The popular-in-the-UK, unknown-in-the-States microcomputer that
gave us the original space-trading sim Elite is 30 years old
tomorrow. If you’re a longtime gamer, you may fondly remember
the home computers of the ’80s and ’90s. In the States, you may
well have been using a machine by Commodore, Apple or Atari,
while Europe was dominated by the runaway success of Sinclair’s
Spectrum series. In 1981 in the UK, though, there was an
interesting development in home computer technology that came in
the form of the BBC Micro. Released by the Cambridge-based (and
now-defunct) Acorn Computers, the computer was designed for the
state-sponsored British Broadcasting Corporation’s Computer
Literacy Project, itself a response to a documentary series from
rival broadcaster ITV known as The Mighty Micro. Computing was
still in its infancy at this time, and The Mighty Micro
accurately predicted the upcoming revolution that computer
technology would have on the economy, industry and lifestyle of
not just the UK, but the whole