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25th Anniversary of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum
Posted by
CmdrTaco
on Mon Apr 23, 2007 07:43 AM
from the never-even-seen-one dept.
from the never-even-seen-one dept.
Alioth writes "Twenty five years ago today, Sinclair Research launched Britain's most popular home computer of the 1980s — the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Costing about one third of the price of its rivals such as the Commodore 64 while having a faster CPU and a better BASIC interpreter, the machine sold well in many guises throughout the 1980s and had more than a staggering 9,000 software titles. The machine may well have done well in the US too, had Timex — the company building the machine under license in the US — not already been in financial trouble and about to fold. The machine was also extremely successful in Russia, although not for Sinclair Research — because the Russians made dozens of different clones of the machine, and did so right into the mid 1990s. The machine still has a healthy retro scene, including the development of new commercial software by Cronosoft, and new hardware such as the DivIDE, which allows a standard PC hard disc or compact flash card to be connected to the machine."
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25th Anniversary of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum
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And, as we all know... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:And, as we all know... (Score:4, Interesting)
A 48K Spectrum was my second computer after a ZX81. I don't think I ever got so much pleasure out of any other possession I had as a child (and I didn't even have Sam Fox Strip Poker [props to those who actually remember her, and double to those who remember the game]).
The Spectrum just went to show how limited hardware resources would force game developers to write creative, original and addictive games. Knight Lore, RedHawk, Manic Miner, Heavy on the Magick, Spellbound, Knight Tyme, Skooldaze, Sweevo's World and above all Lords of Midnight and Doomdark's Revenge were among the best games I have played on any platform. Shame on game developers for the formulaic crap they spew these days.
Does anyone else remember CRASH magazine? Whatever happened to those guys? It was almost worth being a spectrum owner just for that mag. Best and funniest game reviews ever, and Oliver Frey's covers were fantastic. For years I wanted to meet a girl like the one on this cover he did.
ftp://ftp.worldofspectrum.org/pub/sinclair/magazi
Re:And, as we all know... (Score:4, Informative)
Your problem is caused by the "keyword" system (Score:5, Informative)
(http://babelfish.alt...%2F%2Fslashdot.jp%2F)
I think that your problem with Spectrum programming is due to Sinclair's "keyword" system. This first appeared on the ZX80 [wikipedia.org]. A single touch of a ZX80 key gave you a whole BASIC keyword (e.g. PRINT, GOTO). This was fast and simple. Symbols were accessed with SHIFT, and you could still type single letters when it was required.
A similar system was used on the ZX81 [wikipedia.org] , but because it was more powerful, there were more keywords to squeeze onto the keyboard. Thus, some keywords required the user to type SHIFT+NEWLINE *then* hit the key.
Sinclair retained the "keyword" system for the ZX Spectrum. Unfortunately, this was *much* more complicated, and there were lots of keywords to fit in. This made the system complicated. Even at its release, the Spectrum was criticised for this. From "Your Computer" magazine:-
Of course, at that time, I didn't realise that many BASIC keywords on my Atari 800XL could be abbreviated; for example "PRINT" could be "?", "LIST" could be "L.", and so on. Sinclair should have done that on the Spectrum instead.
Incidentally, when the enhanced 128K Spectrum was released, the new BASIC abandoned the keyword system.
Spectrum will never die. (Score:1)
Why not emulate? fun for all bored students! (Score:4, Informative)
Why is this in 'Games'? (Score:4, Insightful)
Z80s all around us (Score:4, Interesting)
Apparently they are common in dishwashers, washing machines and other programmable appliances. (Can your dishwasher run Linux?)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z80 [wikipedia.org]
My childhood in a nutshell (Score:3, Interesting)
(http://www.caperet.com/ | Last Journal: Friday August 05 2005, @07:18AM)
I started with a Sinclair ZX81, 1Kb of RAM expanded to 16Kb with a "RAM pack" that had an edge connector to the main PCB inside. It got hot (as did the power supply) and was often unstable. You could suddenly lose everything you were working on because the system just froze.
Along came the ZX Spectrum, 48Kb (and later 128Kb) with 8 colours (the ZX81 was black & white), sprites (the ZX81 was limited to the built in character set which included blocks & things until someone worked out how to hack that) and rubber keys (the ZX81 had touch sensitive membrane things).
