Editing Acorn Computers (section)

===1985–1998: Olivetti subsidiary===
The dire financial situation was brought to a head in February 1985, when one of Acorn's creditors issued a winding-up petition.<ref name="popcompweekly19850221">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/popular-computing-weekly-1985-02-21 | title=Troubled Acorn faces winding-up order | work=Popular Computing Weekly | date=21 February 1985 | access-date=20 November 2020 | pages=1 }}</ref> It would eventually emerge that Acorn owed £31.1 million to various creditors including manufacturers AB Electronics and Wong's Electronics.<ref name="popcompweekly19850314">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/popular-computing-weekly-1985-03-14/page/n3/mode/1up | title=Acorn's shares re-open on USM | work=Popular Computing Weekly | date=14 March 1985 | access-date=20 November 2020 | pages=4 }}</ref> Wong's had been awarded a {{nowrap|$45 million}} contract to produce the BBC Micro for the US market.<ref name="practicalcomputing198311_wongs">{{ cite magazine | url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Practical-Computing/80s/Practical-Computing-1983-11-S-OCR.pdf | title=BBC Micro news | magazine=Practical Computing | date=November 1983 | access-date=2 October 2022 | pages=15 }}</ref> During the search for potential financing partners, an Olivetti director had approached Close Brothers, ostensibly as part of Olivetti's strategy of acquiring technologically advanced small companies.<ref name="fleck19880301"/> After a short period of negotiations, Curry and Hauser signed an agreement with [[Olivetti]] on 20 February. With the founders relinquishing control of the company and seeing their combined stake fall from 85.7% to 36.5%, the Italian computer company took a 49.3% stake in Acorn for £10.39 million, which went some way to covering Acorn's £10.9 million losses in the previous six months,<ref name="popcompweekly19850228a">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/popular-computing-weekly-1985-02-28/mode/1up | title=Electron in doubt after rescue | work=Popular Computing Weekly | date=28 February 1985 | access-date=20 November 2020 | pages=1, 4 }}</ref> effectively valuing Acorn at around a tenth of its valuation of £216 million the year before.<ref name="popcompweekly19850214" /> Acorn's share price collapse and the suspension of its listing was attributed by some news outlets to the company's failure to establish itself in the US market, with one source citing costs of $5.5 million related to that endeavour.<ref name="computerworld19850225_acorn">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/computerworld198unse/page/n37/mode/1up | title=International Report | work=Computerworld | date=25 February 1985 | access-date=15 February 2022 | pages=38 }}</ref>

In July 1985, Olivetti acquired an additional £4 million of Acorn shares, raising its ownership stake in the company to 79.8%. Major creditors agreed to write off £7.9 million in debts, and the BBC agreed to waive 50% of outstanding royalty payments<ref name="homecompweekly19850730">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/home-computing-weekly-123 | title=Olivetti cash revives Acorn | work=Home Computing Weekly | date=30 July 1985 | access-date=25 November 2020 | pages=1 }}</ref> worth a reported £2 million. This second refinancing left the Acorn founders with less than 15% ownership of the company. Meanwhile, the financial difficulties had reduced the number of employees at Acorn from a peak of 480 to around 270.<ref name="acornuser198509">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser038-Sep85/page/n8/mode/1up | title=The saving of Acorn - part 2 | work=Acorn User | date=September 1985 | access-date=25 November 2020 | pages=7 }}</ref>

With Brian Long appointed as managing director, Acorn were set to move forward with a new OEM-focused computer named the [[Acorn Communicator|Communicator]] and the [[Acorn Business Computer#ABC 210/Acorn Cambridge Workstation|Cambridge Workstation]], whose launch had been delayed until the end of July 1985 due to the suspension of Acorn's shares. Of subsequent significance, Hermann Hauser was also expected to announce a "VLSI chip design using a reduced instruction set".<ref name="acornuser198509" /> Unveiled towards the end of 1985,<ref name="acornuser198512">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser041-Dec85/page/n12/mode/1up | work=Acorn User | title=Communicator's wide appeal | date=December 1985 | access-date=2 September 2020 | pages=11 }}</ref> the Communicator was Acorn's answer to ICL's [[One Per Desk]] initiative. This Acorn machine was based around a 16-bit 65SC816 CPU, 128&nbsp;KB RAM, expandable to 512&nbsp;KB, plus additional battery-backed RAM. It had a new multi-tasking OS, four internal ROM sockets, and shipped with a software suite based on View and ViewSheet. It also had an attached telephone, communications software and auto-answer/auto-dial modem.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/Computers/Communicator.html |title=Communicator |last=Whytehead |first=Chris |website=Chris's Acorns |publisher=The Centre for Computing History |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613044419/http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/Computers/Communicator.html |archive-date=13 June 2021 |access-date=2 September 2021}}</ref> However, with Acorn's finances having sustained the development cost of the Archimedes, and with the custom systems division having contributed substantially to the company's losses in 1987,<ref name="acornuser198806_communicator">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser071-Jun88/page/n10/mode/1up | title=Optimism reigns despite '87 losses | work=Acorn User | date=June 1988 | accessdate=23 October 2020 | pages=9 }}</ref> a change in strategy took effect towards the end of 1987, moving away from "individual customers" and towards "volume products", resulting in 47 of Acorn's 300 staff being made redundant,<ref name="popcompweekly198712_acorn">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/NH2021_Popular_Computing_Weekly_Issue871217.pdf/page/n3/mode/1up | title=Acorn staff sacked | work=Popular Computing Weekly | date=17 December 1987 | access-date=15 October 2021 | pages=4 }}</ref> the closure of the custom systems division, and the abandonment of the Communicator.<ref name="acornuser198806_communicator" />

