Acorn's New Pocket Book II Brings 'One Per Child' Ideal Within Reach
In addition to the original features of Acorn's sophisticated 'electronic exercise book', which is already used extensively in UK schools, Pocket Book II offers a larger, higher resolution screen and increased power and memory. As well as a word processor, spreadsheet, database, calculator, clock and alarm, Pocket Book II has more built-in software including a diary, spellchecker & thesaurus, sound and voice recorder, Plotter which plots mathematical equations and World which shows international time zones, dialling codes and maps.
Because of its size and neat design, the Pocket Book is very easy and attractive to use, regardless of your familiarity with computers. This may be one of the reasons that girls are as willing as boys to accept and use Pocket Books. It also allows pupils to have computing power at their fingertips alongside text books and other readily available classroom materials.
Peter Talbot, General Manager, UK Education at Acorn Computers, explains:
"Children are growing up in a world which is increasingly technology-led; if we are to prepare them for life in the 21st century, computers should be a natural and readily available part of the school environment, like any other educational resource. We see the Acorn Pocket Book being used as a tool for children of all ages and abilities alongside the other educational materials teachers and pupils use to support learning and development across the curriculum."
"Many schools are using Pocket Books on a class basis at present - handing them out at the start of a lesson, collecting them back at the end and then passing them on for another class to use. In the future, all schoolchildren from five to eighteen are likely to have their own Pocket Book, or similar small computer, in the same way as calculators are now almost universal."Light and strong enough to be carried safely and easily from lesson to lesson or to and from school in a bag or blazer pocket, the Pocket Book can be used for homework, in the classroom and on field trips to collect and record data. The Acorn Pocket Book is also proving to be an ideal tool for teachers to record pupil progress and achievement, plan lessons and timetables, draft curriculum materials and to take notes in meetings.
Pocket Book II will be available in September. The original Acorn Pocket Book (256k RAM) is still available at 169.95. The new Pocket Book II (256k RAM) is priced at 229.74, while the top of the range model (512k RAM) is priced at 280.81.
Class Packs of 10 Pocket Books together with mains adaptor, desktop links and parallel printer links are also available, priced at 1,699.50 for the original Class Pack, and 2,297.45 for a Pocket Book II Class Pack. All prices exclude VAT. Acorn Pocket Books are available from all authorised Acorn education dealers. For details of your local Acorn dealer please call 0223 254254.
The Acorn Pocket Book is one of the palmtops featured in the recent NCET portables study, the results of which are to be published in September. Smaller than a paper-back book, the Pocket Book has its own screen and keyboard, enclosed in a strong case. Powered by long-lasting batteries, the Pocket Book comes with a word processor, spreadsheet, database, diary, calculator, spellchecker, thesaurus, clock & alarm, sound & voice recorder, Plotter, World and OPL (Organiser Programming Langauge). It can easily be linked to Acorn, PC and Apple computers and printers to support schoolsI existing technology investments.
A host of additional applications are also available, including: drawing & painting, personal organiser, personal accounts & expenses, telephone call coster, adventure and sports games titles, sales and business contact system, bank account management, Berlitz interpreter, health & nutrition and systems to calculate child support payments & welfare benefits.
Founded in 1978, with 1993 revenues of £54.3m, Acorn Computers is the premier supplier of IT solutions to UK education and has been the leading provider of 32-bit RISC based personal computers since 1987. Acorn works closely with a strong community of industry partners, users and software developers to provide innovative technology solutions for the education, consumer, publishing and international markets.
The Acorn Computer Group is a holding company for Acorn Computers Limited, Acorn Australia, Acorn New Zealand, Acorn GmbH and Online Media. Acorn Computer Group owns 43% of ARM Ltd. Online Media, a division of the Acorn Computer Group, was launched in 1994 with the mission to design world class, interactive multimedia products.