Chris Cox of Acorn RISC Technologies @ ROUGOL / Mon 18th Feb 2019

Early notification of the February meeting of the RISC OS User Group Of London:

Acorn RISC Technologies, presented Chris Cox, computer division manager at ART

Monday 18th February 2019, 7.45pm

The Blue-Eyed Maid (upstairs in the restaurant)
173 Borough High Street
London, SE1 1HR

http://rougol.jellybaby.net/meetings/index.html

Those who were around the RISC OS scene in the 1990s will remember Chris Cox as one of the main public faces of Acorn at shows and as head of The Clan.

Chris joined Acorn in 1994 as Marketing Manager for the enthusiast sector, which was when The Clan was launched. He did this for two years until the formation of ART (Acorn RISC Technologies) at which point he became manager of the Computer Business Unit.

This department was built up, thanks mainly to the launch of the StrongArm card in 1996, and he carried on there until the computer business and Acorn was shut down in 1998 at the formation of Element 14 and the sale of the ARM shareholding.

Chris will be talking about and answering questions on his time at ART, the successes, the failures, and the fateful final days of Acorn.

More info here – http://rougol.jellybaby.net/meetings/index.html

ROUGOL’s venue is easy to reach by public transport from in and around London and the south east:
- 2 minutes walk from Borough tube station
- 5 minutes walk from London Bridge station
- 10 minutes from Waterloo (two stops eastbound on the Jubilee line to London Bridge)
- 20 minutes from Euston and Kings Cross/St Pancras (southbound on the Bank branch of the Northern Line to Borough)

ROUGOL meetings take over the pub’s upstairs restaurant for the evening. Entry is free, food & drink plentiful (but not free!).

Quick reminder that this is now less than two weeks away. It is sure to be an interesting insight into the final years of Acorn. Do come along, entry is free!

Final reminder that the meeting is this Monday (tomorrow!). It will also be a chance to hear and chat about what happened at the SW Show.

I wonder if there is a remote way – of joining in with these meetings?

I wonder if there is a remote way – of joining in with these meetings?

In January 2013 I gave a lecture under the auspices of Skills Matter in Clerkenwell where the venue was very well equipped for remote viewing. I believe that they have since moved to a new venue, which is no doubt equally well equipped.

Chris has (slightly reluctantly) agreed that the meeting can be recorded, despite being concerned it will mean he doesn’t speak as freely for fear of what he says being stuck on the internet for ever more. So expect a delay while it is edited and/or for it never to appear.

This is one of the reasons why it is very unlikely we will ever live stream ROUGOL meetings or the London show talks. It’s hard enough persauding people to give talks without the added pressure of being broadcast to the world.

That’s something I understand very well – I’m hoping to be there tonight (I’ll be in London all day anyway) & will tell him so!

The scariest thing about standing for parliament was the idea that everything I said at hustings or to the media would be recorded.

Whilst I understand the advantages of recording meetings for the benefit of those who can’t attend, I’m just wondering what effect it could have on other groups looking to ‘book’ the same speakers. Speakers could take the view that they’ve attended the relativity accessible London venue¹, so there’s no point travelling further afield, and potential visitors to the other groups might question the need to turn up if they’ve already watched the talk on the internet.

These are really just musings, as I’d very likely watch any recording myself. At the same time, I’m aware that it’s getting harder to book speakers from the market, and am curious as to whether this is actually to everyone’s benefit long term.

As you were…

¹ Or that they’ve made the effort to get to another group’s location, which might have been easier for them.

As I get older, and as public transport falls apart, I find myself using YouTube rather more for listening to music and watching lectures; and I am grateful for that. Of course I would much rather attend in person, meet old friends and make new. But it maybe that we are heading for a dystopia in which only the young and the rich can make a choice in the matter.

Chris has (slightly reluctantly) agreed that the meeting can be recorded, despite being concerned it will mean he doesn’t speak as freely for fear of what he says being stuck on the internet for ever more.

