Date   : Sat, 23 Jul 2011 15:16:30 +0100 (BST)
From   : haroonnet2002@... (F. Haroon)
Subject: Risc PC (Was 'Minitel in France')

> ? ? ???-ve: We're becoming
> accustomed to crappy artefact-ridden pictures,
> ? ? ? ? ? ? and a scheduling
> nightmare.

I personally find the Web TV (wwitv.net ? Forgot URL I think) is sufficient
for me than bothering with boxes, subscriptions and being controlled by the
gov't and media corps.  Anyway...

> As for business model intransigence being its own demise, I
> wonder if 
> this is a trap Acorn fell into. They made the Archimedes...
> 
> Acorn made the grade, kicked ass, then stood by as the
> world took stock, 
> caught up, and flew by leaving a trail of dust. I guess it
> doesn't help 
> that American tech dictated to the world, but I think Acorn
> dropped the 
> ball. A lot.

True.  They did lose the plot with the Risc PC and I knew it then without 
ever having got an ARM machine although used enough of the Archies up to 
3.1 (premature ceasure of production?).  The RISC PC came with the PC clone 
keyboard and the early ones at least had no backwards compatibility.  Then 
they hyped Phoebe (RPC2) too early and lost the entire company including
the demand for its existing machines to it.  The company had Stan Boland
which decided to dismantle the ship completely rather than try to rescue it.

> We have a lot to be thankful for, RISC OS is still around,
> and the ARM 
> is doing quite fine. But I can't help wonder what might
> have been.

Better, faster and programmable machines that are the user's servants rather
than their masters (almost) and don't take an eon to start and shut down
leaving myself yearning for Linux and my hair grey.

Fiaz