ZX Spectrum, the 8-bit home computer that turned Europe onto PCs, is 40
- Reference: 1650629593
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/04/22/spectrum_at_40/
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The ZX Spectrum, released on April 23, 1982, was a follow-up to Sinclair's ZX81. Referred to as the ZX82 or ZX81 Colour during development, the final product arrived with either 16KB or 48KB of RAM (depending on pocket depth) and a case designed by [2]Rick Dickinson , who had previously worked on the ZX81 wedge. Dickinson was also responsible for the ZX Spectrum's infamous rubber keyboard.
I personally have a lot of respect for the Sinclair team's single-minded focus on engineering to a target cost – Eben Upton
The BASIC interpreter was stored in ROM and was written by Steve Vickers on contract from Nine Tiles. A prototype ZX Spectrum, formerly in the possession of Nine Tiles, was [3]donated to the Centre for Computing History in 2019. The prototype lacks the Dickinson case and features full-travel keys, but the guts would go on to form the ZX Spectrum found occupying many a family television of the 1980s.
Text took the form of a 32 x 24 column display and graphics had 256 x 192 pixels to play with. Color was problematic; to conserve memory a separate 32 x 24 overlay of 8 x 8 pixels were used, with each block having a foreground and background color. While static color images could work relatively well, the approach resulted in the infamous attribute clash. Rival machines, such as the Commodore 64, did not suffer from the same problem although used a lower multicolor resolution made for blockier graphics.
Ah, the playground discussions that ensued over sprites, peeks, and pokes. Those were the days.
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The ZX Spectrum, replete with rubber keyboard, debuted at £125 for the 16KB version and £175 for the 48KB incarnation. A 32KB RAM pack could be plugged into the rear expansion slot of the former, and this writer well remembers the joy of an unexpected reset caused by a wobbly bit of hardware.
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Over five million of the Z80A-based devices were sold, and its impact cannot be understated. While over 1.5 million BBC Micros (made by Acorn) may have also been sold during its lifetime, it was the ZX Spectrum that found its way into far more homes across Europe, and its impact continues to resonate in the IT world of today.
Raspberry Pi supremo Eben Upton was more on the Acorn side of things, but recalled the effect of the plastic slab: "As a much more affordable alternative to the Beeb, and with roughly 3x the lifetime sales, the Spectrum probably had a greater role in promoting the accidental route into engineering careers in the '80s and early '90s."
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"Lots of people here at Pi Towers had their first exposure to programming on Sinclair hardware," Upton said, "and I personally have a lot of respect for the Sinclair team's single-minded focus on engineering to a target cost."
The original ZX Spectrum enjoyed a relatively short time in the sun, and was discontinued in favor of the functionally identical (but recased with an updated keyboard) ZX Spectrum+ in 1985. Later versions received more RAM and, with the Amstrad takeover, another keyboard update, built-in cassette recorder, and disk drive.
[8]RIP Bernie Drummond: Celebrated ZX Spectrum artist and programmer on Batman, Head Over Heels, Match Day II
[9]Apple seeks patent for 'innovation' resembling the ZX Spectrum, C64 and rPi 400
[10]DIY Sinclair clones: Left it too late to back the Next? Build your own instead
[11]In the '80s, spaceflight sim Elite was nothing short of magic. The annotated source code shows how it was done
Clones would also crop up from time to time, including the recent (and infamous) [12]ZX Spectrum Vega+ . A warm bath of nostalgia is also possible via a variety of on and offline emulators.
Sadly, Sir Clive Sinclair and Rick Dickinson are no longer with us. However, hardware designer Richard Altwasser and Dr Steve Vickers will be on hand at The National Museum of Computing on April 23 for a [13]live and virtual Q&A , preceded by the same with Sir Clive's son, Crispin.
In the meantime, this seems as good a time as ever to indulge in a little bit of rose-tinted nostalgia. Music by MJ Hibbett and with animation by Rob Manuel. ®
[14]
[15]Youtube Video
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKbLbkvwACA&ab_channel=WorldofLongplays
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2018/04/26/rick_dickinson_dies/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2019/03/05/the_first_zx_spectrum_prototype_laid_bare/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YmLRMH6hpSBfxRd375bg8wAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YmLRMH6hpSBfxRd375bg8wAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YmLRMH6hpSBfxRd375bg8wAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/17/rip_bernie_drummond/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/28/apple_innovation_seems_strangely_familiar/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/06/diy_sinclair_clones/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/17/elite_annotated_source_code/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2018/08/09/zx_spectrum_vega_plus_hands_on_review/
[13] https://www.tnmoc.org/events/2022/4/23/zx-spectrum-at-40-celebrate-with-crispin-sinclair-richard-altwasser-and-steve-vickers-at-the-national-museum-of-computing
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YmLRMH6hpSBfxRd375bg8wAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://youtu.be/IagZIM9MtLo
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Where it all began...for some
That was indeed an absolutely magic time and I hit it at the perfect age. I don't think the planets have aligned like that since.
I still look up at the windows above InnerSpace every time I go along Kings Parade.
I also look at the gap in Gap on Market Hill, which was left open the other day allowing me in for a little look. I could have posed that press photo on the steps.
