Why is there a golden BBC Micro in the Science Museum?

[@TheRealRobG]

Great video. I actually searched for information on what happened to that gold micro, having seen it in that magazine at the time. I did a DIY separation of my keyboard from my BBC, putting it in a slim aluminium and wood case, so I could work with it sat on my lap. It was much nicer using a lower profile keyboard. I actually still have the reel of RS components ribbon cable I used to connect them. Bizarrely enough, 40 years later, you can still buy exactly the same reel of ribbon cable from them with the exact same product code - how mad is that?

[@ColinHoad]

Thank you! Loving the sound of your "custom Viglen" mod, very innovative 😀

[@DKTronics70]

That magazine question was possibly one of THE best competition questions in any magazine of the time. Really creative. I would loved to have known many of the answers, and then to actually look at some magazines from March 1988 to see how many of the answers actually got close, or even spot on. I wonder if the staff from Micro User, assuming they were still there, or the magazine was still going, ever followed up on those questions 3 years later ?

[@ColinHoad]

Ooh, you've given me an idea for a spin-off video there - I'll have to have a rummage through my 1988 Micro Users and see! 😄

[@DKTronics70]

@@ColinHoad Look forward to that video.

[@GrantMeStrength]

Looking at the magazine sent me on a rabbit hole journey - I used to work for Database Publications, who operated out of Europa House on the Chester Road near Stockport. Their copy-and-paste (literally - it was done with making film images from paper) magazine design was a giveaway that The Micro User was from the same publishers. I couldn't find Europa House on google maps, I wonder if it was demolished..

[@ColinHoad]

I'm pretty sure it's no longer there, sadly. I think Kevin Edwards, another Micro User writer, mentioned on Twitter that the building had since been knocked down 😔

[@GrantMeStrength]

@@ColinHoad Aww. The mischief that went on there. There was a twin building, Io? I think, that was empty. Inside it I found a floppy disk duplication machine. And I set up my Scalextric set too :-)

[@ColinHoad]

@@GrantMeStrength Were you around when Let's Compute was being published? That was another Database Publications magazine, and one I was very fond of at the time. It sadly only ran for 12 issues, though!

[@GrantMeStrength]

@@ColinHoad I was - I was busy working on Amiga Computer magazine at the time.

[@vanhetgoor]

I was told by one of the curators of a computer museum that it is better for the electronics that computers are switched on regularly. The capacitors stay longer healthy if the machine is being used so now and then. If a computer is not being used for a long time and then switched on it could have been deteriorated.

[@ColinHoad]

Yes, I have heard similar comments from Beeb renovators - keep your Beeb in active use to ensure it stays ticking over healthily :)

[@gamingchinchilla7323]

a bit off topic, but wasn't there also a golden Nintendo Wii console given to the Queen that also got put into a museum? Golden consoles and the people who owned them. What an exciting topic indeed!

[@ColinHoad]

There was, yes - although the Palace rejected the gift and it eventually wound up on ebay, where it sold for $36k to a private buyer...

[@mrelectronicsdude]

Really good story! Thanks for putting it together for us to watch.

[@ColinHoad]

Thank you, you're very welcome!

[@naysmith5272]

lol - are there any pictures of the mystery of and upgrades inside of the main case to see the upgrades. The winner should have burnt and inserted an eprom that had contents of "In the year 2025, I predict that....UNREADABLE DATA..."

[@ColinHoad]

I've not personally seen inside it, unfortunately, so I can't comment on what upgrades it may or may not have! I do like the idea of a jokey eprom, though 😆

[@huenyungtang]

Thank Colin, for that interesting video. My family and I were there Friday afternoon, and came across it and wondered about its history, so thanks! There is an ordinary Beeb elsewhere in the museum in the 'BBC at 100' display...