In February 1986, Acorn announced that it was ceasing US sales operations, and sold its remaining US BBC Microcomputers for $1.25 million to a Texas company, Basic, which was a subsidiary of Datum, the Mexican manufacturer of the Spanish version of the BBC Microcomputer (with modified Spanish keyboards for the South American market). The sales office in Woburn, Massachusetts was closed at this time.<ref name="acornuser198602">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser043-Feb86/page/n10/mode/1up | title=Acorn moves out of US | work=Acorn User | date=February 1986 | access-date=26 September 2020 | pages=9 }}</ref> Acorn was reported as having achieved "negligible U.S. sales".<ref name="computerworld19860630_foreign">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/computerworld2026unse/page/118/mode/1up | title=Centralized decision making hurts foreign firms in U.S. mart | work=Computerworld | last1=Warner | first1=Edward | date=30 June 1986 | access-date=15 February 2022 | pages=118, 94 }}</ref> In 1990, in contrast, Acorn set up a sales and marketing operation in Australia and New Zealand by seeking to acquire long-time distributor Barson Computers Australasia, with Acorn managing director Sam Wauchope noting Acorn's presence in Australia since 1983 and being "the only computer manufacturer whose products are recommended by all Australian state education authorities".<ref name="acornuser199007">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser096-Jul90/page/n8/mode/1up | title=Acorn Enters the Land of Oz | work=Acorn User | date=July 1990 | access-date=1 November 2020 | pages=7 }}</ref>

Acorn also sought once again to expand into Germany in the 1990s, identifying the market as the largest in Europe whose technically sophisticated computer retailers were looking for opportunities to sell higher-margin products than IBM PC compatibles, with a large enthusiast community amongst existing and potential customers. Efforts were made to establish a local marketing presence and to offer localised versions of Acorn's products.<ref name="acornuser199405_germany">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser142-May94/page/n68/mode/1up | title=Acorn in Germany | work=Acorn User | date=May 1994 | access-date=9 October 2021 | last1=Ensor | first1=Philip | pages=69–71 }}</ref> Despite optimistic projections of success, and with Acorn having initially invested £700,000 in the endeavour,<ref name="acornuser199408_financial">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser145-Aug94/page/n10/mode/1up | title=Financial stakes | work=Acorn User | date=August 1994 | access-date=9 October 2021 | pages=11 }}</ref> the loss-making operation was closed in 1995 as part of broader cost-cutting and restructuring in response to a decline in revenue and difficulties experienced by various Acorn divisions.<ref name="acornuser199605_balance">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser168-May96/page/n9/mode/1up | title=Acorn's balance sheet | work=Acorn User | date=May 1996 | access-date=9 October 2021 | pages=10 }}</ref>

Ostensibly facilitated or catalysed by Olivetti's acquisition of Acorn, reports in late 1985 indicated plans for possible collaboration between Acorn, Olivetti and Thomson in the European education sector to define a standard for an educational microcomputer system analogous to the [[MSX]] computing architecture and to the established [[IBM PC compatible]] architecture.<ref name="acornuser198511_european">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser040-Nov85/page/n8/mode/1up | title=Big three go for European micro | work=Acorn User | date=November 1985 | access-date=25 September 2021 | pages=7 }}</ref> Deliberations continued into 1986, with Acorn proposing its own ARM processor architecture as the basis for the initiative, whereas Thomson had proposed the Motorola 68000.<ref name="acornuser198604_standard">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser045-Apr86/page/n8/mode/1up | title=Acorn RISCs it on micro standard | work=Acorn User | date=April 1986 | access-date=25 September 2021 | pages=7 }}</ref> Expectations that Olivetti would actively market Acorn's machines in Europe were, however, frustrated by Olivetti's own assessment of Acorn's products as "too expensive" and the proprietary operating system offering "limited flexibility". Instead, Olivetti sought to promote its [[Olivetti M19|M19]] personal computer for the European schools market, offering it to Acorn for sale in the UK (ultimately, as the rebadged [[Acorn M19]]).<ref name="yourcomputer198604_olivetti">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/Your_Computer_Magazine_Issue_V604/page/11/mode/1up | title=Herman Hauser moves to top Olivetti post | work=Your Computer | date=April 1986 | access-date=25 September 2021 | pages=11 }}</ref> Olivetti would eventually offer both Acorn's [[BBC Master#Master Compact|Master Compact]] and the [[Thomson MO6]] to the Italian market with its Prodest branding.

Collaboration involving Acorn, Olivetti and Thomson (subsequently as SGS-Thomson) continued in the context of research projects, with a consortium of vendors including AEG, Bull, Philips and ICL participating in the Multiworks initiative to develop Unix workstations as part of the European [[European Strategic Programme on Research in Information Technology (ESPRIT)|ESPRIT]] framework.<ref name="acornuser198812_multiworks">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser077-Dec88/page/n8/mode/1up | title=Acorn works on Unix for Europe | work=Acorn User | date=December 1988 | access-date=25 September 2021 | pages=7 }}</ref> Acorn's particular role in Multiworks concerned a low-cost workstation featuring the ARM chipset, alongside a "high-cost authoring workstation" based on Olivetti's CP486 workstation.<ref name="multiworks2105">{{cite web | url=http://research.cs.ncl.ac.uk/cabernet/www.laas.research.ec.org/esp-syn/text/2105.html | title=Multimedia Integrated Workstations | website=IST NoEs Information Service | date=December 1993 | access-date=25 September 2021 | archive-date=20 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120094408/http://research.cs.ncl.ac.uk/cabernet/www.laas.research.ec.org/esp-syn/text/2105.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[ChorusOS|Chorus system]] was to be used as the basis of the Unix operating system provided.<ref name="opensyst19910605_europe">{{ cite journal | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_world-publishing-monitor_1991-08_1_8_0/page/725/mode/1up | title=Europe United with Multimedia | journal=Open Syst. | volume=2 | issue=5 | date=5 June 1991 | access-date=13 June 2022 | last1=Davidson | first1=C. | pages=28–30 }}</ref>

