Happy New Year!

Many of you started your IT careers with Acorn computers and some of you will
be feeling old when I remind you that Acorn User magazine started 25 years ago
this year. Qercus magazine took over from Acorn User a few years ago when it
merged with Acorn Publisher but, for 2007, the name Acorn User will be
returned to the masthead whilst we celebrate those 25 years.

Acorn User arrived on the scene just as the sales of the BBC B computer were
showing that the 1,000 to 2,000 machines they expected to sell might be a
slight (!!) under-estimate.

If you were involved in Acorn, Acorn products, or IT using Acorn computers
then we would love to hear from you. Over the year we will be covering the
history of the product range from the Atom, BBC A&Bs, Masters, and Electron to
the Archimedes, A-series, and RiscPCs - and beyond Acorn.

In addition to publishing 'look-back' articles in Qercus/Acorn User we will be
including new articles, archive 're-prints', and series brought up to date on
our on-line 'Qercus Extra' site. The next issue of Qercus/Acorn User will be
at the end of the month and on-line material will be revealed to accompany
each issue of the paper magazine throughout the year.

To get the ball rolling we have the covers and contents list for Acorn User
issues for 1982 revealed ready with hints of some of the extra material that
will feature in February's issue of Qercus/Acorn User. More will be added
later in the month and examples from the whole period of Acorn User by the end
of the year.

www.acornuser.com

If you would like to contribute to Qercus/Acorn User or to Qercus Extra then
please get in touch with me at the address in the sig.

Notes:

Acorn computers formed the backbone of the BBC computer literacy project and
the introduction of computers in schools in the UK. The BBC A and BBC B
computers were follwed by the BBC B+ and Master series with the Acorn Electron
following as a cheaper home computer.
The company were later responsible for a second revolution with the
introduction of the 32-bit RISC computers with schools mainly buying the BBC
A3000 computers and others in the Archimedes series including the A4000,
A5000, A3020, and A4 portables. The A3010 was released as a games machine.
Schools also used the later RiscPCs (600, 700 & StrongARM) and the A7000 and
A7000+ computers.

Qercus is a magazine published approximately 6 weekly. A 12-issue subscription
costs 49.95 GBP (UK). Qercus was formed on the amalgamation of Acorn User and
Acorn Publisher magazines. Articles in Qercus concentrate on tutorials which,
though based on Acorn/RISC OS software, are mostly applicable to all computer
platforms. Graphics (bit-mapped, vector, and CAD) tutorials are an essential
feature of the magazine. Single copies of the current issue are available for
4.20 GBP (UK post free if you mention uk.education.schools.it) or you can ask
for a free past-issue example copy.

Have a good New Year!

-- 
John Cartmell - john AT qercus.com  www.qercus.com   www.acornuser.com
	Qercus/Acorn User: reporting on computers & computing since 1982
	Qercus/Acorn User, 30 Finnybank Rd Sale M33 6LR  == 0845 006 8822