Comments on: Why The BBC Micro Was So Great http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2008/03/20/why-the-bbc-micro-was-so-great/ Simon Brocklehurst's Technology Blog Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:34:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: rich scales http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2008/03/20/why-the-bbc-micro-was-so-great/#comment-465858 rich scales Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:49:17 +0000 http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2008/03/20/why-the-bbc-micro-was-so-great/#comment-465858 I never actually owned a beeb but I used them at school, I actually owned a dragon (32) which I believed to be FAR superior to the spectrum (I agree, felt like a toy) I learned BASIC on the dragon. I never actually owned a beeb but I used them at school, I actually owned a dragon (32) which I believed to be FAR superior to the spectrum (I agree, felt like a toy) I learned BASIC on the dragon.

]]> By: BBC Acorn http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2008/03/20/why-the-bbc-micro-was-so-great/#comment-367465 BBC Acorn Sun, 11 May 2008 20:46:30 +0000 http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2008/03/20/why-the-bbc-micro-was-so-great/#comment-367465 <strong>Hubs of Why The BBC Micro Was So Great...</strong> hubs about BBC Acorn to Today, the creators of the BBC Micro are re-uniting at the Science Museum in London, to discuss its legacy (see the story at the BBC). The BBC Micro was a fabulous home computer, and was really important for me, as I was teachin... Hubs of Why The BBC Micro Was So Great…

hubs about BBC Acorn to Today, the creators of the BBC Micro are re-uniting at the Science Museum in London, to discuss its legacy (see the story at the BBC). The BBC Micro was a fabulous home computer, and was really important for me, as I was teachin…

]]> By: Adrianh Howard http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2008/03/20/why-the-bbc-micro-was-so-great/#comment-306193 Adrianh Howard Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:19:23 +0000 http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2008/03/20/why-the-bbc-micro-was-so-great/#comment-306193 Sigh. Second computer for me (after my beloved Spectrum). Lovely piece of kit. One thing you didn't mention was the built in analogue to digital converter. Which mean you could easily plug your home made electronic garbage into it. What larks! The expert system shell I wrote on my trust been was better than my degree project :-) Sigh. Second computer for me (after my beloved Spectrum). Lovely piece of kit.

One thing you didn’t mention was the built in analogue to digital converter. Which mean you could easily plug your home made electronic garbage into it. What larks!

The expert system shell I wrote on my trust been was better than my degree project :-)

]]> By: simon http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2008/03/20/why-the-bbc-micro-was-so-great/#comment-300929 simon Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:29:57 +0000 http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2008/03/20/why-the-bbc-micro-was-so-great/#comment-300929 The ZX81 was a big step forward from the ZX80, I have to say. I vividly remember when the ZX81 was announced, and looking at the ads in magazines thinking how cool it was. As for the BBC getting involved in a new project... Clearly, it would need to be updated. And clearly, the home computing revolution has already happened. But, while PCs have moved on, the BBC could definitely do something major in a related field such as robotics... involving everthing from engineering (different types of motors, belts, pulleys, pneumatics, different types of sensors etc) through electronics (motor control boards, and microcontrollers for responding to sensor inputs) up to writing all the software to control the robots and making them do cool stuff. In many ways, that would be even more ambitious than the home microcomputing project - a more diverse set of skills needed. It could spark some amazing advances in robotics and science and engineering in general in future years. I'm not sure why the BBC couldn't do something like this today, and get schools involved... They still have the capability to do amazing things that could influence a large fraction of the population. The ZX81 was a big step forward from the ZX80, I have to say. I vividly remember when the ZX81 was announced, and looking at the ads in magazines thinking how cool it was.

As for the BBC getting involved in a new project… Clearly, it would need to be updated. And clearly, the home computing revolution has already happened. But, while PCs have moved on, the BBC could definitely do something major in a related field such as robotics… involving everthing from engineering (different types of motors, belts, pulleys, pneumatics, different types of sensors etc) through electronics (motor control boards, and microcontrollers for responding to sensor inputs) up to writing all the software to control the robots and making them do cool stuff.

In many ways, that would be even more ambitious than the home microcomputing project - a more diverse set of skills needed. It could spark some amazing advances in robotics and science and engineering in general in future years.

I’m not sure why the BBC couldn’t do something like this today, and get schools involved… They still have the capability to do amazing things that could influence a large fraction of the population.

]]> By: Asam Bashir http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2008/03/20/why-the-bbc-micro-was-so-great/#comment-300825 Asam Bashir Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:05:20 +0000 http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2008/03/20/why-the-bbc-micro-was-so-great/#comment-300825 Wasn't so lucky to get a BBC Micro, cost a fortune in those days, had to settle for a ZX 81 and then C64 :) Did use BBC Micro at school though. That was a different time, there was no one else around with a computer, you had to open up the manual and code yourself. Remember fondly Input magazine, and designing sprites on graphing paper. Kids these days are just not interested in reading any manuals, computing is just a black-box for them, no real understanding of code and how it's processed by the different components, no need to learn. Maybe it's different in the third-world, thought the OLPC project could inspire a new generation of geeks, time will tell. You are kidding of course to suggest the BBC gets involved in home computing again? It's a different BBC, in a different age... Wasn’t so lucky to get a BBC Micro, cost a fortune in those days, had to settle for a ZX 81 and then C64 :) Did use BBC Micro at school though.

That was a different time, there was no one else around with a computer, you had to open up the manual and code yourself. Remember fondly Input magazine, and designing sprites on graphing paper.

Kids these days are just not interested in reading any manuals, computing is just a black-box for them, no real understanding of code and how it’s processed by the different components, no need to learn.

Maybe it’s different in the third-world, thought the OLPC project could inspire a new generation of geeks, time will tell.

You are kidding of course to suggest the BBC gets involved in home computing again? It’s a different BBC, in a different age…

]]>