Acorn Electron and the 8-Bit Battle of Britain

In 1983 Acorn released the Electron in an attempt to conquer the UK home computer market that was dominated by the ZX Spectrum. You can still buy one now at auction - but why didn't it do well in the 80s and is it a good retro buy today?

00:00 Intro
00:45 The Mighty Micro
01:29 The BBC Micro
02:33 The Home Computer
02:52 The Electron
05:26 BBC Basic (Performance)
06:19 The Market (How it went wrong)
07:06 An Electron Today (Games)
08:54 The Alternative
09:43 The Aftermath

Respect to Chris Curry, Sir Clive Sinclair and all involved in the golden era of home computers in the UK.

[janetcarr]

As an American, I love to learn about computers like this that were so iconic yet unavailable to me.

[dj_paultuk]

Main key thing with the Electron was that you could continue your "O level" computer studies homework when you got home. Since it was BBC Basic.

[AcornElectron]

Possibly the greatest Micro ever made!❤

[tmitchel]

Very interesting, I didnt actually know any of that backstory. I feel lucky to have had the Model B too now :)

[withqsb]

If only they'd made that Christmas deadline, I'm sure the Elk would have had a bigger impact. But maybe that knock-back gave them the shot in the arm (pun intended) to move forward with the Archimedes and a processor which lives on to this day in oh so many devices... I always recommend folks watch the movie "Micro Men" if they are in the least bit interested in the great story of the Cambridge home computer rivalry between Sinclair and Acorn. Loving your videos, I hope more people find and subscribe to your channel.

[markbanash]

Writing from the USA, I have to admit that I was more than a little jealous back in the 1980s when Britain had machines like these. The BBC Micro, Spectrum, and the Electron seemed much more thoughtfully designed than what we could get back home, which was basically the C64, which was a fine machine but one wants a choice.

[AcornElectron]

I’d like to recommend the BBC one off ‘Micro Men’ for a rough guide to this computer and the company behind it. It’s not exactly accurate but the general gist is right and Alexander Armstrong does a good Clive Sinclair.

[VIC-]

It seems odd to me the Electron wasn't just designed as a feature reduced BBC Model B that was fully compatible with the important BBC features such as BASIC and all games? Acorn just made cheaper, compromised, hardware and then expected software companies to modify their product. I never saw any of these computers in Australia back in the 80's BTW. I'm sure they existed I just lived in a rural bubble! Keep the video's coming.