THE NEAR-ICONS

ACORN ATOM (1980)

The Atom was the predecessor to the BBC Micro, and with 2022 goggles on, looked much more stylish than its successor. Neat fact: the manual for the computer was called Atomic Theory and Practice.

DRAGON 32 (1982)

We love the story of the Dragon 32 – a toy company deciding to build a computer is so mid-1980s – but it was basically a copy of the Tandy TRS-80.

ACORN ELECTRON (1983)

Acorn’s attempts to build a cut-down BBC Micro was beset with difficulty, leading to long delays. By the time it was available, the demand had gone.

SINCLAIR QL (1984)

This could have been a Mac competitor, based around a 16-bit Motorola processor and with a brilliant multitasking OS. Plus a full suite of office software! But poor build quality and delays ultimately strangled the QL at birth.

ACORN ARCHIMEDES (1987)

Not iconic in terms of looks, but this was the first ARM-based computer – admittedly it’s taken the world some time to catch up. It went on to be a stalwart in schools for the next decade.

APPLE POWERBOOK (1991)

The predecessor to the MacBook Pro laid the foundations for Apple laptops. Thank the silicon gods that the trackball embedded beneath the keyboard was one of Apple’s lesser copied innovations.

PSION SERIES 5 (1997)

Yes, yes, yes, the Series 5 was a PDA, but the World’s Most Iconic PDAs would be a very short feature, so it earns an honourable mention here for that brilliant sliding clamshell design and the best mobile keyboard ever.

SONY VAIO X505 (2003)

Before the MacBook Air, there was the VAIO X505 – a ridiculously slender laptop given the components of the age. It was only 0.38in at its thinnest point, although the front-loaded keyboard was an acquired taste.

APPLE MAC MINI (2005)

Apple’s slender slab of metal graces any desk it sits on (unlike the chunkier Mac Studio, which looks like a Mac mini that’s been badly stretched in Photoshop). With M1 internals, it now has power and panache.