Hauser, Wilson and Furber: Acorn trio reunite for BBC Micro anniversary Q&A

Acorn Computers in 1981 convinced the BBC to use its then-unbuilt BBC Micro to drive the broadcaster’s national campaign for computer literacy.
The BBC Micro would go on to dominate schools, prove a smash hit with adults and change the lives of millions - in the UK and abroad. Not bad for a technology start up from Cambridge that had little experience of building commercial computers.
The National Museum of Computing re-united three of the key actors involved in this remarkable story on BBC Micro’s 40th birthday.
Watch our Q&A with Acorn co-founder Hermann Hauser and technology architects Sophie Wilson and Steve Furber, where they tackle:
- Acorn management’s decision to seize the initiative and chase the prestigious BBC computer contract.
- The challenges faced when building a convincing prototype in five days and shipping in less than a year!
- The fierce competitive pressures from rivals including Sir Clive Sinclair and Apple.
- The engineering chemistry that saw Team Acorn overcome technological difficulties, taking on the industry’s biggest names.
- The road to ARM, an architecture that would dominate mobile computing decades later.
Recorded 30th November 2021.
Teletext artwork (cake with candles): thanks to @horsenburger (Twitter).

[@ukwebb]

A superb event, a great insight into the real events that lead up to the BBC micro's birth, and the events afterwards. Thank you TNMOC

[@pic101]

What a wonderful interview. These people are all superstars. Thank you all. You changed my life. Many, many others’ too. You will never know how much I loved my BBC B and Cumana disk drive and how much I learned from it. It was like magic. Still is. ❤

[@tnmoc]

Glad to see there is still so much love for the Beeb. Boo bip. ;)

[@acme181169]

I did a short stint, working for hp in 86/87 and the only place you couldn't smoke was in the operation room where the hp3000's were sited. Working in a technical role, I had access to every room in the very large building.

[@ScoopexUs]

Great stuff! I knew most of it already before Micro Men. My first computer was an imported Acorn Atom, the BBC well it or its rumors didn't seem to spread outside the UK border. Later I bought an imported A3000, and a RISC PC. I loved programming early ARM CPUs in Assembler, it was such a logical design compared to the wish-list CISC CPUs. I still bring both of them out from time to time.

[@AndyMcClements]

Thanks all !

[@QwertyQwerty-bd3tm]

It is just amazing that they can talk and laugh with each other. Usually in tech, team member throws everyone under the bus for more money.

[@karltraunmuller7048]

Like the relaxed setting, and so interesting to learn about this piece of history 👏🏻

[@GeorgeStyles]

Awesome video. Much respect to that lot. Watching on an arm powered TV, via an arm powered Chromecast, from an arm powered phone.

[@jporritt]

Imagine having an even more important Zoom call than a 40 year retrospective into a groundbreaking technology!

[@DaveGWIS]

Excellent. Entertaining and educational. Thank you. Make ARM the next topic please.

[@tonygibbs9339]

Brilliant talk. BBC model B was my first computer, back in 1982. 🙂

[@tomkinsg]

Thank you TNMOC and Gavin, I was delighted to be able to attend this event last year. It has peeked my interest in the BBC Micro again. I've got my boyhood machine out of the attic and have had it restored by a friend. I will be back in the UK for Easter and have planned to make a visit to the TNMOC whilst I am there.

[@tnmoc]

Thanks Glyn and we we look forward to seeing you soon at TNMOC.

[@Dangerousdaze]

Sophie Wilson is Godess-like for her BBC BASIC. The first time I saw DEF PROC/ENDPROC I was hooked.

[@urinater]

Acorn Computers PCB Designer: Nick Toop

[@ChrisChatfield]

I thought it was the Archimedes that was supposedly ‘made from riot shield material’? Or the Master? (I know I had to buy a ‘bridge’ to support my monitor for my Series 4 model B.)

[@xyzzy3000]

It was the RiscPC that was supposed to be made from riot shield plastic. It was mentioned in the Acorn Computing issue that covered the launch.

[@xyzzy3000]

Just to add - the Archimedes has a metal case, with a plastic bit at the front.

[@LawnMowersThingsThatMakeNoise]

I love Sophie !!! She talks computer She is a computer

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

I wonder what the BBC MODEL B would have been like if it had a TMS99105A for it's CPU with an on chip FPU and 128KB of RAM would most likely made for a much more able BBC MODEL B.

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

Why did you not take a leaf out of Olivetti's book and put the BBC Model's electronics into the back of the desk like the OLIVETTI BCS3030

[@ukwebb]

Wasn't the master compact Olivetti's design anyway? So you asking why Olivetti didn't take a leaf out of Olivetti's book!! Lol

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

@@ukwebb sorry didn't know about that.

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

Why didn't you not have some sore of cooler to keep the ULA cool.

[@jonathanstein6056]

Where’s Chris???

[@peter486]

what the heck happend to Uk´s tech idustri .

[@letsburn00]

ARM is one of the most extremely profitable and dominant companies in the industry. Manufacturing effectively ended up having to compete with countries where the workers don't get paid well and need to work 60 hours a week.