VOICES FROM A FUTURE PASSED

Rob Napier presents colorful stories from the engineers, scientists and mathematicians in Cambridge and Silicon Valley who drove innovation and changed the way we live today. For their contributions to science, industry and innovation, two were knighted and others have become IT royalty.
In 1982, the British Broadcasting Corporation launched the BBC Computer Literacy Project to raise awareness of the emerging field of digital electronics; and predicted how it would affect our lives. In the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand millions of viewers tuned in to learn about technology that we now take for granted. Once again, the BBC demonstrated its ability to capture the public's imagination - at home and abroad.
Acorn Computers, a small company in Cambridge, was chosen to build a BBC-branded home computer to accompany the broadcasts. They expected to build 20,000 machines but sold more than 50 times that number. Within five years, Acorn's value had increased by one million times. A year later, it was on the verge of bankruptcy.
Despite Acorn's financial woes, it designed innovative computers and the ARM microchip. From micro:bit and Raspberry Pi to exascale supercomputers, ARM chips are found in mobile phones, smart watches, smart TVs, vehicles, medical devices, data centers, and thousands of other fixed and portable electronic applications.
It began in the UK and the USA, but its effects are now felt across the globe. What followed continues to shape the lives of everyone living today, as it will for future generations.