Olivetti would eventually relinquish majority control of Acorn in early 1996, selling shares to US and UK investment groups to leave the company with a shareholding in Acorn of around 45%.<ref name="acornuser199604_olivetti">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser167-Apr96/page/n9/mode/1up | title=Olivetti relinquishes majority control of Acorn | work=Acorn User | date=April 1996 | access-date=28 August 2021 | pages=10 }}</ref> In July 1996, Olivetti announced that it had sold 14.7% of the group to [[Lehman Brothers]], reducing its stake at that time to 31.2%. Lehman said it planned to resell the shares to investors.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/02/business/international-briefs-olivetti-sells-shares-in-acorn-computer.html?scp=1&sq=acorn+computer&st=nyt | title=Olivetti Sells Shares in Acorn Computer | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=2 July 1996 | access-date=12 December 2011 | location=New York | quote=Olivetti S.p.A. of Italy said yesterday that it had sold 14.7 percent of Acorn Computer Group P.L.C. to Lehman Brothers Inc. on Friday. Lehman did not disclose how much it paid, but at current market prices, the sale would have brought about L33.5 million ($52 million) to Olivetti, which has been posting losses. The purchase, representing 13.25 million of the British computer company's shares, reduced Olivetti's stake in Acorn to about 31.2 percent from 78.5 percent two years ago. Lehman said it intended to resell the shares to investors. |url-status = live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518023712/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/02/business/international-briefs-olivetti-sells-shares-in-acorn-computer.html?scp=1&sq=acorn+computer&st=nyt | archive-date=18 May 2013}}</ref>

====BBC Master and Archimedes====
[[File:Acorn archimedes advert new scientist 1989-09-09.jpg|thumb|Reader reply card in ''[[New Scientist]]'', 9 September 1989 issue]]
The [[BBC Master]]<ref name="master128">{{cite web | url=http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/Computers/Master128.html | title=Master 128 |last=Whytehead |first=Chris |website=Chris's Acorns |publisher=The Centre for Computing History | date=31 October 2008 | access-date=23 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613044702/http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/Computers/Master128.html |archive-date=13 June 2021}}</ref> was launched in February 1986 and met with considerable success. From 1986 to 1989, about 200,000 systems were sold,<ref name="acorn_news9">{{ cite news | url=http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/docs/Acorn/NL/Acorn_NewsIss9.pdf | title=The 200,000th Master finds a good home | work=Acorn Newsletter | date=March 1989 | access-date=23 March 2021 | pages=3 }}</ref> each costing £499, mainly to UK schools and universities. A number of enhanced versions were launched, for example, the Master 512,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/Computers/Master512.html |title=Master 512 |last=Whytehead |first=Chris |website=Chris's Acorns |publisher=The Centre for Computing History |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613044430/http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/Computers/Master512.html |archive-date=13 June 2021}}</ref> which had 512&nbsp;[[Kibibyte|KB]] of RAM and an internal [[Intel 80186|80186]] processor for [[MS-DOS]] compatibility, and the Master Turbo,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/Computers/MasterTurbo.html |title=Master Turbo |last=Whytehead |first=Chris |website=Chris's Acorns |publisher=The Centre for Computing History |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613044711/http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/Computers/MasterTurbo.html |archive-date=13 June 2021}}</ref> which had a 65C102 second processor.

The first commercial use of the [[ARM architecture family|ARM architecture]] was in the ARM Development System, a Tube-linked second processor for the BBC Master which allowed one to write [[computer program|program]]s for the new system. It sold for £4,500 and included the ARM processor, 4&nbsp;[[Mebibyte|MB]] of RAM and a set of development tools with an enhanced version of {{nowrap|BBC BASIC}}. This system did not include the three support chips (VIDC, MEMC, and IOC) which were later to form part of the Archimedes system. They made their first appearance in the A500 second processor,<ref>{{Cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613044053/http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/8bit_Upgrades/Acorn_A5002ndProc.html|url=http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/8bit_Upgrades/Acorn_A5002ndProc.html|url-status=live|title=A500 second processor|archive-date=13 June 2021|last=Whytehead |first=Chris |website=Chris's Acorns |publisher=The Centre for Computing History }}</ref> which was used internally within Acorn as a development platform, and had a similar form-factor to the ARM development system.

[[File:Acorn A4-computer.png|thumb|Acorn A4 laptop]]
The second ARM-based product was the [[Acorn Archimedes]] desktop-computer, released in mid-1987, some 18 months after [[IBM]] launched their RISC-based [[IBM RT PC|RT PC]].<ref>{{cite news | title = IBM's simple route to powerful computing | date = 1986-01-30 | work = New Scientist | pages = 36 | quote = ... new machine, the RT ... IBM has beaten the British computer firm Acorn in the race to incorporate RISC processors into products.}}</ref> The first RISC-based home computer, using the [[ARM architecture family#ARM2|ARM]] (Acorn RISC Machine) chip,<ref>{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1987-10-rescan/1987_10_BYTE_12-11_Heuristic_Algorithms#page/n129/mode/2up | title=The Archimedes A310 | work=BYTE | date=October 1987 | access-date=4 August 2014 | author=Pountain, Dick | pages=125}}</ref> the Archimedes was popular in the [[United Kingdom]], [[Australasia]] and [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], and was considerably more powerful and advanced than most offerings of the day. The Archimedes was advertised in both printed<ref name="4corn_print">{{ cite web | url=http://www.4corn.co.uk/articles/printedvert/ | title=Acorn Print Adverts | website=4corn Computers | access-date=3 May 2021 }}</ref> and broadcast media.<ref name="youtube_learningcurve">{{ cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbc8TWNlBUk | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/Cbc8TWNlBUk| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live| title=The Learning Curve | website=YouTube | date=1991 | access-date=3 May 2021 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> One example of such advertising is a mock-up of the RISC OS 2 desktop, showing some software [[application directories]], with the advert text added within windows.<ref>{{cite magazine |title= The Archimedes 400/1 Series |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=i3LzBV8yFYMC&q=%22Reader+Reply+No.+4%22&pg=PA8 |access-date= 2011-05-26 |date= 1989-09-09 |magazine= [[New Scientist]] }}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> However, the vast majority of home users opted for an [[Atari ST]] or [[Amiga]] when looking to upgrade their [[8-bit computing|8-bit]] micros. As with the BBC, the Archimedes instead flourished in schools and other educational settings but just a few years later in the early 1990s this market began stratifying into the [[IBM PC compatible|PC]]-dominated world. Acorn continued to produce updated models of the Archimedes, including a laptop (the A4), and in 1994 launched the [[Risc PC]], whose top specification would later include a 233&nbsp;MHz [[StrongARM]] processor. These were sold mainly into education, specialist and enthusiast markets, such as professional composers using [[Sibelius (scorewriter)|Sibelius 7]].

