The ZX Spectrum: 25 years old today

Andy Merrett Computers
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zxspectrum.jpgYes, 25 years ago today, Clive Sinclair (now Sir), launched the ZX Spectrum home computer.

Ahh the nostalgia. Not that I ever owned one, but a number of my friends did, and so I was still able to experience the amazing rubber keys, the painful sounds when a game loaded from cassette, the classic games, the first person who got a joystick, the rather arcane way of using single single key presses to write entire commands in BASIC (probably to save wear on the dreadful keyboard)…

The original specification is positively archaic now, but at the time of course was cutting edge. An 8-bit Z80 processor with a whopping 48K of RAM, 16K of ROM, and up to eight colours displayed on a 256×192 resolution.

Were you a proud ZX Spectrum owner? Share the nostalgia in the comments below.

Andy Merrett
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2 comments

  • Whoever wrote this comment obviously isn’t very “Tech (digest)” (whatever that means)

    The name of the author of the article is quite clearly visible, so there’s no need to say “whoever wrote this article”.

    “What is was is affordable.”

    Pardon?

    I might take you a bit more seriously if you learned to read and write first.

  • Whoever wrote this article obviously isn’t very Tech (digest). The Spectrum certainly was not cutting edge at the time of it’s release. What is was is affordable.
    Z80 processors are 1970’s technology and so were the compact audio casettes which stored the games and programs.
    Cutting edge technology in 1982 consisted of (amongst other things) 16-bit processors and CD-ROM.

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