Acorn Communicator

The Acorn Communicator is a discontinued business computer developed by Acorn Computers. Mentioned in the computing press in late 1984 as the C30,[1] previewed in early 1985 with estimated pricing between £500 and £800,[2] in late 1985 with a built-in LCD display,[3] and subsequently unveiled in a slightly different form,[4] the system sold in very low numbers to companies requiring a computer with a built-in modem. Orders for the machine were reported in early 1987 from Thorn EMI (500 units) and Pickfords (up to 1400 units).[5] As a dedicated Prestel terminal with built-in word processing and spreadsheet capabilities, the Communicator found a niche market amongst travel agents in the United Kingdom and Italy, who used Prestel (and similar networks) as probably the earliest online booking service.

Acorn Communicator
ManufacturerAcorn Computers
TypeBusiness Computer
Release date1985 (1985)
CPU65816 @ 2 MHz
Memory512–1024 KB RAM
32 KB CMOS RAM
256 KB ROM
InputKeyboard

Features

Alongside its personal computer features, an Acorn brochure for the C series describes a range of telephony facilities offered by the product range including auto-dialling and auto-answering for data and electronic mail, call answering and message storage using optional microcassette hardware, and telex sending. Microcassettes could also support dictation. A real time clock, perpetual calendar, desk diary and calculator are featured.[6]

The system uses a 16-bit Western Design Center 65816 chip rather than the 8-bit MOS Technology 6502 or variants, which were used by virtually all of Acorn's previous microcomputer products. 128 KB or 512 KB RAM could be fitted, expandable to 1024 KB.[7] For display capabilities, it employs the "Aberdeen" ULA originally developed for the Electron (reputed to be the largest ULA or gate array ever developed at that time[8]) and supported a monochrome version of Teletext using software emulation for access to services such as Prestel.[9] Full-colour teletext was supported using an additional expansion board.[10]

RGB and composite video outputs were provided as standard interfaces. A 25-character by 8-line LCD display (256 x 64 pixels) is described as an option and is depicted in the C series brochure, with a monochrome monitor also offered as an option.[6](pp6) One version of the Communicator was initially indicated to provide a teletext adapter "enabling it to receive Ceefax and Oracle",[2] and the C series brochure notes a "cable TV interface for teletext" as optional.[6](pp6)

The machine offered no built-in storage mechanism (such as a disk drive) nor a connector for an external storage mechanism, although this is contradicted by the C series brochure which mentions a 3.5-inch disk drive as an option.[6](pp6) The only way to read and write files was via Econet, and this required a standard Econet module to be installed.[11] A separate file and print server "in the same style as the Communicator itself" offering floppy and hard drive support plus a Centronics printer interface, based on the 6512 CPU and having 64 KB RAM plus 64 KB ROM, was intended to be the means by which Communicator machines would access files and print documents.[9]

The Communicator contained a full office software suite, including View software (word processor), ViewSheet (spreadsheet), and a fully featured Prestel terminal, plus (of course) Econet and many of the interfaces found on the BBC series of computers. The system software that bound the packages together was a mixture of BBC Basic and assembly language. The software development team was led by Paul Bond, a keen pilot who would occasionally fly team members in his Cessna when things were quiet.

First versions of the Communicator were monochrome-only; later (but before first customer delivery), a daughterboard provided full colour.

A briefcase version of the Communicator was apparently offered as the Spectar II by Advanced Medical Communications, supposedly for use by pharmaceutical company representatives, offering a bar code reader and "credit-card size memory packs", with one version having "a flat screen in the briefcase".[12] Acorn records suggest that the memory cards employed the Astron format,[13] apparently being evaluated by Acorn who had acquired one of the "100-or-so" development systems for the technology.[14]

Hardware Details

The Centre for Computing History notes that an example of the machine in their possession does not contain a Ferranti-manufactured ULA, indicating that a Mietec IC with an Acorn part number of 0252,602 could possibly be a ULA from another source.[11] According to archived Acorn documentation, it is indeed a ULA.[15]

Legacy

Ultimately, the Communicator, being a product from Acorn's custom systems division, was apparently abandoned when that division was closed having contributed to "more than two-thirds" of Acorn's £3.3 million loss in 1987.[16] It having been noted that Acorn would "probably throw the computer away and use the case for something else",[9](pp155) Acorn did indeed appear to employ a very similar case for the Master Compact,[17] even incorporating the expansion connector on the right-hand side of the unit.[10](pp61)

References
  1. "Acorn plans new BBCs". Popular Computing Weekly. 20 December 1982. pp. 1, 5. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  2. "Curry reveals 'C' series". Acorn User. January 1985. p. 7. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  3. "Communicator silence". Acorn User. October 1985. p. 7. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  4. "Communicator's wide appeal". Acorn User. December 1985. p. 11. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  5. "Acorn order". Acorn User. March 1987. p. 7. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  6. Acorn C Series (PDF). Acorn Computers Limited.
  7. "Communicator". Chris's Acorns, Centre for Computing History.
  8. "Electron launched... at last". Popular Computing Weekly. 1 September 1983. pp. 1, 5. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  9. Van Someren, Alex (June 1986). "Future of the Communicator". pp. 154, 155. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  10. Cullis, Roger (January 1986). "Acorn Communicator Office Workstation" (PDF). Practical Computing. pp. 61–63. Retrieved 19 October 2020. To provide full-colour teletext the computer may be fitted with a software-controllable Super Teletext daughter board.
  11. "Acorn Communicator". Centre for Computing History.
  12. "Briefcase Acorn". Acorn User. April 1987. p. 7. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  13. Spectar II (Technical report). Acorn Computers Limited. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  14. "The shape of memory to come". Acorn User. May 1986. p. 7. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  15. Communicator. Drawing Number Register (Technical report). Acorn Computers Limited. p. 52. MIETEC ULA SPECIFICATION 0252,602
  16. "Optimism reigns despite '87 losses". Acorn User. June 1988. p. 9. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  17. Atherton, David (November 1986). "Master Compact Great and Small". pp. 101–103. Retrieved 23 October 2020. The keyboard is almost identical to the Master 128, in a case styled on the Acorn Communicator, measuring 426 x 219 x 75mm, about half way between the width of a model B and a Master, and about two-thirds the depth of a model B.


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