The history of Acorn Computers is both a mirror of the history of the micro industry in Britain, and, through its continued survival, a testament to the ability and vision of its founders. But like other small computer companies which sprang to life in the boom years of the early Eighties, Acorn has known both success and failure. To understand the way in which Acorn differed from other companies, you must delve into its origins in the late 1970s. Acorn was born from the enthusiasm of a group of students and researchers from Cambridge Universitys many laboratories. Bored researchers waste plenty of time on obsessive and arcane hobbies. In the late Seventies, the hobby was building a home computer from the various kits and components that had just become available. Building your own computer required a diversity of skills from designing hardware and physically building the device to writing an operating system and applications software to run within the tiny memory then available. It was already obvious that Cambridge was to become a centre of whatever computer industry Britain would have. Sir Clive Sinclairs companies were busy producing calculators, and by 1977 had put together a computer kit, the MK14. Sinclairs marketing man, Chris Curry, saw opportunities for further development of the product and discussed them with his friend, physics researcher Hermann Hauser. Hauser had helped with the MK14 and his interest in selling computers had grown as his research project had reached completion. Numerous knowledgeable computer hobbyists were on hand to provide advice and Hauser sought their help frequently. The opportunities were too good to miss and in 1978 Hauser and Curry formed Cambridge Processor Unit. CPU worked in a room borrowed from Science of Cambridge, Sinclairs company that Curry helped run, and it provided computer consultancy services to finance its hardware development.

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