Mark Oakley glows with pride as he takes a look at some of the developments, hardware, apps and games that showcase Britain’s technological prowess
If you could indulge me for just a moment, could I ask you to take a look around your computer workspace. Really take a look at it and think about where all the technology that you use everyday comes from. The chances are that the people who put your computer together, shipped your peripherals, buffed up the glass on your monitor, manufactured the console perched on the end of the table, boxed up your hard drive… well, the chances are that they came from all over the world.
As the globalised economy has grown, so our technology has been increasingly sourced from the Far East and The Americas. Britain, shame though it is, plays a much lesser role in the manufacture of much of our technology that you might wish to believe is the case. Even a quick glance at the free Power Bar charger that EE gave to me as one of its loyal customers features those all-too-familiar words ‘Made in China’. It wasn’t always like this, though.
Time was when buying in Britain really meant buying British, when Acorns, Sinclairs and Amstrads ruled home computing long before Apple and Microsoft rose to dominate the industry. While it might be tempting to dismiss the concept of British technology as a thing of the past, confined to one of our fine museums dedicated to computing’s history, the truth is that technological innovation is alive and well in Britain. In fact, here are some of the success stories that are worth celebrating, alongside some reminders of our past achievements. So stand up, wave your flags in the air, and sing the National Anthem. Yes, this really is the Best of British!
Blowing Rasperries
No article about British innovation would be worth reading without mentioning the Raspberry Pi. The barebones PC from the Raspberry Pi Foundation can be rightly said to be in no small part responsible for the upsurge in recent popular interest in coding in schools.
The idea that a whole new generation is getting to know coding via the Raspberry Pi is genuinely exciting and we should all be grateful to the Raspberry Foundation, Farnell Components and everyone else involved for their hard work on this. There are other single-board PCs around, of course, but none have captured the imagination quite like the Raspberry Pi. Indeed, over five million units have now been sold, which is a remarkable achievement for a product that has only been going since 2012.
With a fantastic, intelligent community behind it and a marketing push that has seen such a mighty uptake to date, the Raspberry Pi stands out as one of the real British success stories of the 21st century.
Pulling Your ARM
In the processor industry, Intel and AMD have long dominated. At least, that’s the layman’s view. There is, of course, a third player in the market that dutifully flies the British flag. I’m writing, of course, about ARM Holdings.
The Cambridgeshire-based semiconductor design company has been around since 1990 and it is chiefly known for its architecture, widely seen in processors with the ARM name, and used within much of the portable technology today’s generation is used to using. Most notably, ARM (advanced RISC machine) architecture is under the hood of Apple’s iPhones, iPads and iPods, while also being spotted under some Chromebooks and smart TVS. So, a good portion of households in the western world likely has a device that has ARM’s fingerprints somewhere on it. ARM’s range of processors accounts for over a quarter of all electronic products shipped around the world today, according to its website, with 15 billion classic ARM chips having been shipped to date. Now that’s a success story.
What’s perhaps most interesting about ARM’s operation, though, is that it actually licenses its technology to other companies, including Apple, Samsung, and Qualcomm. This innovative approach to business has helped ARM to become ubiquitous in the mobile devices industry, despite the fact that its brand name remains very much under the radar.
To help it achieve the scale of distribution it does, ARM has offices around the world and it deserves recognition as one of Britain’s very greatest success stories.
Think Big
Widening our gaze for a moment, I wanted to focus on some of the very greatest innovations currently dominating the world outside of IT. For example, 3D printing has become hugely important in the field of medicine with the US recently approving a 3D-printed pill proving to be the latest in a long line of possible applications. Organ printing is a key one, of course, with organs printed from a patient’s own cells very much part of the scientific and medical conversation right now.
Scotland’s Heriot-Watt University has played a key role in the development of 3D printing, within the field of organ replacement in particular. Over the past few years, researchers from Edinburgh have come up with a technique for the production of stem cell clusters to speed up the artificial organ production process. So, as 3D printing could very well be one of the single most important scientific innovations of the 21st century, it’s great to know that the Brits are at the forefront of some of its potential applications.
Plastic electronics is the process of printing electronics directly onto substrates, potentially ripping up the rulebook by allowing smartphones and tablets with bendy screens or placing electronics onto packaging. The process could also see components printed directly onto surfaces, rather than onto a circuit board. The result is lower costs and Cambridge University was the home of the genesis of this technology with researchers at its Cavandish Laboratory pioneering work into finding out more about how this could be utilised on a practical level. As the University’s website states, interactive playing cards and artificial skin are just two of potentially many uses of this technology, which could also lead to cheaper and easier-to-manufacture products.
