The erstwhile corner shop, ice cream and cake company J. Lyons made the first
office computer in the world to work in 1951. User-Driven Innovation: The
World’s First Business Computer by David Caminer, John Aris, Peter Hermon and
Frank Land (McGraw-Hill, £35, ISBN 0 07 709236 8) tells the tale of
British innovation, success followed, as usual, by ultimate eclipse. Written by
the people involved, this book can be read on many levels: business takeovers,
history of computers, and for an indulgence of British nostalgia. It appears in
March in the US as The Incredible Story of the World’s First Business
Computer.
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
Where, when and how to watch the 2026 solar eclipse
2
Humans sleep the least of all apes – is it the secret to our success?
3
Remote-controlled cockroach swarm can now breathe underwater
4
I have a 100 per cent chance of getting cancer due to a rare gene
5
Our verdict on The Selfish Gene: An unpopular piece of popular science
6
The race to understand how and when Thwaites glacier will collapse
7
US government wants to have a useful quantum computer by 2028
8
The best sci-fi novel in 2026 so far – plus 6 other great reads
9
Fully autonomous drones have killed human soldiers for the first time
10
We’ve uncovered a master gene that switches on human development