[@ColinHoad]

You're very welcome, Paul - thank you for the feedback! Yes, I found that Beeb, along with the second 6502 processor unit 😀

[@huenyungtang]

@@ColinHoad I forgot to ask - how did you manage to film the clips in the Science Museum? I didn't see anyone else in the clips? Did you rush upstairs at 10am before the screaming and roaming kids invaded the area? 😀

[@ColinHoad]

@@huenyungtang Haha that is quite literally what I did! I arrived at 9:30am outside and joined the (at that point small) queue and then as soon as I got in, I went straight up to the Information Age and managed to have it to myself for a good 20 minutes or so... thankfully it wasn't as popular as the Space Age section, which was absolutely heaving when I came downstairs afterwards 😂😂

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Fabulous story and lovely video Colin.

[@ColinHoad]

Thank you very much! 😀

[@ngbarnes]

The PC style cases were also produced for the Master by both Viglen and Oak, and continued to be advertised into 1987-88. Oak even based their own Mentor series on a Master in their case complete with floppy drives and monitor.

[@ColinHoad]

Thanks for this extra info! I must admit, I've not seen a Viglen / Oak style Master before, only the Micro. I think Acorn themselves flirted with the idea, based on the photos I've seen of their proposed 'ABC' (Acorn Business Computer) which never quite got off the ground... but it was very much in the style of a PC in terms of the casing.

[@petergreen7596]

Acorn also produced the master compact which had the main guts of the computer crammes into a keyboard sized case, with disk drive and power supply in the basee unit.

[@paulhoad9548]

Excellent, very interesting. Great video.

[@ColinHoad]

Thanks, Dad! 😁

[@markg5897]

wonderful video, a really great watch, highly recommended.

[@ColinHoad]

Thank you, Mark, that's really kind - very pleased you enjoyed it!

[@MultiMidden]

17:00 you could at least have mentioned what Robert Smith was doing BBC-wise to be worthy of an appearance in Micro User...

[@ColinHoad]

Haha! 😂

[@timmatthews773]

Ahhhh Sara Scott-Rivers - a teletext legend! And splendid hair to boot :-)

[@johnrodgers2018]

I remember that article! I also remember that it was on display back in the Brent cross WHSmiths , I actually had a go on it. So maybe that answers your question about why it took so long between announcing the competition and the award. They were hoping people would see it and want one, Two things I remember about it was that I thought it was a really dumb idea and that it was all scuffed and scratched from being on display, ut looked like crap so I hope they gave it a good polish before they awarded it. As much as I loved my BBC b , I had no interest in owning a gold plated one. Looking back though I'm glad it ended up in the museum. Great video that brought back a lot of memories, thanks

[@ColinHoad]

Wow, so you've actually touched the golden Beeb! That's a claim to fame right there 😄 Thank you for sharing your memories of it and your kind feedback 👍

[@mattmyers9351]

Great video Colin!

[@ColinHoad]

Thank you, Matt! 😀

[@willowZzzzzz]

I really enjoyed the video, thank you. (Icarus fan, huh?)

[@ColinHoad]

Thank you for the kind feedback 😀 I really like the Icarus title theme, but I must confess it isn't a game I know well. I discovered it via charge_negative's Beeb music player 😅

[@LJ45Chimera]

Very interesting video. Thanks :)

[@ColinHoad]

Thank you, I'm pleased you liked it! And thanks for subscribing 😀

[@8-bitbitsa821]

I wonder if David McCleod the Architect is still around, still has any interest in computing ? Perhaps he’ll see this and clue you in further ? 😉

[@ColinHoad]

I did try hunting him down on LinkedIn, but to no avail! It would be wonderful if he did ever accidentally stumble across my video and filled in the missing pieces 😀

[@robinhodson9890]

Oh: So there's two golden Beebs. The other one was made as a cheap publicity stunt, by someone I don't get on with in business, who got his signed by the original Acorn team, at their 30th Anniversary celebration. I think he raffled it off afterwards. This one looks better-made.

[@ColinHoad]

I had no idea this other golden Beeb existed, I thought it was just this one! I wonder what became of the signed, auctioned version?

[@retropalooza]

It was goldmembers

[@ColinHoad]

No unfortunate smelting accidents took place during the making of this video 🙃

[@retropalooza]

@@ColinHoad get in me belly ya wee baby