Mark Fixes Stuff @markfixesstuff.com · Mar 10 If UK schools had standardised on a ZX Spectrum (or even a C64!) instead of the BBC Micro, how differently might the UK’s software industry have evolved? Would ARM have existed? #BBCMicro #RetroTech #80sComputing #Education
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With the educational sector being Acorns biggest income, it's not hard to imagine that without it, the company may not have survived. Even though the Electron was a half decent computer back then, it wasn't as competitive as others, and the BBC model B was out of the price range of most home users.
It's hard to imagine Acorn could have survived for very long with out the BBC/government contract. My view may be slightly skewed though as the area I grew up in, I don't know anyone who had an Acorn computer at home, we all had Spectrums, one person had a C64. It wasn't a rich area!
i don't think without the beeb and archimedes series being bought in massive numbers by schools arm would have gone anywhere it would just have been an interesting footnote remembered by a rew random brits and almost nobody else
The thing with the Beeb is that it had a great version of BASIC, and it was a strong all-rounder. Some savvy schools did have a Beeb and a couple of Speccys to save money when it made sense. Personally, I wish Acorn had made a cut down cheaper 100% compatible rather than the Electron.
Maybe not. Wouldn't have been Commodore. Probably not Sinclair as the speccy wasn't solid enough. Would almost certainly have been Research Machines and to an extent was. So we would have had a more staid and corporate world. More Oxford than Cambridge. I'm glad it was Acorn and Sophie is a genius