview, very interesting.... I like how they portrayed him in MicroMen too. Thanks

[@KarlUKmidlands]

Yea, love the part where the actor who plays steve furber shows him how to make tea properly using three bags in the pot :)

[@PutItAway101]

Have you ever tried Austrian wine? LOL

[@kianvaziri6939]

longest stumbled upon time commit yet! that hermann is just so flipping charming

[@Tim_Small]

Also worth watching is the Steve Furber KZbin interview by Charbax.

[@brianx2405]

lol, can anyone else hear the microphone picking up someone's stomach churning? hehehe..

[@markyoung01maccom]

Totally was hilarious

[@jacobbierman4514]

whos the other guy? 4:00

[@parrotraiser6541]

Great interview, marred by someone frying bacon in the background. It's interesting how much the British computer industry owes to gambling machinery; the SUSIE machine was preceded by BETSIE, a device created for bookmakers.

[@Kainlarsen]

Someone sounds like they skipped breakfast. :D

[@cosmicbroly]

i woke up and saw the first second of this video and thought my computer was broken and displaying my information, because my last name is Heidemann, it looks like Hermann

[@Wok_Agenda]

Commandant Lassard invented the ARM ? WOW!!!

[@thomasliew8283]

What a surprise to hear Professor Jacob Israelachvili mentioned at 17.45

[@jonathanstein6056]

Is that someone’s stomach at about 6 minutes?

[@cpcnw]

"That's where I found out the genius of Sophie Wilson" 41:48

[@yerwot2937]

Clever as he is -he should know better than to have eaten a particularly hot curry before embarking upon this interview.

[@EliotMcLellan]

A monster..

[@4lpha0ne]

The background sound is just one of the mics being a bit displaced and touching the surface of some clothes plus being placed a bit too low. I'm sure that nowadays this could be removed easily using some deep learning based voice processing.

[@qo92]

Is that Hermann doing an impression of Sophie at 1:38:38?

[@cowboyfimbop]

65536 Great testimony from british computing.

[@G7VFY]

Acorn Electron seems to be forgotten.

[@brucehauser6826]

Rightly, it was a mistake that (nearly) brought Acorn to closure, it was a good idea had it been delivered on time, which it wasn’t. Warehousing full of unsold Elks screwed them royally, hindsight is a wonderful thing though…. Great to think Acorn lives on to this day via the ARM…

[@G7VFY]

@@brucehauser6826 I was not happy about the sell-off. British innovation being sold off. And without PROPER computer science being taught in most schools, will ever see another success like ACORN and ARM being created in the UK again?

[@JonnyInfinite]

Never mind Arm, this is more like Belly!

[@michaelturner4457]

Someone must have been hungry during this interview, can hear their stomach gurgling.

[@elguinolo7358]

What's that sound in the background ? A farting cat ?

[@SparkyLabs]

yea, shame, many of the old computer interviews are ruined by the interviewer or technical issues that are the fault of the interviewer.

[@Jonathansyoutube]

Very 16384 indeed

[@mrmarmellow555]

YES GO #TIROL GO LECH TOWN ❣️🇦🇹🇦🇺

[@monlynx]

Intel said "Get lost" :-)

[@brane2379]

Has crew just sh*t themselves ?

[@caparn100]

4:00 sounds like someone's stomach. Disgusting!

[@JonnyInfinite]

6:21 is worse 😖

[@caparn100]

@@JonnyInfinite lol

[@davejones1621]

Poor guy lost millions, poor guy.

[@coolvideos8864]

lol stomach noises

[@universal70]

Machine learning so like Ai

[@universal70]

I thought his family's business was making Austrian wine?

[@No-lc1hn]

All the yummy rumbling sounds at the start 🤢

[@Theineluctable_SOME_CANT]

Who is this strange nobody?