Micro Men Page #4

Well, things do seem to be going well.

Fifty thousand pounds.

Doing the old college proud, eh?

And so it is with great pride

that I take on this role

of president of this organisation

of like-minded individuals.

Where to be clever, is to be among friends.

Thank you.

Mr Sinclair?

Excuse me.

Yes.

We'd love to congratulate you on your speech.

My name's Susan, and this is Mindy, and Barbara.

Hello!

Hello. And you're enjoying the symposium?

Oh yeah - everyone's very lovely,

and all these clever people.

It's so inspiring that you can develop

so many projects at once.

Quite. Sinclair Research is making significant

progress with the portable television,

the home computing system,

and - what I'm most proud of -

the personal electric transport.

Well, I'm just full of admiration for any man

that can take care of three things

at the same time.

Good, good. That's good, because as president -

I really want to promote the organisation

as being fundamentally social.

What you were saying about being able

to put every book ever written

into a machine the size of a sugar cube -

were you serious?

Oh, absolutely, yes. This quest

for miniaturisation is a major credo of mine -

to reduce the size of something -

making it more efficient and convenient -

that's right at the heart of everything I do.

Still, it's nice to get your hands

on something - big, once in a while.

See you later.

No, I appreciate you calling me back.

It's not easy to actually speak to

someone from the BBC.

Acorn Computers, customer help desk.

Well, quite. What I want to stress is that we're

doing some really interesting work here -

Have you actually plugged it in?

- and all we're saying is that we should get

the same chance that Newbury's getting to -

When did they pull out?

Afternoon sir.

Ah, yes, hello.

Did the speech go well?

Yes. It seemed to create some interest.

That's nice. Nigel told me to

give you a message -

he said the Newbury Newbrain is out of the race.

I knew it! Have the BBC called us yet?

Yes, they wanted a proposal from us

As I predicted.

And also proposals from Dragon, Oric,

Camputer - and Acorn.

Get me Acorn on the phone, now.

This is Clive Sinclair -

I'd like to speak to Chris Curry.

He's bloody where?!

He's sharper than a serpent's tooth.

Yes, but he's nowhere near ready.

How do you know?

Well everyone knows. They're not like us Clive -

they don't operate in secret.

Cocky like that.

Very well. Let him make a fool of himself,

then these broadcasters will have to

come grovelling to me.

How long?

Four days.

Four days?

They want the programme on the air

in the new year.

Four days!

Christ! I know, but I was standing there

with my foot in the door -

what was I supposed to say?

'Don't come, because the computer I'm trying

to sell you doesn't actually exist.'

Is there any chance? By Friday?

What will Roger and Steve say?

What do you think they will say?

They'll say it can't be done.

Perhaps they just need a little encouragement.

Roger! Hermann. I have a question for you.

Can you adapt the new machine

for the BBC spec? We've got a week.

I understand.

He says it cannot be done.

I knew it. Bugger!

So, I ask you Steve.

You think it can be done?

No? I'm surprised when you tell me this.

Because Roger told me that he thought it was

possible to do it in a few days.

Yes, he seemed to believe so.

But I will tell him that you disagree, no?

Roger! Hermann again.

Now, I need your advice.

Steve says he thinks he can do it.

No, he really does.

He seemed very confident.

No, I didn't tell him that you said

it was impossible.

Do you want me to call him back

and tell him that now?

Okay. See you tomorrow.

Sehr gut.

They'll fall flat on their faces.

We need do nothing,

and the contract is ours.

That's what we're going to do? Nothing?

Of course not! Never stand still.

The BBC will be here on Friday morning.

We need to be able to show them

a working prototype that fits this spec.

I know you can do it.

I'll make the tea.

That one.

What if we move the space bar to here?

We could just lose all of this.

At the moment I can't see how that's linking up -

Kebabs, everyone!

That one.

Goodnight sir.

This was the spectacular scene

only a few days ago.

Three and a half thousand special guests -

All right - now we need to wire up

the whole thing.

Good.

Miss one connection, then it won't work.

Shouldn't take too long, should it?

Well - I've done the first seven.

Great.

About three thousand to go.

This time. Come on.

Christ! Dammit. Must be some kind of

contact failure, I don't know.

I thought we had it working?

It must be something -

They're here. I'll try and stall them.

We've had it.

Well - very good of you to come.

We do really appreciate the opportun-

sorry, the opportunity to-

sorry, this thing's about to break.

This is the wire to the development system?

Yes.

You've used a clock wire for this?

This is a breakthrough for us, I hope,

and the BBC as well.

To - have you here.

Sorry, wrong door. This - that can't be.

I'm so sorry, gentlemen -

I feel very embarrassed.

What if the wire is causing a skew

on the internal clock?

It's directly beneath - I'm so sorry.

Why are they going upstairs? It's absolutely

downstairs. Ridiculous.

If we cut this cord -

But that's its backup life support!

At the moment of birth,

if the child is to prosper -

the cord must be cut.

No, no, no!

Here we are, gentlemen. As you can see,

we're only able to show you a -

- Fully functioning prototype.

Marvellous! Let's see what she can do.

Yes, sir?

Cynthia - I'm not taking any calls.

Except from the BBC.

Hello?

Yeah.

Clive Sinclair.

Ah yes - I was expecting your call.

You've-?!

Bloody f***ing hell!

Hey, what are you thinking-

Sorry, that wasn't my aim.

I'd like to add the government backing

to the BBC computer literacy programme,

and I'm proud to announce that the BBC Micro...

will be at the heart of a

new government initiative

to put a computer into

every school in the country.

The exclusive manufacturers of the

BBC Micro, Acorn Computers,

tell me they have already taken twice

the number of anticipated orders.

The public is excited by this new technology,

and Britain is at the forefront of it.

Can we just see you using the machine, minister?

Yes, yes, of course.

If you remember, it's the Return key.

Isn't that absolutely marvellous?

Why even bother with them?

Demand for the ZX81 has been phenomenal.

Our only problem is how to meet the orders.

We're having to step up production -

turnover's looking like over 30 million -

it's incredible.

I want the Spectrum brought forward.

It's still in the developmental stage, Clive -

I'm sorry, I don't know-

We'll meet them head on. Acorn may have

their friends in government and at the BBC,

but Sinclair understands what the

man in the street wants.

Simplicity. Affordability. Elegance.

Elegance above all.

This new BBC micro looks like it was

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