BBC Micro

[English Invader]

I recently bought a model B. I've added a Turbo MMC micro-SD card interface and had the internal PSU recapped. The main thing that strikes me about the system so far is how open and accessible everything is. Most systems aim to deter the end user from going inside but with the Beeb most of the accessories and upgrades involve a socketed ROM chip so you can't really get away from learning more about the system and once you know your way around there, you're hooked.

And this system has the kind of Basic language that can really do something with the system. The presentation arcade ports of Space Invaders and Breakout are commercial Atari 2600 quality and these are games that were intended to show new users what they could do with Basic. The VIC-20 had Blue Meanies and Maths Maze and you really have to know your craft before you can make fast arcade games for the VIC.

And like the VIC, the Beeb also has some impressive unofficial arcade ports. The pick of the bunch so far is Deathstar which is a port of Sinistar which not many systems got. It even has the in-game speech if you have the speech synthesiser upgrade chips (which I have just purchased).

And that's the thing about the Beeb. It draws these things to your attention and presents them in a way that makes you want to get the most out of them. The speech ROMs come with quite extensive documentation and I want to use them as a tool as much as I want to see the games that take advantage of the speech feature.

Any fellow Beeb users here?

[beamrider]

I remember it from school. It's a capable machine with a faster CPU than the Vic, better graphics and Basic. The acornsoft arcade ports where very good indeed.

[Kweepa]

Love the BEEB!
Got into BBC BASIC programming again recently thanks to the @bbcmicrobot twitter account.

[orion70]

Now THIS is incredible! Best advertising for an underdog of the time (at least here in Italy). Wonder why it didn't spread more all over the world.

[English Invader]

Now THIS is incredible! Best advertising for an underdog of the time (at least here in Italy). Wonder why it didn't spread more all over the world.

Acorn did get very big in the UK thanks to the BBC contract and their subsequent reputation for educational systems but they were hampered by their rivalry with Sinclair and instead of working together to become the British IBM they tried to move in on each other's markets and failed miserably. The BBC docudrama Micro Men tells the story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXBxV6-zamM

The BBC TV serials that the Beeb was made for are also available on YT:

The Computer Programme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtMWEiCdsfc

Making the Most of the Micro:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4q0u6LoHyA

Micro Live:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhhFuiEQlFo

I particularly recommend this video clip about a man with cerebral palsy who invented predictive texting and home automation before they were a thing:

Richard Gomm:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqKlZMQI3Tw

[tokra]

Boing Ball in one screen of BBC BASIC

Astonishing! Now for comparison do a VIC-20-version with Minigrafik please, before Mike beats you to it

[chysn]

Now THIS is incredible! Best advertising for an underdog of the time (at least here in Italy). Wonder why it didn't spread more all over the world.

Here in the U.S.A., I never even heard of the BBC Micro. I wasn't entirely Commodore-obsessed as a kid, and had some hours in on most of the common 8-bit platforms available locally, owned by friends (TI-99/4A, TRS-80 COCO, Atari 600XL, Ohio Scientific Challenger 1P, Apple II). The BBC Micro was apparently pivotal and groundbreaking, but never made it to the U.S. press, marketing space, or schools.

Even when I went to Europe in the early 90s, the kids had Commodore 64Cs or Amiga 500s, and I was never exposed to a BBC Micro. I wish I had been, because it sounds cool.

[beamrider]

I think the reason it didn't gain more traction in the UK was just down to price. The Model B (which seemed to be the preferred model and target by much software) was £400 when Commodore and Sinclair machines were sub £200.

[Mike]

The people at Acorn also had no clue about advertising. They more or less relied upon the vertical market, being the main supplier for school IT equipment in the UK, in the 80ies and early 90ies, and hadn't any plans about expanding their market. This misconception continued even as they progressed to the Archimedes and RiscPC machines, which ultimately led to their demise.

That being said, a good deal of my programs for the VIC-20 have been built with the in-line assembler of BBC BASIC, so I know my stuff.

[Noizer]

... I wish I had been, because it sounds cool.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Acorn-BBC-B-Mi ... Sw0z9ddm6B

What has not been can still become something, maybe

[chysn]

... I wish I had been, because it sounds cool.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Acorn-BBC-B-Mi ... Sw0z9ddm6B

What has not been can still become something, maybe

Oh, yeah, Elite originated on the BBC Micro, didn't it? I used to play Elite II on my Amiga. It was super-hard (I could only land on planets with auto-pilot), but I had a good time with it.

[Noizer]

..That being said, a good deal of my programs for the VIC-20 have been built with the in-line assembler of BBC BASIC, so I know my stuff.

You own a BBC system? How is it?

[English Invader]

You own a BBC system? How is it?

There are plenty of videos on YT that show both the model B and the Master 128 in action with all the various accessories that are up for grabs. There are lots of cool things like a RAM expansion to double your 32k which goes underneath the Basic ROM chip (it's called Sideways RAM) and a Raspberry Pi based co-processor that goes in the Tube port.

It definitely seems like Acorn failed to market the system's full potential and the features that made it worth the extra money. The Commodore community would have loved the expansion opportunities that are available on both the Micro and the Master. Acorn appear to have relied on the BBC to do their marketing for them which fated them to the educational market. The Computer Programme and Making the Most of the Micro were never going to appeal to hobbyists as they already knew everything those programmes had to offer.

[Noizer]

You own a BBC system? How is it?

There are plenty of videos on YT that show both the model B and the Master 128 in action with all the various accessories that are ...

Of course, are there. I meant „how is it“ from a real point of view, as user

[English Invader]

Of course, are there. I meant „how is it“ from a real point of view, as user

It's still early days for me but so far I love it. The keyboard feels much the same as the VIC-20 one. The other thing of note is that the sound comes from an internal speaker with no volume adjustment instead of through the TV so not the sort of thing you can use at 3 in the morning if you have neighbours/housemates/family to consider.