Some flawed logic there. Unless everyone at the meeting signs an NDA, anything he says might as well be broadcast on the Internet.

This is one of the reasons why it is very unlikely we will ever live stream ROUGOL meetings or the London show talks.

It’s an excuse not a reason!

Speakers could take the view that they’ve attended the relativity accessible London venue1, so there’s no point travelling further afield, and potential visitors to the other groups might question the need to turn up if they’ve already watched the talk on the internet.

Speaking for myself, I’d only ever go to a local venue to give a talk as I’m covering the cost. If the talk I did at ROUGOL was recorded, I wouldn’t have to do it again and it would be available on the internet for others that couldn’t attend to watch!

There’s really only one reason to do a talk in person (unless you’re getting paid) and that’s to interact with the audience. If you want to just get your story across, you can post it on the internet.

Some flawed logic there. Unless everyone at the meeting signs an NDA, anything he says might as well be broadcast on the Internet.

Two points about that: (1) it’s not just a matter of logic, it’s a matter of psychology too; and (2) even logically, there’s a world of difference between a video recording of your talk, and someone saying, “As I remember it, this is what he said.” Even notes taken during a talk (if anyone does such a thing) carry much less weight than a video recording.

There is a considerable difference between ‘what is acceptable’ as part of a ‘live performance’ and what is then repeated verbatim or by out of context extract, or after facts have changed with time.

(An example – recorded, might be that of the weather forecast ‘given’ by Michael Fish – but not actually FORECAST by him, but by a colleague … Michael is the one on repeated viewings remembered by all ! The LATE NIGHT forecast – just before ‘closedown’ was also normally recorded PRIOR to the forecast alongside the 9’oclock (at that time) evening news … giving an opportunity to do a rerun on the rare occasion of an error [ which was sometimes then broadcast by mistake! instead of the corrected version >>Christmas Tape Material ] OR if the weather forecast was considered to have changed, it could still be given live, or redone later … allowing some staff to go home earlier. [Tomorrow’s World was occasionally a recording of a fault-free rehearsal if the booked VT was not required for an insert .. .. but studio recordings would normally be double recorded to allow for faults on machines/tape.

We are all used to watching edited television of perfect performances – even quiz shows have had edits to hide technical errors (my memories of that going back to the 70’s) – sometimes resulting in a humerous wrong answer being given, when the need was to repeat a section. Now on Have I got News for You – we often get shown the stops and retakes.

Coughs, splutters, hesitation are a part of ‘real life’, and may well occur during a live, interactive presentation or talk.
However, they may be considered embarrassing or simply undesirable to the participant afterwards – who is not reviewing it as a means of improving the next time..

Also, questions and comments made by ‘the audience’ off mike – MAY possibly have been heard by those there, but are rarely picked up by the microphone – without introducing a considerable delay whilst it is passed to the new speaker – purely for those not in attendance.

We did record the original Guildford show talks – but there was no real interest in them – and no streaming internet then. Just complaint that normal definition TV looked ‘soft’ compared to a computer monitor display – which is true. [SO the last show was videoed with HD cameras]

There’s really only one reason to do a talk in person (unless you’re getting paid) and that’s to interact with the audience. If you want to just get your story across, you can post it on the internet.

True, although there’s also the reason of supporting the group that you’re visiting.

This was kind-of why I asked the question: it’s starting to get quite difficult to get people to do talks at RISC OS user groups now, at least outside of London. This raises the interesting question of whether groups should be trying to get regular programmes of speakers, or just act as a social forum and leave the talks to YouTube.

And if the latter, what topics would happen without the catalyst of a user group meeting to get them off the ground? Organisations like the Centre For Computing History seem to do a good job of finding people like Chris Cox, but what about demos of new hardware and software?

The video of Chris Cox’s talk at ROUGOL is now online – https://youtu.be/ULiSi2-E8-M