John Coll
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John Alexander Coll was a British computer specialist. While teaching physics at Oundle school he built a number of computers and was involved in Micro Users in Secondary Education (MUSE). He helped write the functional description for the
BBC Computer The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a family of microcomputers developed and manufactured by Acorn Computers in the early 1980s as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project. Launched in December 1981, it was showcased across severa ...
and played an important role in convincing senior management at the BBC that it could be done. He later wrote the BBC Microcomputer User Guide which was supplied by
Acorn Computers Acorn Computers Ltd. was a British computer company established in Cambridge, England in 1978 by Hermann Hauser, Christopher Curry (businessman), Chris Curry and Andy Hopper. The company produced a number of computers during the 1980s with asso ...
with the
BBC Micro The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a family of microcomputers developed and manufactured by Acorn Computers in the early 1980s as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project. Launched in December 1981, it was showcased across severa ...
and appeared regularly on the television programmes ''
Making the Most of the Micro ''Making the Most of the Micro'' is a TV series broadcast in 1983 as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project. It followed the earlier series '' The Computer Programme''. Unlike its predecessor, ''Making the Most of the Micro'' delved somewhat ...
'' and ''
Micro Live ''Micro Live'' is a BBC2 TV series that was produced by David Allen as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project, and followed on from earlier series such as '' The Computer Programme'', '' Computers in Control'', and '' Making the Most of th ...
'' which featured the computer.


Professional career

He taught physics at
Keil School Keil School was a school in Dumbarton, Scotland. After opening as a technical college in 1915 it later became an independent school for boys, then became co-educational before closing in 2000. History Kintyre Technical College opened with a roll ...
and then at
Oundle School Oundle School is a public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school, boarding and day school) for pupils 11–18 situated in the market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire ...
where he was also head of Electronics and was also a tutor at Laxton House. At Oundle he learnt to program the school's Data General Nova 2 computer alongside a number of pupils, built a
Motorola 6800 The 6800 ("''sixty-eight hundred''") is an 8-bit microprocessor designed and first manufactured by Motorola in 1974. The MC6800 microprocessor was part of the M6800 Microcomputer System (later dubbed ''68xx'') that also included serial and parall ...
based microcomputer from scratch, designing and etching the
printed circuit board A printed circuit board (PCB), also called printed wiring board (PWB), is a Lamination, laminated sandwich structure of electrical conduction, conductive and Insulator (electricity), insulating layers, each with a pattern of traces, planes ...
s personally and then purchased and built a kit
SWTPC 6800 The SWTPC 6800 Computer System, simply referred to as SWTPC 6800, is an early microcomputer developed by the Southwest Technical Products Corporation and introduced in 1975. It was built around the Motorola 6800 microprocessor, from which it gets ...
computer which was made available to the pupils. His relationship with SWTPC's UK operation helped many former pupils gain gap-year and full-time jobs and a foothold into the computer industry. He was also active with the organisation 'Micro Users in Secondary Education (MUSE)'. With David Allen, he was then asked by the
British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...
to help draw up the functional description for a computer which would be used as part of a television series to teach computer literacy. Of John, of the team at the BBC said "''It was John’s drive, determination and sheer brilliance that really pulled the whole thing off''". He later wrote the BBC Microcomputer User Guide with David Allen which was supplied by
Acorn Computers Acorn Computers Ltd. was a British computer company established in Cambridge, England in 1978 by Hermann Hauser, Christopher Curry (businessman), Chris Curry and Andy Hopper. The company produced a number of computers during the 1980s with asso ...
with the
BBC Micro The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a family of microcomputers developed and manufactured by Acorn Computers in the early 1980s as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project. Launched in December 1981, it was showcased across severa ...
, he appeared regularly on the television programmes ''
Making the Most of the Micro ''Making the Most of the Micro'' is a TV series broadcast in 1983 as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project. It followed the earlier series '' The Computer Programme''. Unlike its predecessor, ''Making the Most of the Micro'' delved somewhat ...
'' and ''
Micro Live ''Micro Live'' is a BBC2 TV series that was produced by David Allen as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project, and followed on from earlier series such as '' The Computer Programme'', '' Computers in Control'', and '' Making the Most of th ...
'' and wrote many articles for
Personal Computer World ''Personal Computer World'' (''PCW'') (February 1978 - June 2009) was the first British computer magazine. Although for at least the last decade it contained a high proportion of Windows PC content (reflecting the state of the IT field), the m ...
during its early years. John also invested his time in people and he wanted to realize the potential in people. In his part in philanthropy, John was mainly focused on educating people about IT. Through his company Connection Software he started off the charity Educated Horizons, which funded students from disadvantaged backgrounds from the Chikomba District, to pursue further education in higher institutions of learning in Zimbabwe. He also equipped many High Schools in the Harare Archdiocese with computers and other IT equipment to ensure the smooth studying of technical subjects like Computer Science. He was the Patron of the St Francis of Assisi Computer Science class (2010). Until his death on 23 December 2014 John ran Connection Software, a telecoms software house and ASP specialising in
SMS Short Message Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile phones exchange short text messages, t ...
, MMS and
VOIP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also known as IP telephony, is a set of technologies used primarily for voice communication sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. VoIP enables voice calls to be transmitted as ...
.


Publications

* ''The BBC Microcomputer User Guide'' was written by John Coll and edited by David Allen for the
British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...
.


References


External links


Connection Software
* British computer scientists 2014 deaths Teachers at Oundle School {{compu-bio-stub