COW - Computer Originated World

[ppppenguin]

I'm well aware of OWLs. The machine was designed by Brian Mason who dubbed it OWL - One World Logo. Richard Russell, who designed the GNAT and who knew Brian, doesn't like the term "COW". For better or worse that's what it's known as. This is the start of an article I've written for the next issue of the BVWS Bulletin:

The BBC menagerie – ruminations on fixing a COW
This article is about my work on what is formally called the GE6SM/565 BBC1 Symbol Generator. It was originally dubbed OWL (One World Logo) but is better known as COW (Computer Originated World).


In the 1980s the BBC designed a whole zoo full of devices with animal names. The LEOPARD was part of a lighting system. The MOUSE (Moving Open University Symbol Equipment) and BAT (Breakfast Analogue Time) were both types of DOG (Digitally Originated Graphics). At the Broadcast Engineering museum we would love a GNAT (Generator, Network Analogue Time) which could generate almost any kind of analogue clock display. If somebody were kind enough to donate one, we’d definitely display it working.

Returning to matters bovine, the COW generates a rotating world and caption as the symbol for BBC1. It superseded a “Noddy” camera mounted on a mechanical contraption that could view a number of captions or objects. The COW was followed in 1991 by more modern computer graphics systems.

The COW was designed by Brian Mason at BBC Designs Department in 1983/4 and entered service in 1985.

We were given the GNAT after the press deadline.