Re: Where it all began...for some
My Dad did the numbers and bought me a Dragon 32 too. I loved it and it made the woman I am today. For games, however, there was much more available for other platforms and it was the Spectrum and the BBC Model B that had the best. Manic Miner is still the game I've played most down the years.
same
Same:
Dad bought Dragon, they did do a port of "Jet Set Willy" to the dragon though.
got my own spectrum later on
Re: Where it all began...for some
The Dragon was certainly a better quality machine but the 6809 lacked the volume of software the z80 had accumulated. I was coding in C in my Speccy while a friend of mine was hacking around in Forth. The games were probably better on the Dragon but for learning stuff that rubber keyboard gave access to a lot more.
Re: Where it all began...for some
Dragon had a good keyboard but it was £175 and went alone at on the 6809, consequently the business was finished by 1984.
Re: Where it all began...for some
I went Science of Cambridge MK14, Commodore Pet, Apple II...
The Spectrum was referred to as "the world's most intelligent doorstop" :-)
I will give it a break on that one though, it was a good starting point for many people.
"Lots of people here at Pi Towers had their first exposure to programming on Sinclair hardware"
Every single C64 owner became a suave, sophisticated, international spy. They are all currently married to Swedish underwear models half their age, and they all drive Ferrari's during the week, and Lamborghini's for the weekend.
(this is an absolute 100% true, verifiable fact).
All but one sadly, me lol.
I must have missed that memo during a marathon session on Paradroid.
I had one of the very early 16K ones. Not long after I bought it I got it upgraded to 48K. The problem there being that the memory chips were soldered in and doing your own soldering would have invalidated the warranty. As such it got sent back to the factory for the upgrade. The good news was that I got a brand new 48K unit back from the factory. Best of all I only sent back the computer and when the new unit came back it had all the accessories in the box.
I had one of the very early 16K ones. Not long after I bought it I got it upgraded to 48K.
My tutorial partner at university bought a 16K Spectrum one day before it was withdrawn and the 48K model dropped to the same price. He was a bit peeved, not least because the money he used (£169.99, iirc) came from his summer job ... at Sinclair, working on the Microdrives.
I upgraded ours by buying the chips and plugging them into the already-present sockets - not sure why you had to solder yours?
Possibly the "very early" model didn't have sockets.
Issue 1 16K Spectrums had space for a plug-in 32K* daughterboard. Issue 2 and above didn't.
Seem some 16Ks were returned 48Ks with memory problems in the top 32K so they had the top 32K disabled by Sinclair in the factory before being sent out for sale again as a 16K. Those are the ones which would have had to be returned to Sinclair for the upgrade if you were two scared to solder the memory yourself.
[1]Upgrading a 16K Spectrum to 48K
* Actually 64K but with cheaper RAM chips that failed testing as 64K but were usable as 32K. Because Sinclair, gawd bless 'im.
[1] https://spectrumforeveryone.com/technical/upgrading-a-16k-spectrum-to-48k/
I recently read the book "Sinclair and the Sinrise Technology".
It seems Sinclair's computers* suceeded despite Clive Sinclair's best efforts.
* Well, except the QL...
Yeah, definitely absolutely nothing of any significance ever came from anyone who had ever owned a QL… ;-)
I remember our vicar had a QL, he also had a long string of Psions.
The QL was great because it had Microdrives and decent business software (for the time), such a shame the Microdrives were utter shite and prone to chewing up.
The QL was great because you could write 32 bit code on it. They said then no-one ever got fired for buying IBM but I still swear the IBM PC put computing in holding pattern that it didnt break out of until Windows NT because almost everyone bought IBM!
No rampack
There was no rampack or wobble for the 16k Speccy, that was the ZX81. There are stern warnings in the manual not to try using the ZX81 rampack too. The only way to upgrade was to add the ram chips to the motherboard
Re: No rampack
The wobble was there all right. Other accessories plugged into the slot, including Sinclair's Interface 1 and Interface 2 and various third-party add-ons. Only if screws were provided, to attach the dongle casing rigidly to the Speccy's, did you have any hope of eradicating the wobble.
Well do I remember falling asleep at work because I had spent all night playing Lords of Midnight and mapping out the land.
Nostalgia Isn't What It Used to Be!
It can't really be 40 years, I'm not that old!
I started on an RM 380Z at school then quickly spent the earnings from a holiday job on a ZX81. That got upgraded in 1982 to a Spectrum and in, I think early 1985, I added a BBC B to the stable - the joys of accessing Prestel on a 1200/75 modem once the rest of the house was asleep and I could hog the phone line.
Re: Nostalgia Isn't What It Used to Be!
I also started at school on an RM 380Z - oh to have one of those tanks again!
On the home front, I narrowly missed buying a second-hand ZX81 from a friend (probably a wise move) and managed to save for a Spectrum which I finally acquired in the Summer of '83. To use a familar phrase: "the rest, as they say, is history".
Oh, and the Spectrum? I still have it, along with several others of its original and modern kin as well.
Re: Nostalgia Isn't What It Used to Be!