====ARM Ltd.====
Acorn's silicon partner, [[VLSI Technology, Inc|VLSI]], had been given the task of finding new applications for the ARM CPU and support chips. Hauser's Active Book company had been developing a handheld device and for this the ARM CPU developers had created a static version of their processor, the ARM2aS.

Members of [[Apple Inc.|Apple]]'s [[Apple Advanced Technology Group|Advanced Technology Group]] (ATG) had made initial contact with Acorn over use of the ARM in an experimental Apple II (2) style prototype called Möbius. Experiments done in the Möbius project proved that the ARM RISC architecture could be highly attractive for certain types of future products. The Möbius project was briefly considered as the basis for a new line of Apple computers but it was stopped for fear it would compete with the Macintosh and confuse the market. However, the Möbius project evolved awareness of the ARM processor within Apple. The Möbius Team made minor changes to the ARM registers, and used their working prototype to demonstrate a variety of impressive performance benchmarks.<ref>[http://www.advanced-risc.com/art1stor.htm "The RISC for the Rest of Us"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609091738/http://www.advanced-risc.com/art1stor.htm |date=9 June 2013}}, Art Sobel, in ''Advanced RISC Technology'' (ART), 1996. ARM Evangelist.</ref>

<!-- [[File:Mp2000.gif|thumb|left|[[Apple Newton]]s, like this MessagePad 2000/2100, were powered by ARM processors.]] -->
Later [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] was developing an entirely new computing platform for its [[Apple Newton|Newton]]. Various requirements had been set for the processor in terms of power consumption, cost and performance, and there was also a need for [[static logic (digital logic)|fully static operation]] in which the clock could be stopped at any time. Only the Acorn RISC Machine came close to meeting all these demands, but there were still deficiencies. The ARM did not, for example, have an integral memory management unit, as this function was being provided by the MEMC support chip and Acorn did not have the resources to develop one.<ref name="lowpowerhardware">M. Culbert (1994). [https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=573192 "Low power hardware for a high performance PDA"]. ''Low Power Electronics''. Digest of Technical Papers. IEEE Symposium.</ref>

Apple and Acorn began to collaborate on developing the ARM, and it was decided that this would be best achieved by a separate company.<ref name="lowpowerhardware" /> The bulk of the Advanced Research and Development section of Acorn that had developed the ARM CPU formed the basis of [[Arm (company)|ARM Holdings]] when that company was spun off in November 1990. Acorn Group and Apple Computer Inc. each had a 43% shareholding in ARM (in 1996),<ref name="jointeduventure">[http://www.poppyfields.net/acorn/news/acopress/apple.shtml Acorn Group and Apple Computer Dedicate Joint Venture to Transform IT in UK Education] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303194347/http://www.poppyfields.net/acorn/news/acopress/apple.shtml |date=3 March 2016}}, press release from Acorn Computers, 1996</ref> while VLSI was an investor and first ARM licensee.<ref>[http://www.arm.com/aboutarm/milestones.html ARM milestones] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100201095242/http://www.arm.com/aboutarm/milestones.html |date=1 February 2010}}, ARM website</ref>

====Acorn Pocket Book====
[[File:acorn pocketbook 17o06.jpg|thumb|right|Acorn Pocket Book]]
In 1993, Acorn decided to offer an Acorn branded [[Psion Series 3]] PDA, badged as an [[Psion Series 3#Acorn Pocket Book|'''Acorn Pocket Book''']], with a later variant branded the '''Acorn Pocket Book II'''. Essentially a rebadged OEM version of the Series 3 with slightly different on-board software, the device was marketed as an inexpensive computer for schoolchildren, rather than as an executive tool.<ref>{{cite web |title=Acorn Pocket Book |url=http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/Computers/PocketBook.html |last=Whytehead |first=Chris |website=Chris's Acorns |publisher=The Centre for Computing History |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613044703/http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/Computers/PocketBook.html |archive-date=13 June 2021}}</ref> The hardware was the same as the Series 3, but the integrated applications were different. For instance, the Pocket Book omitted the Agenda diary and Spell dictionary applications, which became an optional application, supplied on ROM SSD which could be inserted into either of the ROM bays underneath the device. Other programs were renamed: ''System'' became ''Desktop'', ''Word'' became ''Write'', ''Sheet'' became ''Abacus'' and ''Data'' became ''Cards''.<ref>{{cite newsgroup |title=Acorn Press Release 3 of 8 (Acorn Pocketbook) |author=Alan Glover |date=27 August 1992 |newsgroup=comp.sys.acorn.announce |message-id=<!-- Strangely not available from Google Groups --> |url=https://groups.google.com/g/comp.sys.acorn.announce/c/RCvp99PMRuk/m/1RNSFEYyKGsJ |access-date=September 2, 2021}}</ref><!-- Secondary source: --><ref>{{cite web|url=https://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/docs/Acorn/PR/Pocket_Book_launch.txt|title=Acorn Launches Pocket Book |last=Whytehead |first=Chris |website=Chris's Acorns |publisher=The Centre for Computing History |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613051747/http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/docs/Acorn/PR/Pocket_Book_launch.txt|archive-date=13 June 2021|access-date=2 September 2021}}</ref>
{{clear}}

