Editing Psion (company) (section)

=== Beginnings (1980–1984) {{anchor|Early development}} ===
Psion was established in 1980 as a software house with a close relationship with [[Sinclair Research]]. The company developed games and other software for the [[ZX81]] and [[ZX Spectrum]] [[home computer]]s, released under the Sinclair/Psion brand. Psion's games for the ZX Spectrum included ''Chess'', ''[[Chequered Flag (video game)|Chequered Flag]]'', ''[[Flight Simulation (Psion software)|Flight Simulation]]'' and the [[Horace series|''Horace'' series]].  Psion Chess was later ported to other platforms, including the early Macintosh in 1984.<ref name = "history">{{cite news
| first= Steve
| last= Litchfield
| title= The History of Psion
| orig-year= 1998| year= 2005
| publisher= UK Online
| url =http://stevelitchfield.com/historyofpsion.htm
| work = Palmtop Magazine
| access-date = 2008-12-27}}
</ref>

Early software releases for the ZX Spectrum included titles such as VU-Calc, VU-File and [[VU-3D]], along with dozens of other titles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekpub.cgi?regexp=^Psion+Software+Ltd$&loadpics=1|title = World of Spectrum - Psion Software Ltd}}</ref>

The company name is an acronym standing for "Potter Scientific Instruments", after the company's founder, [[David E. Potter|David Potter]]. The acronym [[PSI (disambiguation)#As an abbreviation|PSI]] was already in use elsewhere in the world so "ON" was added to make the name unique. Potter remained managing director until 1999 and was chairman of the company until late 2009.

In early 1983, Sinclair approached Psion regarding the development of a suite of office applications for the forthcoming [[Sinclair QL]] [[personal computer]]. Psion were already working on a project in this area, and when the QL was launched in 1984 it was bundled with ''Quill'', ''Archive'', ''Abacus'' and ''Easel''; respectively a [[word processor]], [[database]], [[spreadsheet]], and business graphics application. These were later ported to [[DOS]] and made available for the IBM PC and ACT's [[ACT Sirius|Sirius]] and [[Apricot PC|Apricot]] computers, collectively called ''PC-Four'', or ''Xchange''<ref name="pcw198410">{{cite news |url=https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerWorld1984-10/page/180/mode/2up |title=Straight Xchange |work=Personal Computer World |date=October 1984 |access-date=4 November 2020 |last1=Bright |first1=Peter |pages=180–182}}</ref> in an enhanced version.<ref name= history /> ''Xchange'' was also available for ICL's [[One Per Desk]] computer, which was based on the QL.<ref name="personalcomputerworld198412_opd">{{cite magazine |last1=Tebbutt |first1=David |date=December 1984 |title=ICL OPD |url=https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerWorld1984-12/1984-12/page/120/mode/2up |access-date=3 July 2024 |magazine=Personal Computer World |pages=120–124}} Via Internet Archive.</ref>