On This Day - 10th June

1984

Yorkshire Television's Me & My Micro begins on ITV

Yorkshire Television's five-part weekly series Me & My Micro begins on ITV, presented by Fred Harris.

The half-hour programmes were designed to introduce viewers to home computers and programming, using familiar computer games as a way of explaining the fundamentals of BASIC.

The series was aimed at the growing number of people buying home computers such as the BBC Micro, Acorn Electron and Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and was part of the increasing use of television to help people learn about personal computing.

Source: Acorn User, No. 023, June 1984

Contemporary reporting in the June 1984 issue of Acorn User states that a weekly series of five half-hour programmes called Me and My Micro would start on ITV on 10 June 1984. The article identifies Fred Harris as presenter and Yorkshire Television as the programme maker, and describes the series as using familiar computer games to teach the fundamentals of BASIC.

The series was subsequently repeated on Channel 4 from 7 January 1985. Some later databases, including IMDb, list the programme as beginning in 1985; this appears to relate to the later Channel 4 transmission or incomplete programme metadata. The contemporary 1984 Acorn User report is therefore used as the primary evidence for the original ITV start date.

Acorn User No. 023, June 1984

1977

Science of Cambridge incorporated

In June 1977, Science of Cambridge was incorporated by Clive Sinclair and Chris Curry. The company was established following the financial difficulties that had affected Sinclair Radionics and became the beginning of a new phase in Sinclair's electronics business. Despite its name, the company was not primarily a scientific research organisation; it developed and marketed innovative consumer electronics products.

Science of Cambridge is particularly important in the history of British home computing because it produced the MK14, a low-cost single-board computer based around the National Semiconductor SC/MP processor. Introduced in 1978, the MK14 was sold as a kit and helped demonstrate the growing demand for inexpensive personal computers. Chris Curry subsequently became increasingly involved in the computer side of the business, eventually leaving to establish Acorn Computers with Hermann Hauser.

Science of Cambridge later changed its name to Sinclair Computers and subsequently became Sinclair Research. The company's development therefore provides a direct link between Clive Sinclair's earlier electronics business and the computers that followed, including the ZX80, ZX81 and ultimately the ZX Spectrum.

Source: Companies House / Sinclair historical records

Science of Cambridge was incorporated in 1977 and became the company responsible for the MK14 before evolving into Sinclair Computers and later Sinclair Research.

1978

Science of Cambridge launches the MK14

**Science of Cambridge launches the MK14**

Science of Cambridge's MK14 was the company's first microcomputer and an important early step towards the Sinclair ZX80, ZX81 and ZX Spectrum. The project originated with Ian Williamson, who had developed a small computer based around National Semiconductor's SC/MP microprocessor and components from a Sinclair calculator. Chris Curry recognised its potential and persuaded Science of Cambridge to develop it as a commercial kit. The resulting MK14, or Microcomputer Kit 14, was aimed primarily at electronics enthusiasts and computer hobbyists.

Launched in 1978 for around £40, the MK14 provided a surprisingly capable introduction to microcomputing at a very low price. The basic kit included a National Semiconductor SC/MP processor, 256 bytes of RAM, a 512-byte monitor program and an eight-digit, seven-segment LED display operated through a 20-key hexadecimal keyboard. Optional expansion boards provided additional RAM, I/O and interfaces, including the possibility of connecting the computer to a television display and cassette recorder. The MK14 went on to sell tens of thousands of units and helped establish the market that Science of Cambridge would soon exploit with the ZX80.

Source: Electronics Today International — 30 September 1978

Contemporary review states that the MK14 had been launched earlier in 1978. Exact launch day not established.

On This Day - 10th June

Yorkshire Television's Me & My Micro begins on ITV

Also in this month

Science of Cambridge incorporated

Science of Cambridge launches the MK14

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