Abstract In Australia, as in most developed countries, computers are now commonly used in schools. In almost all cases, schools will use either a Windows PC or an Apple Macintosh. This was not the case in the early 1980s however when microcomputers first began to appear in schools. At that stage, before the appearance of either the PC or the Macintosh, there was a multitude of incompatible microcomputers seeking to enter the education market. This presented a significant problem to education authorities: how were all these types and makes of computer to be supported with professional development for teachers and with suitable educational software? There were just not the funds to support such a large range of computer systems, and the choices available to schools needed to be reduced. The first step to addressing this problem was for each State Education Department to recommend only those computers that it would support. Later, for both educational and industrial reasons, Australia investigated designing and building its own educational computer: all schools would then be encouraged to use just this machine, making support very much easier and more efficient. I had a direct involvement in much of this project. This article tells the story of why and how this happened, and how Australia's educational computer was designed but never actually built