====Set-top boxes====
In 1994, Acorn established a new division, ''Online Media'', focusing on interactive multimedia client hardware.<ref name="acornuser199409_onlinemedia">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser146-Sep94/page/n8/mode/1up | title=Acorn launches Online Media | work=Acorn User | date=September 1994 | access-date=11 October 2021 | pages=9–11 }}</ref> Online Media aimed to exploit the projected [[video-on-demand]] (VOD) boom, an [[interactive television]] system which would allow users to select and watch [[video]] content over a network.<ref>{{citation | first = Jonathan | last = Sapsed | contribution = Strategizing under Uncertainty and Ignorance: The influence of knowledge and technological path-dependence on corporate strategies | title = Managing Knowledge: Conversations and Critiques | publisher = [[CENTRIM]] | place = Brighton, UK | pages = 13 | date = 2001-04-10 | contribution-url = http://eprints.brighton.ac.uk/4433/1/Strategizing_under_uncertainty_and_ignorance.pdf | access-date = 2011-05-31 }}</ref> In September 1994 the Cambridge Digital Interactive Television Trial of video-on-demand services was set up by Online Media, [[Anglia Television]], [[Cambridge Cable]] (now part of [[Virgin Media]]) and [[Advanced Telecommunication Modules Ltd]] (ATML). The trial involved creating a wide area ATM network linking TV-company to subscribers' homes and delivering services such as home shopping, online education, software downloaded on-demand and the [[World Wide Web]]. The wide area network used a combination of fibre and coaxial cable, and the switches were housed in the roadside cabinets of Cambridge Cable's existing network.<ref name="lessonsinlearning">[http://www.mediation.co.uk/lessons1.html Lessons in Learning] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929160345/http://www.mediation.co.uk/lessons1.html |date=29 September 2007}}, white paper, Mediation Technology, last modified 18 June 1999</ref>
[[Olivetti Research Laboratory]] developed the technology used by the trial. An [[International Computers Limited|ICL]] video server provided the service via ATM switches manufactured by ATML, another company set up by Hauser and Hopper. The trial commenced at a speed of 2&nbsp;Mbit/s to the home, subsequently increased to 25&nbsp;Mbit/s.<ref name="camcorners">[http://www.iankitching.me.uk/articles/citv-nz.html Cambridge Corners the Future in Networking] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415092452/http://www.iankitching.me.uk/articles/citv-nz.html |date=15 April 2016}}, TUANZ Topics, Volume 05, No. 10, November 1995</ref>

Subscribers used [[Acorn Online Media Set Top Box]]es. For the first six months the trial involved 10 VOD terminals;<ref name="camcorners" /> the second phase was expanded to cover 100 homes and eight schools with a further 150 terminals in test labs. A number of other organisations gradually joined in, including the [[National Westminster Bank]] (NatWest), the [[BBC]], the [[Post Office Ltd|Post Office]], [[Tesco]], and the [[local education authority]].{{which|reason=There are many in the UK. Was it only one?|date=September 2021}} Having initially deployed set-top boxes based on Risc PC hardware, a second generation of the hardware, STB2, featured the ARM7500 system-on-a-chip,<ref name="acornuser199505_onlinemedia">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser155-May95/page/n8/mode/1up | title=Big month for Online Media | work=Acorn User | date=May 1995 | access-date=11 October 2021 | pages=9 }}</ref> this having been manufactured for Online Media by VLSI,<ref name="arm7500pr">{{ cite press release | url=http://www.poppyfields.net/acorn/news/armpress/arm7500.shtml | date=18 October 1994 | access-date=11 October 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192453/http://www.poppyfields.net/acorn/news/armpress/arm7500.shtml | archive-date=3 March 2016 |title=ARM Announces Single Chip Solution for Multimedia and Portable Applications }}</ref> and integrated MPEG video decoding hardware. (The [[C-Cube Microsystems]] CL450 part is evident on the STB20 circuit board,<ref name="chris_stb20">{{ cite web | url=http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/Pics/OM_STB20FL.html | title=Acorn Online Media STB20 circuit board (hi-res) | website=Chris's Acorns | access-date=13 June 2022 }}</ref> this product being an MPEG-1 decoder introduced in May 1992.<ref name="ccube1994">{{ cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_ccube90050alogSpring1994_8607743/page/n7/mode/1up | title=Product Catalog Spring 1994 | publisher=C-Cube Microsystems | date=Spring 1994 | access-date=13 June 2022 | pages=3 }}</ref>) Plans were announced to expand the initiative from 250 homes to 1000, to support NatWest's cable television banking and shopping services, with video on demand provision being strengthened through the deployment of a digital video server from ICL having "a maximum capacity of several hundred gigabytes of fast hard disc storage", connected via a 155&nbsp;Mbit/s link and supplementing Olivetti Research Disc Bricks already acting as smaller capacity video servers. Industry support for the Online Media platform was also announced by Oracle and Macromedia.<ref name="acornuser199505_onlinemedia" />

BBC Education tested delivery of radio-on-demand programmes to primary schools, and a new educational service, Education Online, was established to deliver material such as [[Open University]] television programmes and educational software. [[Netherhall School]] was provided with an inexpensive video server and operated as a provider of trial services, with Anglia Polytechnic University taking up a similar role some time later.<ref name="lessonsinlearning" />

It was hoped that Online Media could be floated as a separate company, and a share issue raising {{nowrap|£17.2 million}} of additional capital was announced in 1995,<ref>{{cite magazine | title=Acorn takes shares to City | magazine=Computer Shopper | date=May 1995 | pages=392 }}</ref> this to finance the division and "underpin Acorn Group finances" against a backdrop of deteriorating financial results partly caused by an increasingly uncompetitive lower-end product range.<ref name="acornuser199504_onlinemedia">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser154-Apr95/page/n8/mode/1up | title=Changes as core business posts another loss | magazine=Acorn User | date=April 1995 | access-date=11 October 2021 | pages=9 }}</ref> Having entered into a deal with Lightspan Partnership Inc. to supply set-top boxes for the US education market,<ref name="acornuser199508_update" /> the order was cancelled and put pressure on Acorn's already straitened financial situation. Various other factors ensured that the predicted video-on-demand boom never really materialised as anticipated.<ref name="ford2007">{{ cite journal | title=Failing to disrupt: the case of the Network Computer | journal=International Journal of Technology Intelligence and Planning | volume=3 | issue=1 | date=2007 | last1=Ford | first1=Simon | last2=Garnsey | first2=Elizabeth | page=6 | doi=10.1504/IJTIP.2007.013035 | citeseerx=10.1.1.736.4040 }}</ref>

Acorn subsequently planned to incorporate set-top box technology into its product range, launching an initiative entitled "No Limits to Learning" and previewing a range of products under the MediaRange brand, with the MediaSurfer being "essentially an Online Media STB with a World Wide Web browser built in", and with other products in the range being based on "focused applications" of established Acorn products.<ref name="acornuser199603_mediarange">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser166-Mar96/page/n8/mode/1up | title=Acorn seeks the meaning of its existence | work=Acorn User | date=March 1996 | access-date=15 October 2021 | pages=9 }}</ref> Evolution of the technology continued with the launch of the STB22 model, described as "a cross between an NC (Network Computer) and a STB". This model combined set-top box features such as [[ATM25]] networking for interactive video with more general Internet features such as Web browsing and Java application support. Described as "the icing on the cake", MPEG2 video decoding hardware was provided by a chipset from [[LSI Corporation|LSI]]. Although Acorn were reportedly hoping for the interactive television market to "eventually take off" and initiate "mass deployment" by traditional telecoms operators, corporate intranet applications were also seen as a target market. With more conservative deployments in mind, the ATM25 interface in the product could be replaced by an Ethernet interface.<ref name="acornuser199705_stb22">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser181-May97/page/n5/mode/1up | title=Acorn reveals most advanced STB yet | work=Acorn User | date=May 1997 | access-date=15 October 2021 | pages=6 }}</ref>

