The BBC Master was introduced by Acorn Computers in 1986. It was a follow up to the highly popular BBC "Model B" computer from 1981, which was originally introduced by the British Broadcasting Corporation with Acorn to bring computing to the homes and schools of Britain. The Master Series was an instant success and around 200,000 units were sold, largely to schools. Production of the Master Series finished in 1993. The computer was of the combined keyboard / computer variety which was the "fashionable" standard amongst many 1980's computer manufacturers. Appearance wise it is very similar to the original Apple ][, only slightly more slimline.
A few specs: The processor was a 2MHz 65C102 unit which was an evolution of the original 6502. The original units shipped with 128KB of RAM, but some later models were available with 512KB.
The operating system was the command-based Acorn MOS which is an implementation of BASIC. The user had to learn a few BASIC commands to get anywhere and could write programs directly through the main startup screen. Other languages were also available and could be installed via ROM chips that could either be inserted directly into the motherboard, or through the two ROM cartridge slots in the computer's case. This allowed for a great amount of flexibility and thousands of programs and peripherals were made for the BBC. In addition to the OS, the Master Series came with a complete word processing application (VIEW), a spreadsheet application (VIEWSHEET), disc controllers (Disk Filing System and Advanced Disk Filing System) and a terminal emulator, all on ROM chips on the motherboard.
The Master Series cost £499, which was for the computer unit alone. However users could connect an ordinary cassette player for loading and saving programs, and could use a TV as a monitor so it was very much an "out of the box" system. Floppy disk drives and monitors were optional extras but at the time they were very expensive. Many schools bought boxey "Microvitec CUB" RGB monitors along with their BBCs, and also Cumana 5.25" disk drives. Many Master Series computers remained in everyday use until the mid to late 1990's when more up-to-date Windows and Macintosh systems took over the education market. However a few still remain in use today in schools, industrial sites and enthusiasts' homes. Reputedly some of the departure screen systems in UK train stations are still controlled by BBC Computers, along with the BBC's own aged "Teletext" system.
I personally own three BBC computers - two Masters and one Model B. For RetroChallenge I will be using my main Master, which was my first computer. I got it in early 2001 when I was still at high school. The school's technological studies department was throwing out a pile of computing equipment and among it were several Masters. I bagged myself one of them but I wish now that I had taken more as they have quite a high value on eBay these days. This was the start of my fascination with computers and it wasn't long before other old machines started piling up in my house...
This page was created entirely on a 68K Macintosh.
Comments / questions? E-mail twm5@st-andrews.ac.uk