Date   : Fri, 05 May 2006 13:02:26 +0100 (BST)
From   : BBC Micro <b_b_c_m_i_c_r_o@...>
Subject: Re: [Off-Topic] Acorn Reborn!

The only real thing here in common with the old Acorn
is the name and logo, a bit like what happened with
either Commodore or Atari, in that case the company
survived just to produce T-shirts with the company
logo!


--- Austin Pass
<austinpass.bbc@...> wrote:

> Apologies for the non-BBC 8-bit posting, but I
> thought that it might be of
> interest to some on the list nevertheless:
> 
>
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/05/05/acorn_computers_reborn/
> 
> The link contents for those reading on non graphical
> systems:
> 
> That one-time pioneer of British home computing
> Acorn is to sprout once
> again. The creator of the Atom, Electron, Archimedes
> and BBC Micro machines,
> of the ARM chip company and of the RISC OS is to be
> revived next week as a
> purveyor of notebook PCs.
> 
> The company's refusing to say anything about the
> motivation behind the
> revival, or who's spearheading the move, until it's
> formally launched on 10
> May. It has said it will offer four notebooks: the
> 12.1in Solo Note, 14.1in
> Solo Book, 15.4in Desk Note and 17in Desk Book, all
> equipped with WXGA
> displays, run Windows XP and will bundle Sun's Star
> Office.
> 
> Acorn said it would pitch the machines at home
> users, education buyers,
> small businesses and public sector purchasers. Its
> launch next week will be
> accompanied by a reseller recruitment drive.
> 
> Family tree
> 
> The original Acorn was founded in 1978 by Herman
> Hauser and Chris Curry. It
> went on to launch five incarnations of its System
> machine before debuting
> the Atom in 1980. A year later it launched the BBC
> Micro Models A and B, the
> latter one of the most popular home computers of the
> era.
> 
> In 1984, the now saturated home computer market
> crashed leaving many
> manufacturers, Acorn one of them, left with massive
> stocks built up in the
> anticipating of higher-than-ever sales. Acorn
> survived in part by striking a
> deal with Olivetti, a move that allowed it to look
> beyond the home to the
> education market, where it had already proved a
> strong player.
> 
> The Archimedes followed in 1987 on the back of the
> in-house development of a
> groundbreaking new chip based on RISC technology. In
> 1991, the chip division
> was spun off as ARM - originally Acorn Risc Machines
> - and continues to
> prosper today. Acorn, meanwhile, continued to offer
> ARM-based machines using
> its home-brewed RISC OS, but it dropped out of the
> hardware business in
> 1998. A year later, Acorn spun off its DSP chip
> business as Element 14
> before being acquired by Broadcom two years later. ®
> 
> 
> Kind regards,
> Austin.
> 
> 
> 



               
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