2 HN users recommended this interview2 months2020–2025score 2
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026
Recommended as a companion to Micro Men, with the real Acorn people commenting on how events actually happened.
The Centre for Computing History reunites Chris Curry, Steve Furber and Hermann Hauser to rewatch the BBC drama Micro Men on its tenth anniversary. They reminisce about Acorn and the early British home computer era.
“That drama is even more enjoyable the second time around with commentary from three of the Acorn team portrayed” (HN, 2020)
It's easy to quibble about some aspects of the Speccy - the rubber keyboard or the limited BASIC for example - but the key thing is that it offered an awful lot for the price - starting at £125 in the UK when the cheapest BBC Micro was £300. This made computing with colour and enough memory to write programs that were substantial and interesting available to a much wider group than before. Sir Clive Sinclair had a unique genius for designing and then marketing products that caught the public imagination. Sadly, he seemed to lose interest in building on his success and quickly moved on to the next project. Famously the C5 electric "car" but also wafer scale memory! [1] If anyone hasn't seen Micro Men, on the Sinclair vs Acorn rivalry, its definitely worth a watch: [link] And seeing some of the participants watch it and recall their own versions of the story is good too: [this video] [1] [link]
Participants watch Micro Men and recall their own versions.
I found these 2: Micro Men - 10th Anniversary - With Chris Curry, Steve Furber and Hermann Hauser [this video] Micro Men - 10th Anniversary - The Chat After the Film [link]
The German guy (Hermann Hauser) is still around doing his thing - think living in the UK rubbed off on him. Roundtable of the 10th year anniversary [this video]
Roundtable with Hermann Hauser on the tenth anniversary.
It would appear you can watch Chris Curry and Hermann Hauser watch Micro Men : [this video] -- and then have a post-viewing chat: [link] "I saw the first five minutes and had to run away, because I couldn't bear to see myself portrayed by Martin Freeman" -- Chris Curry
Chris Curry and Hermann Hauser watch Micro Men and chat.
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