On This Day - 7th June

On 7 June 1984, Thames Television broadcast the first episode of Database, a new television programme devoted to the rapidly developing world of personal and home computing.

The programme was presented by Tony Bastable, Jane Ashton and Mike Thorne. Bastable was already familiar to television viewers from his time presenting the children's programme Magpie, while Database gave him a very different subject to explore as the use of computers was spreading rapidly into homes, schools and businesses.

Database examined the growing range of applications for personal computers and covered subjects including new computer hardware, software, programming, communications and the ways in which computers were beginning to change everyday life. The programme reflected the growing interest in machines such as the ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, Commodore 64 and other popular home computers.

The programme also demonstrated some of the emerging possibilities of home computing that were still relatively new to the general public. Topics included computer communications and electronic services, showing viewers how a home computer could be connected to systems such as Prestel and used for purposes beyond games and programming.

One particularly interesting feature of Database was its use of broadcast computer software. Computer data could be transmitted as part of a television programme and recorded by viewers onto cassette tape, allowing them to load the software into their own computers. This demonstrated how television itself could be used as a means of distributing computer programs to a mass audience.

The series provides a valuable contemporary record of Britain's home-computer boom during the mid-1980s. At a time when personal computers were changing rapidly and their potential was still being explored, Database introduced television viewers to many of the technologies and ideas that would shape the emerging computer culture.

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.

**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.