Jul 2, 2026, 10:01 AMHasn't had much coverage, but David Potter, founder and CEO of Psion, died yesterday. One of the patron saints of alt.fan.pratchett in its early years.
- Jul 2, 2026, 10:01 AM
Replies
Jul 2, 2026, 10:01 AM@m #gnudavidpotter :gnutp:
Jon PENNYCOOKjonpspJul 2, 2026, 1:52 PM@m I think it was over the weekend. A former colleague from when I worked at PSION told me on Tuesday.
It's a pity the tech press aren't covering it.
penguin42penguin42@mastodon.org.ukJul 2, 2026, 4:03 PM
Liam Provenlproven@vivaldi.netJul 2, 2026, 5:06 PM@penguin42 @jonpsp @m Do you know what, maybe I can. I will pitch it at the editor tomorrow.
- Jul 2, 2026, 5:49 PM
@lproven @penguin42 @jonpsp He did a great interview a decade ago which among other things reveals his part in bringing the duvet to the benighted UK back when sheets and blankets were still considered state of the art. https://archivesit.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/David-Potter-Transcript.pdf
- penguin42penguin42@mastodon.org.ukJul 2, 2026, 5:57 PM
- Jon PENNYCOOKjonpspJul 3, 2026, 8:29 AM
@lproven @penguin42 @m Great! Even the Potter Foundation website hasn't been updated yet.
- Jon PENNYCOOKjonpspJul 3, 2026, 8:49 AM
@lproven @penguin42 @m and it looks like @openDemocracy has beaten the tech press!
https://www.opendemocracy.net/obituary-david-potter-psion-industrialist-physicist-philanthropist/ - Liam Provenlproven@vivaldi.netJul 3, 2026, 6:10 PM
@jonpsp @penguin42 @m @openDemocracy I spent most of today on my obituary. I filed it at 5PM (BST) and it should be published this evening.
And yes, it includes duvets.
In my research, I discovered that Colly Myers, author of Abacus in Xchange and much of the EPOC32 kernel, Psion MD and Symbian CEO, was David's half brother.
Myers died in February. 😢
- penguin42penguin42@mastodon.org.ukJul 3, 2026, 7:00 PM
@lproven @jonpsp @m @openDemocracy Great article!
- Jon PENNYCOOKjonpspJul 3, 2026, 7:11 PM
@lproven @penguin42 @m @openDemocracy Great!
I didn't know that DP was related to Colly Myers. One of my friends went to the drinks to celebrate Colly Myers' life.
PSION was a great place to work - there were only two seniors who wouldn't talk to you. One had their head in the clouds, and the other was nicknamed the Terminator because he was in charge of redundancies.
I remember during the big round of redundancies, DP came down to apologise and said he wouldn't be taking his salary that year. - Liam Provenlproven@vivaldi.netJul 3, 2026, 7:44 PM
@jonpsp @penguin42 @m @openDemocracy Nor did I, until researching this.
Jul 2, 2026, 5:16 PM@thelastpsion Not sure if this Psion-related news crossed your radar, but figured you'd be interested.
The Last Psion | Alexthelastpsion@oldbytes.spaceJul 3, 2026, 4:44 AM
Jul 2, 2026, 5:16 PM