====NewsPad====
[[File:RIscUser-magazine-covers-for-RiscPC-and-NewsPad-reveals.png|thumb|right|Risc User: NewsPad – covered in the October 1996 issue]]
In 1994, the EU initiated the NewsPad<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cordis.europa.eu/esprit/src/omi09252.htm|title=European Commission : CORDIS : Help : : Archives|website=cordis.europa.eu|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516224341/http://cordis.europa.eu/esprit/src/omi09252.htm|archive-date=16 May 2013|access-date=16 August 2012}}</ref> programme, with the aim of developing a common mechanism to author and deliver news electronically to consumer devices. The programme's name and format were inspired by the devices described and depicted in Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]''. Acorn won a contract to develop a consumer device / receiver, and duly supplied a RISC OS-based touch-screen [[tablet computer]] for the pilot.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/Computers/NC.html#NewsPAD|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613044705/http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/Computers/NC.html#NewsPAD|url-status=live|title=Acorn NCs, STBs & Prototypes: NewsPAD |last=Whytehead |first=Chris |website=Chris's Acorns |publisher=The Centre for Computing History |archive-date=13 June 2021}}</ref><ref>http://adrenaline.ucsd.edu/onr/annotation%20devices.html#newspad{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}} Annotation devices</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bIwnzZvP2lEC&q=Acorn+NewsPad&pg=PA559|title=Technologies for the Information Society: Developments and Opportunities|first1=James-Yves|last1=Roger|first2=Jean-Yves|last2=Roger|first3=Brian|last3=Stanford-Smith|first4=Paul T.|last4=Kidd|date=12 May 1998|publisher=IOS Press|via=Google Books|isbn=9789051994506}}</ref> The device measured {{convert|8.5|xx|11|in|mm}} and was being tried in 1996 in Spain by [[Ediciones Primera Plana]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Pelline|first=Jeff|title="Daily me" device on horizon|url=http://news.cnet.com/Daily-me-device-on-horizon/2100-1023_3-244301.html|access-date=17 August 2012|newspaper=[[CNET]]|date=5 November 1996|url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102021851/http://news.cnet.com/Daily-me-device-on-horizon/2100-1023_3-244301.html|archive-date=2 November 2012}}</ref> The Barcelona-based pilot ended in 1997, but the tablet format and ARM architecture may have influenced Intel's 1999 WebPad / Web Tablet program.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/1999/05/25/intels_newspad_from_acorn/|title=Intel's NewsPad from Acorn... the saga continues...|website=The Register|url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810091418/https://www.theregister.co.uk/1999/05/25/intels_newspad_from_acorn/|archive-date=10 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shinsel.com/webtablet/default.aspx|title=Home - Intel Web Tablet|date=15 December 2013|url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215172819/http://www.shinsel.com/webtablet/default.aspx|archive-date=15 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cordis.europa.eu/esprit/src/results/res_area/omi/omi7.htm|title=European Commission : CORDIS : Help : : Archives|website=cordis.europa.eu|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080222211542/http://cordis.europa.eu/esprit/src/results/res_area/omi/omi7.htm|archive-date=22 February 2008|access-date=20 August 2012}}</ref>

====SchoolServer====
Although Acorn had largely focused on its ARM-based product range offering RISC OS (and, for a time, [[RISC iX]]), albeit with an increasing emphasis on DOS and Windows compatibility through its PC card products,<ref name="acornuser199303_aleph1pc">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser128-Mar93/page/n11/mode/1up | title=Acorns and PCs Meet | work=Acorn User | date=March 1993 | access-date=19 June 2021 | pages=10 }}</ref><ref name="acornuser199503_486copro">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser153-Mar95/page/n49/mode/2up | title=Cuckoo in the nest? | work=Acorn User | date=March 1995 | access-date=20 August 2021 | last1=Burley | first1=Ian | pages=50–51 }}</ref> the emergence of larger networks in education connecting systems based on different computing platforms—typically Acorn, PC and Apple Macintosh—motivated the introduction of the SchoolServer product range in 1995. The range consisted of server systems  manufactured by IBM running [[Windows NT Server]] (specifically [[Windows NT 3.5]]<ref name="acornuser199508_update">{{cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser158-Aug95/page/n8/mode/1up | title=Two-page Acorn update | magazine=Acorn User | date=August 1995 | access-date=20 August 2021 | pages=9 }}</ref>), employing a single 100&nbsp;MHz [[PowerPC]] processor, with 24&nbsp;MB or 32&nbsp;MB of RAM, one or two 1&nbsp;GB hard drives, and built-in Ethernet interfaces.<ref name="acorn_app873">{{ cite tech report |url=http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/docs/Acorn/Brochures/Acorn_APP873_SchoolServer.pdf | title=Acorn SchoolServer | publisher=Acorn Computers Limited | date=July 1995 |via=Chris's Acorns}}</ref>

Acorn bundled ANT Limited's OmniClient software to provide the connectivity support required for Acorn's own computers to access the SchoolServer's facilities, these being based on Microsoft's own SchoolServer platform and proprietary networking technologies. The adoption of such hardware and software platforms, motivated by concerns about the capabilities of Acorn's existing products (such as the Risc PC) in the server role, even apparently led to Acorn becoming a Microsoft Solution Provider despite having been "very vocal critics" of Microsoft and its technologies in the past.<ref name="acornuser199508_update" />

