If you were ever at or visited a British school in the 80s, you would have come across one of these:

A man in a brown pull over & tie!
…and the computer in front of him, the BBC Micro which turns 30 today.
Built by Acorn who now produce the ARM chip in many mobile phones, who were based in Cambridge along with the other great computer maker of the time Sinclair who made the Spectrum which got bought out by Amstrad run by Alan Sugar (Alan Michael Sugar TRADing geddit?) of The Apprentice UK fame.
Well after that bit of brief history as a bit of fun I thought I’d do a comparison with what we have now.
The equivalent to home computers I would say is tablets. Unfortunately I don’t know of many that are made in Britain any more (although check out the RaspberryPI which is designed here) so I’m just going to choose from anywhere.
80s: BBC Master

Today: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

Direct: http://eb.am/N0bbX6Sb7
Search: http://eb.am/Samsung+Galaxy+Tab+10.1
The pricey but worth it one.
You might have thought I’d've gone for the ipad, but the BBC was never meant to be a closed system – it was expandable and customisable with high connectivity.
80s: Sinclair Spectrum

Today: AndyPad Pro

Direct: http://eb.am/B05KK9GPK
Search: http://eb.am/AndyPad
More Info: http://AndyPad.co.uk
Cheap and cheerful: Does everything you need, looks a bit plastic-y, great for games and less than half the price of some tabs.
80s: Commodore Vic20

Today: Kindle Fire

Direct: http://eb.am/N0elw4ycy
Search: http://eb.am/Kindle+Fire
The cheapy from America for the odd kids. I suspect the successor to the kindle fire will be the one that really sets the market alive just like the C64 did.
If you think I’m wrong, or have more to offer, please comment below!