In Bristol, OC Robotics is working on its LaserSnake project, which essentially moves a robotic arm connected to a laser cutting tool designed to work in tight spaces. The project received a £6m government grant in 2013, which backs up the UK government’s view that it is actively encouraging innovation in the country.
More recently, the increased adoption of Bitcoin has been wellreceived by the British government. It has, along with the Bank of England, supported the view that the digital currency has its place in the economy and will look into regulation in that respect. With the likes of Barclays reported as being among institutions interested in adopting bitcoin technology going forward, this is another example of forward-thinking among us Brits.
Systems, They’re Doing It For Themselves
An area of rich rewards for the British computing industry in recent years has undoubtedly been the system builder market. Consumers keen to specify and customise their own systems rather than opt for ready-made boxes from Microsoft, Dell and such have a myriad of options at their disposal and that’s down to some of Britain’s fantastic custom builders.
One of the most well-known is arguably Chillblast, an awardwinning builder of custom PCs, no less. Chillblast is based out of Poole and it can proudly boast a batch of awards from the UK computer press for its work in building and testing a custom-built PC for its customers. From home office desktops to gaming rigs, Chillblast is one among our many proud PC building companies that is flying the flag for the humble PC. The PC market may be in decline, but it’s arguable that system builders hold the key to any sort of future.
Chillblast isn’t alone in being worthy of praise, of course. There’s also the likes of Yorkshire’s CCL, Newcastle-Under-Lyme’s Overclockers, Wakefield’s PC Specialist and London’s Mesh Computers. While system building isn’t the sole preserve of the Brits, it is worth noting that we do have something of a habit of going about our building business. Many of these companies have been around for decades and it’s pleasing to note that, in a world of next-generation consoles, high-end smartphones and touchscreen devices galore, custom-building of PCs for customers who know what they want is still holding it own.
Auntie Beeb
There can be little doubt in my mind that the BBC is responsible for some of the very worst atrocities that my eyes have ever been privy to. Ben Elton’s sitcom The Wright Way, Snog Marry Avoid, and Hole In The Wall are just a few of the many truly awful shows the corporation has been responsible for.
Conversely, the BBC remains a champion of innovation, not least with the development of the iPlayer. The launch of the iPlayer in 2007 ushered in widespread adoption of catch-up television and radio services and I’ve long been a champion of the service.
Since those early days, the BBC has ensured that the iPlayer’s development has never stood still, not least by rolling out an excellent, associated range of mobile apps – and most recently providing the Radio iPlayer service with an all-encompassing 30-day Listen Again service for any and every show broadcast across the BBC’s range of audio programming. When people talk about the BBC in terms of whether it offers value-for-money, there is no doubt in my mind that the corporation’s digital services are more than enough justification for its existence (and, in truth, I’m rather fond of much of Auntie Beeb’s programming, particularly the excellent music documentaries you find on BBC Four).
Away from its crowning glory of the iPlayer, the BBC has also recently reintroduced the BBC Micro project in the form of the BBC Micro Bit pocket computer. In another ground-breaking educational project that will see the computer handed out to a million school kids across the UK, the Micro Bit project has brought the BBC’s innovative approach to technology full circle. Together with its Bitesize educational learning resources, its educational apps for kids, and its ever-evolving website, the institution is one we should all be proud of.
So, the BBC then. On the one hand, a genuine driver of technological innovation within broadcasting and education for generations. On the other hand, the broadcaster of Danny Dyer: I Believe In UFOs. Figure that one out – and feel free to get in touch if you do.
Paying Around: Apps and Games
The recently-opened National Video Game Arcade in Nottingham – which stakes a claim for deserving a mention in this article too for its highly innovative exhibits showing that gaming isn’t confined to a joypad – has shone a light on the influence that British developers have had on our gaming past.
On a personal level, The Bitmap Brothers and Sensible Software had a deeply profound impact on my own life. The words ‘cult classic’ pretty much define everything that The Bitmap Brothers was about, with a punky sensibility and an attitude towards game design that made the studio stand out from the rest. Speedball, Xenon, The Chaos Engine; all are genuine classics of their respective genres and stand out in my mind as genuine gaming greats. The thing that made The Bitmap Brothers unique among developers was that this was super-stylish, edgy design, purposely intended to stand out and shake the gaming industry up. There have been many articles written on how this was the punk-rock of game design, and this approach helped to put The Bitmap Brothers front and centre of the UK gaming industry at the time.