Other companies in the educational market introduced similar products to the SchoolServer. For instance, Datathorn Systems introduced a solution called Super Server based on the Motorola PowerStack server system,<ref name="acorn_app914">{{cite news | url=http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/docs/Acorn/Brochures/Acorn_APP914_ArcIss10.pdf | title=Whole school networking - impressive connectivity | work=Arc | publisher=Acorn Computers Limited | date=Spring 1996 | access-date=22 August 2021 | issue=10 | pages=46 |via=Chris's Acorns}}</ref> which was a PowerPC-based machine capable of running Windows NT 3.51 or [[IBM AIX|AIX]] 4.1,<ref name="byte199511_nt_ppc604">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1995-11_OCR/page/n224/mode/1up | title=NT Roars on the 604 | work=Byte | date=November 1995 | access-date=22 August 2021 | last1=Rowell | first1=Dave | pages=209–212 }}</ref> with the Super Server project reportedly being "the product of research at both Oxford and Cambridge universities". Having approval from Acorn and offering interoperability between Acorn and PC platforms, the solution was deployed at several sites.<ref name="acornuser199502_datathorn">{{cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser152-Feb95/page/n13/mode/1up | title=Datathorn lands first big Super Server contract in Scotland | magazine=Acorn User | date=February 1995 | access-date=22 August 2021 | pages=14 }}</ref>

====Xemplar Education====
In 1996, Acorn entered into a joint venture with [[Apple Inc.|Apple Computer UK]] called Xemplar to provide computers and services to the UK education market.<ref>[http://www.poppyfields.net/acorn/news/acopress/apple.shtml Acorn Press Release] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303194347/http://www.poppyfields.net/acorn/news/acopress/apple.shtml |date=3 March 2016}} Acorn/Apple press release on joint venture</ref> Described as "the unthinkable" and a "marriage of convenience", the alliance sought to reverse the declining fortunes of both Acorn and Apple in the sector, also prompting speculation that Apple's own strategy based on adoption of the PowerPC platform might lead Acorn along the same path, with Acorn already having expressed some interest in PowerPC and having introduced a PowerPC-based product in the form of its SchoolServer offering. The deal was regarded as benefiting Apple more strongly, with Acorn developers being encouraged to port their software to Mac OS, and with RISC OS effectively being sidelined to Acorn's set-top box and network computing products.<ref name="acornuser199604_xemplar">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser167-Apr96/page/n8/mode/1up | title=Acorn and Apple join forces | magazine=Acorn User | date=April 1996 | access-date=7 August 2022 | pages=9–10 }}</ref>

Xemplar initially resisted the demand for PC-compatible products in classrooms, limiting its PC offerings to school administration.<ref name="acornuser199609_xemplar">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser172-Sep96/page/n9/mode/1up | title=Xemplar Pentiums not for classroom | magazine=Acorn User | date=September 1996 | access-date=7 August 2022 | pages=10 }}</ref> A survey in 1998 found that Apple and Acorn systems at that time accounted for 47% and {{frac|3}} of computers in UK primary and secondary schools respectively.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=314684 | title = Apple's bigger bite;Market Moves | access-date = 2011-06-30 | last = Cole | first = George | date = 1999-02-12 | work = [[Times Educational Supplement]] | publisher = TSL Education | quote = A survey last year, found that there were 126,000 Acorn machines and 22,000 Apple computers in primary schools; in secondaries the figures were 98,000 and 45,000 respectively. So Apple and Acorn account for 47% of computers in primary schools and a third of those in secondary – a very large proportion. |url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121005093915/http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=314684 | archive-date = 5 October 2012}}</ref> However, in 1999, with Acorn undergoing restructuring, the company's remaining stake in Xemplar was sold to Apple for {{nowrap|£3 million}}.<ref name="acornuser199903_xemplar">{{cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser205-Mar99/page/n9/mode/1up | title=Acorn sells Xemplar holding | magazine=Acorn User | date=March 1999 | access-date=7 August 2022 | pages=10 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.theregister.co.uk/1999/01/11/acorn_falls_off_education_tree/ | title = Acorn falls off education tree | access-date = 2011-06-30 | date = 1999-01-11 | website = [[The Register]] | quote = Acorn ... selling its half of Xemplar. The other joint owner, Apple, now takes full charge of the educational supplier. The deal valued Xemplar at £6 million, with Acorn bagging £3 million for its share. |url-status = live| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121003002924/http://www.theregister.co.uk/1999/01/11/acorn_falls_off_education_tree/ | archive-date = 3 October 2012}}</ref> By this time, Xemplar had become "a significant supplier of Wintel PCs" out of commercial necessity, with Acorn's Network Computer being the only product from its former co-owner still actively marketed by Xemplar.<ref name="acornuser199903_xemplar"/> Despite Acorn's own upheavals, Xemplar remained committed to selling Acorn products in its portfolio.<ref name="xemplar19980917">{{ cite press release | url=http://www.sourcewire.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=1293 | title=Xemplar Education continues to offer all three school platforms | publisher=Xemplar Education | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002001439/http://www.sourcewire.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=1293 | archive-date=2 October 2011 | date=18 September 1998 }}</ref> Renamed to Apple Xemplar Education, the operation was wound up in 2014.<ref>[http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/ Companies House] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080629012709/http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/ |date=29 June 2008}} Webcheck service, search for previous company names</ref> Acorn Education and later Xemplar Education were heavily involved in [[Tesco]]'s "[[Tesco#Corporate social responsibility|Computers for Schools]]" programme in the UK, providing hardware and software in exchange for vouchers collected from Tesco purchases.<ref name="acornuser199612_tesco">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser175-Dec96/page/n8/mode/1up | title=Tesco Computers for Schools update | magazine=Acorn User | date=December 1996 | access-date=2 October 2021 | pages=9 }}</ref>

