Poly-1

The Poly-1 was developed in 1980 by Neil Scott and Paul Bryant, who at the time were teaching electronics engineering at Wellington Polytechnic{{cite journal |last1=Doran |first1=Bob |first2=Andrew |last2=Trotman |title=Preserving Our Heritage: New Zealand Made Computers |date=2018 |volume=5 |journal=The Rutherford Journal |url=http://www.rutherfordjournal.org/article050106.html}} (now Massey University's Wellington campus), which the computer was named after.{{cite book|last=Tatnall|first=Arthur|date=2010|title=History of Computing: Learning from the Past: IFIP WG 9.7 International|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EzuAjubj90AC|publisher=Springer|page=102|isbn=978-3642151989}} As with the Acorn BBC Micro in Britain, Scott and Bryant saw the increasing need for a fully integrated computer to serve the New Zealand school market, which had the blessing of then Education Minister Merv Wellington.{{cite magazine|title=Promising Polycorp pipped|url=http://innz.natlib.govt.nz/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=516479|date=Dec 2006|author=Michael Smythe|magazine=Prodesign|page=86}} After Scott and Bryant gathered a team of engineers and designers, DFC New Zealand Limited and Lower Hutt-based Progeni Systems — founded by Perce Harpham in 1968{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2010 |title=Lessons from Progeni – 1968 to 1989: Perce Harpham |url=https://www.innovation.org.nz/speakers/perce-harpham |access-date=2023-10-05 |website=NZ Computer Society Inc}}{{Cite news |last=Harpham |first=Perce |date=March 7, 2012 |title=When will Government walk the talk? |url=https://techblog.nz/279-When-will-Government-walk-the-talk}} — formed a joint venture, Polycorp,{{Cite web |title=Computing History Displays: Fourth Floor - Computers Made in New Zealand |url=https://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/historydisplays/FourthFloor/NZMadeComputers/NZMadecomputersMain.php |access-date=2023-02-10 |website=The University of Auckland}} to market and build the Poly-1, which entered production in 1981.

A distinctive fibreglass casing was designed to house the computer and monitor as an all-in-one unit, in a similar fashion to the Commodore PET.

The Poly-1 came standard with a colour display and 64KB of RAM. A BASIC interpreter and a text editor were included, with the operating system being FLEX. The machine could display 40x24 character text (or teletext) or graphics in 240×204 or 480×204 resolution in 7 colors.{{Cite web |title=Poly 1 Educational Computer Polycorp |url=https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=1269 |access-date=2023-02-10 |website=www.old-computers.com}} There was no internal store, but the computer could connect to a CP/M based server. The Proteus server was available as an accessory to make the Poly-1 network-capable, allowing up to 32 of the computers to be linked.

One of the earliest clients for the Poly in classroom networks was Rotorua Boys' High School,Kevin J. Lyall - School Historian. [https://www.rbhs.school.nz/downloads/Rotorua-Boys-High-School---An-Historical-Introduction-1.pdf ROTORUA BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL - AN HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION]. p.16. one of whose staff Derek Williams was seconded in 1984 to work as a computer programmer and software developer of educational applications for Progeni Systems Ltd on the FORGE Computer Learning System for New Zealand schoolsDerek Williams and Linda Slater-Hayes. (August 1984). [https://classic-computers.org.nz/bits-and-bytes/downloads/NZ-bits-and-bytes-issue-2-11.pdf Polys in action at Rotorua]. Pages 68–69 (scroll to pp. 85–86 in PDF doc). Bits & Bytes (New Zealand)Skiffington, Toni. (1 February 1997). 'Derek came out to find success and become a role model'. Page 14 (full page). The Daily Post (Rotorua, New Zealand) under the supervision of Emeritus Professor John Tiffin.[https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/sim/about/staff#emeritus Emeritus Professors]. School of Information Management – Victoria University of Wellington.[http://www.paradigmtheory.com/about-john-tiffin/ About John Tiffin]. Paradigm Theory website. FORGE was also used for training by the Victorian Fire Brigade in Australia, and for the first time, allowed New Zealand educators to design and deliver curricula on class computer networks.

There remains interest in the Poly with an ongoing Poly Preservation Project. [http://www.cs.otago.ac.nz/homepages/andrew/poly/Poly.htm The Poly Preservation Project]. University of Otago.

Despite strong support from teachers for the Poly-1, the Muldoon Government reneged on a {{currency|10M|code=NZD}} Ministry of Education agreement to purchase 1000 units over 5 years, after coming under pressure from Cabinet ministers and lobbyists who favoured economic deregulation. In particular, the then Minister of Regional Development, Warren Cooper, remarked that he and his colleagues "could see no reason why Government should spend money so that teachers could do even less work".

The Poly-1 cost up to several thousand dollars per unit, and aggressive undercutting from Apple Computer further weakened the Poly-1's place in the market. However, a sizeable consignment was still able to be sold to the Australian Defence Force and a number of local organisations.

A Poly 2 model with a separate keyboard and monitor, and Poly C designed for the Chinese market were produced, but in much smaller numbers. Plans to sell to China fell through after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Additionally, by the late 1980s, the IBM PC was increasingly becoming dominant.

The Poly-1 was discontinued in 1989, and the following year Progeni was liquidated, after the collapse of DFC New Zealand Limited and the subsequent bailout of the Bank of New Zealand, to which Progeni still owed debts.

• CPU: Motorola 6809 with 6840 clock
• Networking: Motorola 6854 Proteus, max 32 interconnected

• Aamber Pegasus

{{Reflist}}

• [https://collection.motat.nz/objects/22214/computer-poly1 Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) — Computer [Poly1]]
• [https://www.cs.otago.ac.nz/homepages/andrew/poly/Poly.htm The Poly Preservation Project]
• [https://www.creationz.co.nz/kiwinuggets/2007/03/poly-1-educational-computer_07.html Kiwi Nuggets Forum — Poly 1 Educational Computer]
• [https://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/historydisplays/FourthFloor/NZMadeComputers/NZMadecomputersMain.php University of Auckland — Computing History Displays: Fourth Floor – Computers Made in New Zealand]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101121035402/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=1269 Old-Computers.com — POLYCORP Poly 1 Educational Computer]
• [https://archimedes.hawaii.edu/Resume_Neil_Scott.htm University of Hawaii — Neil Scott]
• [https://www.classic-computers.org.nz/collection/poly1.htm Terry Stewart's (Tezza's) Classic Computing Collection]
• [https://perce.harpham.nz/The%20story%20of%20Progeni.pdf Perce Harpham — The Story of Progeni]

Category:Computer-related introductions in 1981

Category:Information technology in New Zealand

Category:6809-based home computers

Category:New Zealand design