The Bitmap Brothers were also famous at the time for handling their own distribution via Renegade Software, which was additionally responsible for distributing other company’s games, including Sensible Software’s Sensible Soccer, and the outstanding follow-up Sensible World of Soccer, both of which remain notable reference points for football titles and had a graphics style that Sensible mirrored in the likes of Cannon Fodder and Mega-Lo-Mania. All are classics, but it’s Sensible Soccer that remains influential today.
For modern gamers, Rockstar and Rocksteady are arguably the biggest innovators in the gaming industry. Rockstar North is the Edinburgh-based subsidiary of the multi-national game developer and it was this company – then known as DMA Design – that was responsible for Lemmings and the original Grand Theft Auto games. Of course, we all know how successful both those franchises turned out to be. With Grand Theft Auto in particular, Rockstar could have a claim on having helped to bring the modern levels of violence to video games with the original game pilloried in the British press. In 2013, its latest in the franchise – Grand Theft Auto V – became one of the biggest-selling games of all time, as well as one of the best critically-received.
As for London-based Rocksteady, its Arkham series of Batman titles has arguably become the finest trilogy of superhero games ever, altering the received wisdom that superheroes and film characters simply don’t make for good videogames. While latest release Arkham Knight has been criticised for the shoddy standard of its bug-riddled PC release, the console version has gone on to do fantastic business once again.
Nowadays, of course, mobile gaming is the same big business as PCs and consoles have long been. However, because of the nature of mobile gaming, innovation is often more important if you want to entice gamers to part with their money. One of the most innovative games in recent years was The Room, an outstanding first-person puzzler that was developed by Guildford’s Fireproof Studios. The Room deservedly went on to win a BAFTA for Best British Game.
Revolution Software is housed in York is is responsible for the Broken Sword franchise of apps. 25-years-young, Revolution Software has cited Apple for saving its bacon and it’s even used Kickstarter to help fund its recent fifth iteration of the classic adventure game. There are countless further examples of Brits pushing the envelope in mobile gaming, not least Inkle’s awardwinning romp 80 Days and ustwo’s global success Monument Valley. Both are fine recent examples of how British innovation has made mobile gaming a better place to be.
Outside of games, the British also have their fingerprints all over some of the world’s most innovative and successful apps, too. Yahoo News Digest started out life as Summly an app invented by an English teenager and computer programmer called Nick D’Aloisio back in 2011. With Yahoo acquiring his company in 2014, D’Aloisio is said to be worth millions but, ignoring the figures for a moment, he’s living proof that with a healthy dose of innovative thinking (and a spot of luck) great things can be achieved in the mobile industry.
Things like Blippar and its use of augmented reality to bring adverts to life and give companies a fresh platform via which they can engage with consumers. Nosy Crow is another notable company doing interesting things within the mobile space, with the children’s publisher putting together books that use an iPad’s features to help bring the stories to life, while making sure that the stories remain front and centre. The illustrations are astounding and it’s great to see apps for kids that parents can enjoy too.
These are just a few examples of UK companies proving their worth in the mobile industry – P2 Games is another publisher that’s worth looking up – and, like the other companies mentioned here, they all form part of a rich UK industry dedicated to technological innovation that has, in many cases, impacted on the entire world.
Sinclair, Amstrad And The Glorious 80s
It is 30 years this year since the Commodore Amiga was launched. Yes, yes, I know Commodore was a North American company, but this is a significant point as it’s fair to say that the Amiga ushered in an age of computing that was to lay the grounding for the multimedia systems we know and love today.
It’s also arguable that it trounced what came before it for British consumers, namely systems coming out of Sinclair and Amstrad. In many respects, the massive advancement in processing power and graphical capabilities that Commodore’s system brought to the world ushered in a whole new era for gaming enthusiasts such as myself. Everything that had been previously introduced by our two major electronics companies was surpassed, and then some, by this gaming god.
That’s quite enough of that, though. Yes, Commodore’s Amiga was great and, certainly for writers of a certain age this, a watershed in terms of gaming technology. For those of us wanting to partake in a bit of coding in between games of Match Day II, however, Sinclair and Amstrad remain pivotal players in gaming’s history.