Ah the RM 380Z, with its dual 5.25 "floppy" drives and CP/M... Happy days. Sat my O level in Computer Science then couldn't sit the A level because no teaching staff were accredited.
Re: Nostalgia Isn't What It Used to Be!
CTRL-F then J 103
And that impossible space invaders game where you got to one alien ship left and faced a continuous stream of bombs!
:-)
Re: Nostalgia Isn't What It Used to Be!
When I was doing the A level I was teaching the new O level teacher one lesson ahead of what she was teaching the kids.
On this side
I remember the pre IBM PC days with an Apple IIe. Fond memories of that beast. I was one of the first to write a MS thesis on a computer (I was a STEM major at an engineering school). Spectrums were not easy to find over here but we had plenty that were roughly equivalent at the time.
Re: On this side
i didnt know the STEM acronym was that old!
I thought it was invented a few years ago by politcians and dragged out annually to promote girls careers in the area
10 Print "I am skill"
20 GOTO 10
I am skill
I am skill
I am skill
I am skill
scroll?
D BREAK - CONT repeats, 10:1
A few years later to the party, I distinctly remember copying listings out of the (excellent) user manual into my ZX Spectrum+ as a 5 year old. I am sure a thousand computer science lecturers would lambast BASIC for teaching people like me how to depend upon goto.
The spectrum got lemonaded by an argument over the joystick; replaced by the much more capable C64 a Christmas or two later. Admittedly, programming the 64 was a bit less accessible; no basic keywords for graphics functions etc. however that did give more of a "proper" road into dealing with the underlying hardware and dabbling with assemblers. Try explaining to your mum why you want to buy an assembler cartridge... To this day, I do enjoy winding up goto-haters over one of the more commonly used constructs in assembler, the humble JMP for most purposes can be thought of in same way.
I jumped to the Amiga 1500 not long after that; which as wonderful as it was, came with no programming tools (1.3 ditched AmigaBasic) so I got out of the loop for a little while. Did pick up AMOS Pro in the machines later years, which of course was incredibly easy to produce impressive stuff.
Computers in schools at the time were of course pitched at the how-to-drive a word processor level; and all rather a wasted exercise. (Is it any better now? I doubt it). The more involved bits of the BBC's computer literacy programmes glossed over in favour of shiny new GUI applications. (Though the Archimedes was, and still is amazing to use).
Very excited to see that Francois Lionet is working on a spiritual successor to AMOS. Big gap in the market for an accessible hobby language where you don't have to spend months figuring out what API's to use, or how to plug em together.
I am sure a thousand computer science lecturers would lambast BASIC for teaching people like me how to depend upon goto.
To be fair, it was hard to write in ZX-Basic without use of GO TO.
Computers in schools at the time were of course pitched at the how-to-drive a word processor level; and all rather a wasted exercise...
I beg to differ - in the 1980s I was with a group teaching with a variety of kit; there were Amstrads and IBM PCs for business applications, BBC micros for programming, Apple Macintoshes for graphic design, and yet more BBCs for CNC machining.
The resource was shared across all schools in the area and catered for all abilities.
A lot of the educational software at the time was cr*p, so a part of our remit was to evaluate what was available, develop our own courses (and software if necessary), and share our experiences.
So, hopefully not a wasted exercise.
Different route here
Dragon 32 and then full on into Amstrads with the 464 followed by a 6128.
Did get a 48k+ in a playground swap too but that was an idle curio really although I much preferred the design.
Happy days and many a playground conversation did occur although mainly about who's was better. The Amstrad obvs
Re: Different route here
Ah, the Amstrad CPCs... that was just an expensive way of playing slow Spectrum games, wasn't it?
Understated impact???
"Over five million of the Z80A-based devices were sold, and its impact cannot be understated."
Not familiar with UK computing scene from back then (C-64 and IBM PC focus for me in the US), but would not "overstated" be more appropriate?
Go Forth and prosper
I dug out some of my old speccy stuff recently, one interesting program being a Forth interpreter.
I must have been a glutton for punishment!
Next: test the stack of 4 QL's on the shelf and see if they are eBayable.
Re: Go Forth and prosper
I had the Forth interpreter and also an I/O interface to drive from it. I don't recall every doing much with it, it was more for the intellectual exercise.
IIRC Forth came out of radio telescope control systems.
Had the ZX81 + ram pack and a tube of superglue, no wobbling. Migrated to Spectrum 48K, Spectrum+, BBC B+, home brew 386sx, 486DX, P120, Celeron 333/400mod, Duron 800, Athlon 1200, ok yes I can go on, have had a few machines in the last 40 years.
Where it all began...for some
My Dad had built Sinclair eletronic kits and he hated Sinclair, he called it "cheap plastic shit"! Ha ha!
So when it came to our first home micro he bought us a Dragon 32 from the Welsh valleys. I had to wait until I was 22 years old and finally got my own real Spectrum in a boot sale, just so I could finally enjoy the privilege of that wonderful rubber keyboard and listen to that glorious screeching of a Speccy game loader.
Nothing will ever beat that wonderful time of 8bit micros and the schoolyard memories. Pure magic.
Happy birthday Speccy!