Oooh look kids, a BBC Micro... I had one of those...
Has been heard on more than one occation from a parent visiting the personal computing gallery....
This gallery, one of a new style at the museum, is certainly one of the favourites for visitors and also plays an important part in our educational visits by local schools and colleges. It also shows exactly what our aims are as a museum in having as many systems as possible on display, actally working and usable by visitors.
Gareth Mitchell from BBC's Digital Planet visits the new gallery
Below is just a flavour of what is being exhibited in this room.
The 'Beeb' made a home computer? no way!
Yes way.... Did you know that our very own BBC (yes that's the British Broadcasting Corporation) were a major computer manufacturer and supplier in the early 1980s?
Probably one of the most iconic home computers of the eighties, the BBC Micro found its way into the homes of over 1.5 million people by the time it ceased production in 1986. Starting out as an educational tool for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, it soon evolved into a popular games machine (Elite anyone), allowed you to build and control a wheeled mouse, to being a fully fledged doomsday laser disk archive system. It is also reported that as late as 2004, a BBC Micro was still being used to steer the 42ft radio telescope at Jodrell Bank.
It found more uses than probably any other system of its time and many a computer programmer of today started with BBC Basic, and dare I say, some still use it today.
Sinclair who?
That's Sir Clive Sinclair, an eminent inventor and entrepreneur of the 70s and 80s. Don't know what he did? Well, he was one of the first pioneers of the home computer business by designing and selling a computer for under £100 - the ZX80, he also designed the first electronic scientific calculators and the famous red led watch. He was also the designer of the infamous Sinclair C5 electric 'car', but the less said about that the better. We have a number of Sir Clive's inventions on display for you to play with (this does not include the C5 I'm afraid).
Amstrad (You can call me Sir Alan)
Another of those British success stories was Amstrad who introduced the first British designed and built IBM compatible(ish!) computer for under £500 - the Amstrad 1512 - in 1986. Unlike the IBM, the Amstrad was aimed at the home market rather than the office and when first released, could not make enough to satify supply. We have several Amstrad PCs on display and available to use.
And there's more.....
Yes, many more systems are on display for you to view and use, including a static display of systems from the rest of Europe and the USA.