The Welsh Office Multimedia/Portables Initiative (WOMPI), launched in 1996 to provide primary schools with computer equipment,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rctednet.net/numeracy/english/projects/projects.htm |title=Projects |publisher=Rhondda Cynon Taff Education & Children's Services |year=2001 |access-date=10 November 2011 |quote=The Welsh Office Multimedia and Portables Initiative (WOMPI), launched in 1996&nbsp;... |url-status = usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316185044/http://www.rctednet.net/numeracy/english/projects/projects.htm |archive-date=16 March 2012}}</ref> prescribed that [[Education in Wales|Welsh school]]s choosing the multimedia option received [[multimedia PC]]s exclusively supplied by [[RM plc|RM]]. This upset other suppliers such as Xemplar and members of the National Association of Advisers for Computers in Education (NAACE), with complaints including those about the imposition of an incompatible computing platform on small schools who were already committed to the RISC OS platform, these schools being potentially incapable of managing "a mix of machines", and the lack of appropriate Welsh language software for the Windows platform, this being of particular concern in schools where lessons were "conducted exclusively in Welsh" and where an "excellent working relationship with British software houses" had cultivated the availability of major RISC OS applications in Welsh. The range of multimedia software offered in the initiative was also criticised: "none of the scheme's CD-Roms" were in Welsh, and Acorn machines also needed additional software, at an estimated £300 in extra costs, to "make effective use" of the software titles.<ref name="tes nonpc">{{cite news|url=http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/When-a-PC-is-non-PC-110421/ |title=When a PC is non-PC |work=[[Times Educational Supplement]] |date=1 March 1996 |access-date=10 November 2011 |author=Evans, Arnold |quote=But in Wales the schools that chose the multimedia option (93% of some 1,700 schools) will all receive Research Machines Pentium Multimedia PCs&nbsp;... has upset not only other suppliers, but also teachers and the professionals in charge of promoting IT in schools. A conference of the National Association of Advisers for Computers in Education (NAACE) has demanded a radical overhaul of the way decisions about Government IT schemes are made&nbsp;... |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130421110909/http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/When-a-PC-is-non-PC-110421/ |archive-date=21 April 2013}}</ref>

====Network computers====
{{See also|Acorn Network Computer}}
{{Contradicts other|date=July 2011|1=Acorn Network Computer}}
[[File:Wired-uk-edition-september-1996.jpg|thumb|upright|left|''[[Wired UK]]'', September 1996 issue, "Five Go Nuts in Cambridge: Acorn's mad rush to build the world's first Network Computer"]]
When [[BBC Two|BBC2]]'s ''[[The Money Programme]]'' screened an interview with [[Larry Ellison]] in October 1995, Acorn Online Media Managing Director Malcolm Bird realised that Ellison's [[network computer]] was, basically, an Acorn set-top box.<ref name="wired209">[http://yoz.com/wired/2.09/features/acorn.html Five Go Nuts in Cambridge] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518051909/http://yoz.com/wired/2.09/features/acorn.html |date=18 May 2011}}, ''Wired UK'' magazine 2.09, September 1996</ref> After initial discussions between [[Oracle Corporation]] and Olivetti, Hauser and Acorn a few weeks later, Bird was dispatched to San Francisco with Acorn's latest Set Top Box. Oracle had already talked seriously with computer manufacturers including [[Sun Microsystems|Sun]] and Apple about the contract for putting together the NC blueprint machine; there were also rumours in the industry that said Oracle itself was working on the reference design. After Bird's visit to Oracle, Ellison visited Acorn and a deal was reached: Acorn would define the NC Reference Standard.

Ellison was expecting to announce the NC in February 1996. Sophie Wilson was put in charge of the NC project, and by mid-November a draft NC specification was ready. By January 1996 the formal details of the contract between Acorn and Oracle had been worked out,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://news.cnet.com/Oracle-signs-up-Acorn-for-Net-devices/2100-1001_3-201758.html | title = Oracle signs up Acorn for Net devices | access-date = 2011-06-10 | date = 1996-01-10 | publisher = [[CNET.com]] | quote = Oracle has signed up a small British computer design firm called Acorn Computer Group to come up with a blueprint for an inexpensive Internet access device. |url-status = live| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121026141921/http://news.cnet.com/Oracle-signs-up-Acorn-for-Net-devices/2100-1001_3-201758.html | archive-date = 26 October 2012}}</ref> and the PCB was designed and ready to be put into production.<ref name="wired209" /> In February 1996, Acorn Network Computing was founded.<ref name="jointeduventure" /> In August 1996 it launched the [[Acorn Network Computer]].

[[File:Acorn-Netstation.jpg|thumb|An Acorn NetStation NC]]
It was hoped that the Network Computer would create a significant new sector in which Acorn Network Computing would be a major player,<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/desktop-hardware/2002/03/08/five-years-ago-acorn-fights-back-with-reduced-losses-2106207/ | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505113318/http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/desktop-hardware/2002/03/08/five-years-ago-acorn-fights-back-with-reduced-losses-2106207/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=5 May 2013 | title=Five years ago: Acorn fights back with reduced losses | work=[[ZDNet]] | date=8 March 2002 | access-date=15 December 2011 | quote=Developing and licensing technologies for Internet solutions and interactive TV has also lead us to markets in the US, Japan and Korea, whereas before, we were primarily involved in dealing with UK schools and colleges. }}</ref> either selling its own products or earning money from licence fees paid by other manufacturers for the right to produce their own NCs. To that end, two of Acorn's major projects were the creation of a new 'consumer device' operating system named Galileo, and, in conjunction with Digital Semiconductor and ARM, a new StrongARM chipset consisting of the SA-1500 and SA-1501. Galileo's main feature was a guarantee of a certain [[quality of service]] to each process in which the resources (CPU, memory, etc.) required to ensure reliable operation would be kept available regardless of the behaviour of other processes.<ref>[http://www.poppyfields.net/acorn/news/acopress/97-02-10b.shtml Acorn Looks to the Stars With New Galileo Operating System] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192905/http://www.poppyfields.net/acorn/news/acopress/97-02-10b.shtml |date=3 March 2016}}, Acorn Computer Group press release, 10 February 1997</ref> The SA-1500 sported higher clock rates than existing StrongARM CPUs and, more importantly, a media-focussed coprocessor (the Attached Media Processor or AMP). The SA-1500 was to be the first release target for Galileo.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dnd.utwente.nl/topix/texts/aw97.html|title=TopixWEB - Acorn World '97 Transcripts|website=dnd.utwente.nl|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303182719/http://www.dnd.utwente.nl/topix/texts/aw97.html|archive-date=3 March 2016|access-date=13 October 2005}}</ref>

After having incorporated its STB and NC business areas as separate companies, Acorn created a new wholly owned subsidiary, Acorn RISC Technologies (ART). ART focused on the development of other software and hardware technologies built on top of ARM processors.<ref name="jointeduventure" />
{{clear}}