A podcast designed to explain why the UK’s computer industry failed to emulate the success of IBM despite the impetus of building pioneering systems both technically and in terms of the uses the computers were put to.

The explanations are broad-brush, not surprising given the number of years covered and the complexity of the subject. The result is a story narrated with confidence and plausibility pinpointing many relevant decisions over the course of many decades. But equally the approach has a number of important gaps which reduce the value of the broadcast. There is only a single mention of LEO (19 minutes into the broadcast) but without any explanation of the role it played. Nor is the attempt by the European computer companies, including LEO, to provide a united front to combat the advance of IBM and the US computer industry in Europe covered.

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