The Acorn & Archimedes A3020 was a personal computer released in 1992 that was primarily used in UK schools. It had a 12MHz ARM 250 32-bit RISC processor, 2MB of RAM expandable to 4MB, and ran the RISC OS operating system. In the mid-1990s, schools began to prefer Windows-based PCs over the Archimedes, contributing to the financial troubles and eventual downfall of Acorn Computers.

1. Acorn & Archimedes A3020
(Whythead, n.d)
Student ID: 1403730

2. Interesting Facts
• Initial release: 1992
• Price: £749-899
• Successor to the BBC Microcomputer
• Primarily used in schools
• Could be bought with Tesco vouchers
• Named after Archimedes of Syracuse
(Paul Vernon, 2011)
(Cockshott, 2013)
(Ripley, 2003)

3. • CPU: 12MHz ARM 250 32bit RISC
• RAM: 2mb expandable to 4mb
• Video: 640x480 (256 colours)
• Sound: Internal mono speaker
• Media: 3.5” Floppy Drive
• ROM: 2mb on board containing RISC
OS 3.1
• Storage: Optional 60mb Hdd (£148
option)
Specifications
(Whythead, n.d)
(Whythead, n.d)
(Whythead, n.d)

4. Advanced/Acorn RISCMachines
and
Reduced Instruction Set Computing
• Tim’s line numbering!
• An alternative to CISC (x86) processors
• Acorn Archimedes the first commercial
computer designed to specifically use an ARM
processor
• Developed by Acorn in partnership with VLSI
• Acorn and Apple joined forces to develop newer
versions of the ARM processor ending up the
creation of ARM Ltd
• ARM processors are very popular as they are
inexpensive and offer great performance with
minimal power usage
(cpushack.com, 2009)

5. RISC OS

6. What happened to the
Archimedes?
• In the mid 90’s schools started to look to
windows based PC’s
• Tesco’s computers for schools scheme
signed a deal with another British
computer manufacturer RM instead of
Acorn
• As a company Acorn fell on hard times and
started focusing on other technologies such
as set top boxes
• Acorn were developing a new RISC
computer called Phoebe, but was cancelled
due to a company re-structure
(Flibble, 2011)

7. References
• Acorn Computers, 1992. Acorn A3020 Vision For The Future. Cambridge: Acorn
Computers.
• Cockshott, T., 2013. bbc-micro. [Art] (Personal Amaze Blog
(http://blog.amaze.com/tag/bbc-micro/)).
• cpushack.com, 2009. VLSIVL2333-QC-ARM-ACORN. [Art] (cpushack.com).
• desktopwallpapers4.me, 2014. Circuit Board Wallpaper. [Art]
(desktopwallpapers4.me).
• Flibble, 2011. Acorn-Phoebe-Case. [Art] (Own-Work).
• Ripley, J., 2003. master. [Sound Recording] (Own work).
• Paul Vernon, 2011. ComputersForSchoolsVoucher. [Art] (Retro-Kit
(http://www.retro-kit.co.uk/)).
• Whythead, C., n.d. A3020C-1. [Art] (Cambridge Centre for Computing History
(http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/)).
• Whythead, C., n.d. A3020C-2. [Art] (Cambridge Centre for Computing History
(http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/)).
• Whythead, C., n.d. A3020C-3. [Art] (Cambrdige Centre for Computing History
(http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/)).
• Whythead, C., n.d. A3020C-4. [Art] (Cambridge Centre for Computing History
(http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/)).
• Whythead, C., n.d. A3020C-6. [Art] (Cambridge Centre for Computing History
(http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/)).