It has achieved sales of around 1.5 million worldwide, and established Psion as a global leader in hand-held computer products.However, the Series 3 is now six years old, and that’s a very long time in the computer industry. The Series 3 had a more elegant, clam- shell case that folded open to reveal a miniature keyboard and LCD display. The software that Psion had developed for the Organiser wasn’t really suitable for a larger notebook device, and the MC didn’t take off. The company was prepared to rethink the MC, but it had missed its chance and, according to Norman, “we were just overtaken by the PC world”.The Organiser was still going strong, though, and lasted until 1991 when it was succeeded by the Series 3. The company also produced a “ruggedised” industrial version of the Organiser, which was popular with engineers and led to the establishment of a subsidiary called Psion Industrial.Psion had one or two upsets along the way, most notably its early attempt to produce a notebook computer called the MC. This was released in 1984 as the Psion Organiser, and was an instant success.

It was lapped up by gadget freaks, but it also found its way into businesses such as Marks & Spencers, which used it to verify credit card transactions and to control bar-code scanners. “The intention was to use the Sinclair era as a sort of primer.”But while Psion was making most of its money from software, Potter had already designed his first hand-held computer. Last year its sales topped pounds 100m for the first time, and it now employs more than 1,000 staff in its European, US and Japanese offices. Potter is still the company’s chairman and chief executive, although he has taken a lower public profile following a recent illness.What set Psion apart from the likes of Sinclair and Acorn was that Potter and his colleagues were able to back up their ambition and technical know- how with a solid sense of how to run a business.”We’re innovative, but we’re quite conservative in our business model,” Norman says. In fact, that business model wasn’t originally based on selling computers at all.

During the early 1980s, Psion was one of the country’s leading software developers, producing hit games such as Psion Chess for the Sinclair ZX range of computers. These were followed by a suite of business programs for PCs called XChange, which also sold well.Software, however, was simply a means to an end. “David saw software as a way of establishing the company,” Norman says. But those companies have long since been swallowed up by multinationals or have vanished altogether, while Psion is still going strong.

Psion grew up alongside other 1980s success stories such as Sinclair and Acorn. The company, which is most well known for its range of hand-held electronic organisers, has been based in the UK ever since it was founded by David Potter in 1980. “We’re a rare breed,” admits Peter Norman, managing director of Psion UK. “But the company’s always been very ambitious.”
The computer industry is full of ambitious failures, though, and it takes more than ambition to succeed in such a fast-moving industry. Britain’s computer industry is a bit like its film industry. It has occasional bursts of brilliance, but few companies have managed to achieve any sort of sustained success.