alternatehistory.com

As we all know Acorn computers came to prominence with their BBC models A & B, which were originally designed to be used as part of the BBC's computer literacy project and which soon found themselves being installed in schools across the nation (we also know that the BBCs were quite a bit more expensive than their rivals (Spectrum, C64, Amstrad CPCs, et al)). Due to this the BBC (and its successor the Archimedes) got a reputation for being a school computer rather than a home one.

What's not often mentioned is that the very similar, and equally pricey, Apple II also found a niche in the education market, which it, like the BBC, dominated. Yet despite this no one ever shied away from buying an Apple because "it's the computer you use at school. Dork".

So. How could Acorn have overcome this unconscious bias and established itself as a player in the high end home computer market? At least in the UK.
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