Editing Acorn Computers (section)

====The Atom====
{{Main|Acorn Atom}}
{{More citations needed|section called "The Atom"|date=March 2010}}
[[File:Acorn atom zx1.jpg|thumb|The Acorn Atom]]
Development of the [[Sinclair ZX80]] started at Science of Cambridge in May 1979. Learning of this probably prompted Curry to conceive the [[Acorn Atom|Atom]] project to target the consumer market. Curry and another designer, Nick Toop, worked from Curry's home in [[the Fens]] on the development of this machine. It was at this time that Acorn Computers Ltd. was incorporated and Curry moved to Acorn full-time.

It was Curry who wanted to target the consumer market. Other factions within Acorn, including the engineers, were happy to be out of that market, considering a [[home computer]] to be a rather frivolous product for a company operating in the laboratory equipment market.

To keep costs down and not give the doubters reason to object to the Atom, Curry asked industrial designer [[Allen Boothroyd]] to design a case that could also function as an external keyboard for the microcomputer systems.

The internals of the System 3 were placed inside the keyboard, creating a quite typical set-up for an inexpensive home computer of the early 1980s: the relatively successful [[Acorn Atom]].

To facilitate software development, a proprietary local area network had been installed at Market Hill. It was decided to include this, the [[Econet]], in the Atom, and at its launch at a computer show in March 1980, eight networked Atoms were demonstrated with functions that allowed files to be shared, screens to be remotely viewed and keyboards to be remotely slaved.