The 80s was a truly innovative time for the British computer industry. 1982 saw the release of the ZX Spectrum, the UK’s best-selling computer at the time and a serious contender for the most important system to ever come of out Britain. Viewed fondly as one of the forefathers of the UK computing industry, the system has even been given fresh life (kind of) by a couple of modern interpretations. Personally, I was a Spectrum man, but the UK computing history would have been far poorer without the competition put forward by Amstrad.
The CPC range fared well during the battle for our cash in the 80s and following the company’s purchase of Sinclair, the resulting ZX Spectrum +2 would also prove a winner, famous for having a tape recorder attached to it. This might seem ridiculous now, but at the time these were forward-thinking ideas that helped to make our industry so revered around the globe.
Today, Apple and Microsoft dominate the industry and it’s difficult for younger audiences to imagine such a keenly-fought battle between two such British-based major players. Truth be told, we may never see a time quite like that again.
BBC Micro: Bringing Coding Into Schools
Among the BBC’s many great innovative achievements in technology, the BBC Micro has arguably had the greatest, most widespread impact.
Designed by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, the idea was to give people a grounding in computers via a ten-part series that was to be accompanied by the availability of the BBC Micro itself. Allowing viewers to join in with the programme and try out what the presenters were doing on screen, this was genuinely ground-breaking stuff.
The BBC Micro itself became frighteningly popular in schools with a huge proportion of them owning one during the decade, helped out in funding by government subsidies. Teaching a whole generation about computer literacy and coding, the BBC Micro retains so many fond memories for swathes of adults all over the UK. For many of us, this was our first introduction to computing, and it was all possible because of some smart chaps over at the BBC.
Innovate UK
Did you know that the government actually runs its own innovation agency? Innovate UK “works with people, companies and partner organisations to find and drive the science and technology innovations that will grow the UK economy.”
The agency is essentially responsible for deciding on what science and tech projects, aimed at developing future economic growth, deserve funding. It also helps to connect innovators with partners to make a success of things.
Since 2007, the agency has invested over £1.5bn in innovation, helping over 5,000 innovative companies in projects that have been estimated to add £7.5bn to the UK economy – creating 35,000 new jobs.
Lovely.
First Steps
We simply had to mention the world’s first digital electronic computer. The Colossus, which you can see for yourself at The National Museum of Computing of course, was created in the 1940s and was probably most famous for helping to crack German ciphers during the Second World War.
Beyond that, how about the theory of the Universal machine put forward by Alan Turing? The theoretical basis for everything we now know as computing was put on paper by Turing with his system of a device that would be capable of reading symbols on a tape, with the tape then powering the machine. Little surprise that this won the 2013 vote for the Greatest British Innovation poll.
We Brits have a bit of a history at this sort of thing, you know?
Jonathan Ive: Mr Innovation
Perhaps no British man or woman has had as much impact on modern technology as Jonathan Ive. His work as Apple’s head of Industrial Design, most recently leading to his title as Chief Design Officer, has even bagged him a knighthood in recognition for his “services to design and enterprise”.
Ive’s work at Apple has seen the creation of some of the most iconic technological designs in modern times, with videos of Ive himself having been steadily put front and centre of new Apple releases. Put to work on the iMac as one of his first design projects, the resulting iMac G3 model remains as startling a redesign now as it surely was then. His work with the company helped to bring design to the forefront of Apple’s product launches and this in itself was an innovative rethink on how to approach product releases at the time.
The iPod and its clickwheel would perhaps be Ive’s greatest, most-recognised achievement. To this day, THAT clickwheel stands out as a truly unique approach to navigation on an MP3 player, and back when it first came out it was head and shoulders above any other MP3 player navigation on the market. Most players were clunky, chunky affairs. The iPod was slim, slick and had this navigation system to die for. The early iPods paved the way for the designs that would come after it, slimmer touchscreen models that would eventually lead to the modern-day iPhone. The impact of the iPod on both the hardware and digital music industry cannot be understated. So ubiquitous are iPods, iPhones and, of course, iPads, nowadays that millions and millions of households around the world have Jonathan Ive’s design imprint all over them.
Ive and his close-knit team have helped to shape the digital world we live in. Think what you like about Apple and its products, but there is no denying that Ive deserves his place in any innovation hall of fame.