Children's personal computer (monitor, keyboard, mouse, instructions), 'Lexibook Junior Powernet 2000'; designed by Lexmark and made in China, about 1997

Children's personal computer, consisting of a monitor, keyboard and mouse, with printed paper instructions.

The monitor is formed from translucent white and purple plastic, with a central rectangular LCD screen. Framing the screen is an image of a computer desktop; surrounding this is a facing of white translucent plastic through which circuit boards can be seen. At the bottom proper left corner of the screen are three buttons; just below these, on the underside, are two wheels to control audio volume and the contrast of the screen. The back of the monitor is purple translucent plastic, with a moulded carrying handle at the top. It stands on a purple plastic foot, at the back of which are sockets for: a mains power lead (9V); headphones; PC link; printer; mouse; keyboard. Underneath is a compartment for four C-type batteries (the cover is missing).

The keyboard is of standard QWERTY layout, with the exception of a large 'Print' key at the top-left. The keys are of purple translucent plastic, as is the base, the rest of white translucent plastic. The mouse is of the ball-type, it has two translucent white plastic buttons and a translucent purple plastic body.

The fifty-two page instruction manual is of printed paper. It offers instruction on how to use all sixty-one of the computer's programmes, as well as maintenance and operating information.

Given by Eric Thelan

Purchased by the donor for use by his son, who was then aged nine. The donor’s son and daughter both used it as children, before it was superseded in their household by affordable home computers. Eric Thelan gave it to the Museum in 2016 [2016/813].

A computer is a device which can be instructed to conduct arithmetical or logical operations automatically. Computers have a wide range of uses, including as educational tools. The world’s oldest known mechanical analogue computer is the so-called Antikythera mechanism, a mysterious object made between 100 and 200 BC, found off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera. This was designed to predict astronomical movements.

The first use of computers for educational purposes was the development of mechanical flight simulators to help train pilots in the 1940s. The first place computers became widespread was in universities where they were used mostly for complex mathematical tasks and for developing the science of computing. In the 1980s they began to appear in school classrooms and in homes, with the BBC Micro and Sinclair Spectrum being notable examples or highly versatile machines, capable of running games and educational programmes. By the end of the 20th century, many UK households had personal computers. In the 2015, 86% of households had internet access.

This children's desktop computer was designed by Lexmark in about 1997. It has sixty-one pre-installed programm, mostly learning games, although also what could be thought of as ‘vocational’ programmes, such as email simulation and word processing. The internet and workplace simulation aspects of this object are particularly interesting, as this reflects the increasing prevalence of computers in professional settings. This object was made at a time when the internet was just beginning to really take-off, the start of its enormous, exponential growth to become the world’s largest database. The overall appearance of the object is also interesting. The small, central LCD screen is framed by a surrounding image showing an Apple Mac-like PC desktop. It is not clear if this was to try to familiarise children with this type of system, but this could be hypothesised: the iMac G3 (see W.29-2008), now considered to be an icon of design, was released to considerable acclaim in 1998. Certainly, the use of translucent plastic is highly reminiscent of contemporary Apple design practice

B.19-2016