Beebug Ltd.
Company typePrivate
IndustryComputer networking, publishing
FoundedSt Albans, UK (1982 (1982))
Founder
  • Sheridan Williams
  • Lee Calcraft
Headquarters,
UK
ProductsSoftware, books
Websitebeebug.co.uk

Beebug is a computing company. It was formed in 1982 and has operated in various computing sectors. In the 1980s and '90s it was an influential company in the Acorn Computers market.

Its activities have included development of hardware and publishing of books, magazines and software. With the rise in popularity of the PC compatible in the 1990s, the company concentrated on the schools education market.

History edit

The BBC Micro promotional leaflet from September 1981 included a Beebug subscription letter.[1] The company was formed by Lee Calcraft and Sheridan Williams in 1982. Calcraft and Williams were contributors to Personal Computer World magazine (PCW) at the time, and Calcraft was writing under pseudonyms in PCW, Acorn User and The Micro User.[2] The name Beebug is derived from "Beeb" (the BBC Micro) and "user group".[3][4]

The first newsletter for the user group was dated April 1982, with the user group being described as an "independent national user group for the BBC Microcomputer", and a "registered referral centre for the BBC Project".[5]

After the 1987 launch of the Acorn Archimedes, Beebug established a division devoted to the new architecture called Risc Developments.

Publishing edit

The company established the magazines BEEBUG (April 1982), ELBUG, RISC User (November 1987) and the ill-fated Acorn Action (which had less than 200 subscribers and only lasted one issue: July/August 1994).

Published books included Wimp Programming for All,[2] File handling for all,[6] Getting Into Ovation[2] and The PC Survival Guide.[7]

Software edit

DeskEdit,[2] ArcScan,[2], Ovation Pro,[8], Sleuth,[9][10] Quickcalc,[11] EasyC/C++[9][12]

Hardware edit

Master 128 modem[13]

References edit

  1. ^ "BBC Microcomputer System". The Centre for Computing History website, exhibit CH10300. The Centre for Computing History. Retrieved November 01, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e Nostalgia World, RISC World, 1(3)
  3. ^ RISC User ...In A Nutshell, Eureka, 35, Peter Jennings
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ "Beebug newsletter vol.1 no.1". BEEBUG. April 1982. Retrieved November 01, 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  6. ^ Allum, Mike (April 1991). "File handling for all". Archive. Vol. 4, no. 7. p. 12. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  7. ^ The PC Survival Guide, Eureka, 17, James Overton
  8. ^ CD-ROM Upgrade, Eureka, 37, Peter Jennings
  9. ^ a b [2]
  10. ^ [3]
  11. ^ [4]
  12. ^ [5]
  13. ^ [6]

File:Beebug-RiscPC-NetworkCard-Bottom.jpg

For BEEBUG:

External links edit