DISCLAIMER: This is an old post from my previous geeky technology blog. It is reposted here for hysterical raisins (it was popular at the time).
People from about Generation X or so today cut their milk teeth on these classic platforms, and today they’ll be all too ready to shake their cane at you and tell you about how it was in the good old days. Their memories of their first BASIC program or first addictive game are tied in with their first love and first beer. Amiga, Apple ][, NeXTSTEP, and the ZX Sinclair still have their cult following going strong today. But it is the ZX Sinclair Spectrum that is particularly remarkable, and foreign to the rest of the English-speaking world.
For instance, there’s that keyboard. So smooshy and rubbery, you have to wonder if they intended it to be a bath toy. While every other PC platform went for solid, muted colors, the Spectrum had that splashy rainbow on the right edge, for a defiant little dash of sass.
As the Commodore 64 was the premiere computer in the US in the mid-’80s, so the Sinclair was in the UK. Both machines, in their respective territories, were the first home computers for a generation of what would become computer enthusiasts, gamers, programmers, and digital artists. The two stacked up pretty comparably. The Spectrum was cheaper than the Commodore, ran at 3.5 Mhz to the C64’s 1.0 Mhz, and had a more integrated BASIC interpreter, with graphics commands built-in. The C64 boasted higher-quality graphics complete with hardware scrolling and sprites, far superior sound, and the possibility of being used as a business machine as well. In the end, it was almost a tie between the two.
But the Commodore devoured the United States market in one gulp. Go ahead, try to find a native US resident who ever even saw a Spectrum! Meanwhile, the Spectrum in the UK had to compete with the Commodore, though it beat them to the market. The Spectrum, let’s face it, ended up with all the love. It was affectionately nicknamed the “Speccy,” and a number of magazines devoted to it sprang up. If you were typing in BASIC programs from an issue of CRASH in 1984, you were in the scene.
Another place where the Spectrum beat Commodore was staying power. While the Commodore came and faded in a couple of years, (we’re NOT talking about the Amiga!), the ZX Spectrum still had games being made for it well into the 1990s. It is credited with birthing the IT industry in the UK, and earned its creator, Clive Sinclair, a knighting. It also found a place in the demo scene.
Sinclair ZX Spectrums and peripherals for it are still being sold today by select digital device retailers. And fan clubs are still to be found all around the net. While we hear so much about the other platforms with a cult following, we thought we’d give the spotlight to the Speccy for a change.
If you’re looking for a hypnotizing rave, here’s a whole damn 2+ hours of ZX Spectrum demos:
