ZX Spectrum launched 25 years ago today!
Posted on April 23, 2007, by Conor O'Neill, under Personal, Technology.
This mightn’t be a big deal to most people but it’s a huge deal to me. If my parents hadn’t got me a ZX Spectrum in 1982, I wouldn’t have had the life I’ve had. No exaggeration. Every single college and career choice I’ve made stems from the skills I learned on that machine, which I still have (the machine, not the skills 
).
Sure 50% of the time I was playing Jet Set Willy and Sabre Wulf but on the Speccy I learned BASIC, Forth and Z80 assembler. I also learned the basic architecture of computers and basic electronics circuits.
I still crank up emulators on my PCs, phone and Palm and still get annoyed over the bugs in the games I wrote!
Thanks to my parents for realising how important computer skills might be to me and to Sir Clive Sinclair for having the clarity of vision to create the ZX series of computers. I’m actually surprised he didn’t come up with the OLPC as it is right in line with his thinking.
Happy Anniversary Speccy!
p.s and just in time, the 1988 Edition of the Your Sinclair Rock n Roll Years has just been released!
UPDATE 1: Colin Woodcock has also just released a Special 25th Anniversary Edition of the wonderful ZXF online magazine.
5 Replies to "ZX Spectrum launched 25 years ago today!"
Donncha O Caoimh on April 24, 2007
Better than the C64? You are sorely mistaken!
Ah yes, the good old days of incompatible systems. I had a Speccy 48k for a few years before upgrading to a C64. I loved the Speccy while I had it but the C64 just blew me away. I cut my teeth on that machine coding demos and stuff in ASM.
I have to agree with you about the effect these machines had on my life too.
Must upload the disk image of my demos somewhere…
conor on April 24, 2007
George, I think I wrote something way back saying that the OLPC could be to poorer countries what the Spectrum and its ilk were to us 25 years ago. A tool to enable people to participate in the digital economy!
You should upload your images Donncha. All my published games are here
I love the fact that there are still trolls on comp.sys.sinclair who try the “C64 rox, Spectrum is gay” line and actually get responses.
Now get back to minding that child!
Pat Phelan on April 24, 2007
Thanks for the memories Conor, my favorite one is the miniature screwdriver tuning the pitch on the tape recorder to get it just high enough.
ZX Spectrum launched 25 years ago today! | Pilka on April 23, 2007
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