The computer industry is full of noble failures. Big ones. Little ones. Ideas that were 10 years too early. Ideas that were 15 years too early. Ideas that were 30 years too early. And concepts that, while fundamental to the way that our computing culture works today, hadn’t yet reached their full potential. Though certainly successful in its early years, the ARM processor very much fits in the latter category. Today, variants of these processors are in just about everything, from tiny computers, to smartphones, to video game consoles, to television sets, and even some servers. But the company that initially forged the processor is almost forgotten at this point, seemingly lost to history (especially outside of Europe) despite being an early icon of British computing. Tonight’s Tedium ponders the story of Acorn Computers, the long-departed company whose best idea is probably in the device you’re using to read this.
This introduction is basically clickbait specifically designed for OSNews readers. Well done.
There’s a great movie that dramatizes of the founding of Acorn and clashes with Sinclair:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXBxV6-zamM
Highly entertaining watching for anyone interested in this kind of thing.
Yes, but the Tory attacks and chipping away at its funding will mean the BBC will finally be forgotten and lost to history.
Oh, they meant ARM Holdings. They got bought out by Softbank.