It was a revolution, at my school we swapped tapes which didn't always load, had multiface cartridges to enter POKEs (changing a value at a particular memory address) for cheats and in order to create backups... and a big magazine scene.
I even ran an emulator on my PC to play one game in particular: the game that everyone tried to beat, and still fiendishly hard (and created by a mysterious genius who "disappeared", Matthew Smith [emuunlim.com]) : Manic Miner [xmixdrix.com] (link to a Windows version).
Those were the days [caperet.com]. The UK 8 bit scene was dominated by this machine.
Happy Birthday Speccy!!! (Score:1)
Thank you Sir Clive (Score:5, Interesting)
It's also worth noting Amstrad's healthy attitude to the retro scene (they bought Sinclair Research in 1986, and many of those million Brits will think of Spectra every time they watch The Apprentice...). Anyway, the Spectrum ROM was cracked & emulated before permission was sought. When someone decided to approach Amstrad to seek permission, one Cliff Wilson [worldofspectrum.org] stepped forward with a simple reply: "Yes, do what you like with the Spectrum ROM, just don't charge money for it and don't remove our copyright message." Such an open attitude towards the scene in 1999 means that it's still thriving today.
Nice little Speccy tribute in flash (Score:4, Funny)
(http://robvincent.net/ | Last Journal: Tuesday October 09, @01:55PM)
First and Most Significant For Me (Score:3, Informative)
I remember learning BASIC and assembly (Z80), playing Elite all through one night, playing games and learning lots of stuff.
And that little silver-paper thermal printer!
I've still got the 1981 ZX-Spectrum 48K in a box somewhere, with tapes of many games and that printer (and some spare 'paper'). The keyboard membrane has pretty much had it, making the computer almost useless, but one day I'll get a replacement, just for the nostalgia.
Market vs "good products" (Score:2)
Sr Clive also gifted us with the Sinclair QL [wikipedia.org], another product the market largely ignored despite its potentials.
The Acorn Archimedes [wikipedia.org] was meant to be a powerful innovative PC. But the "market" was aimed to IBM PCs and to Amigas
That was the history: the market can esily ignore techinical advances against fancy worse products!
THATS NOTHING (Score:5, Funny)
(http://www.rapiddescentscotland.co.uk/)
trum 48k to c
onnect to the
internet and
work with sla
shdot.
REM disconnec
t
I was a zx pirate (Score:2, Interesting)
As a 25th anniversary tribute (Score:4, Interesting)
(http://www.alioth.net/ | Last Journal: Friday November 09, @03:53PM)
http://www.alioth.net/Projects/Spectrum-Diag [alioth.net]
It uses LEDs to display the test progress and status, so even if you can't get a picture out of the Spectrum, you can at least find out if the CPU and memory is working, and a good idea whether the ULA is servicable.
I'm a woman with blunt, square-tipped fingers... (Score:3, Funny)
Thanks a lot, you bastards.
And, here's to the next 25 years (Score:2)
(http://www.wibble.co.uk/ | Last Journal: Monday August 22 2005, @04:07PM)
The spectrum was only beaten by one machine in the 1980s, the BBC micro. Without that, it has no equal.
Commonly repeated incorrect factiod alert! (Score:3, Informative)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/User:Maury_Markowitz)
It did not have a faster CPU. It had a CPU running at a higher external bus clock. You'd think that after all these years that people would realize that MHz != performance, but I guess not.
The 6502 ran on a bus multiplier, meaning it ran faster internally than it did externally. This is true of practically any modern CPU, but was not so common back in the day. In general terms the 1MHz 6502 and 4MHz Z80 ran at the same internal speeds. That said, the 6502 was much more efficient and RISC-like. In practically any benchmark that scales for speed, the 6502 comes out ahead.
Arguably the fastest, in theory, 8-bit machine was the Atari series. They ran a 2 MHz 6502 (declocked to sync with video), which was twice as fast as any of the other 6502 machines and effectively the same as an 8MHz Z80. But again, these machines always finished at the bottom of the heap in BASIC benchmarks, which again demonstrates the point at the top.
Maury
Great machine (Score:1)
(http://chris.brimson-read.com.au/)
But honestly, the C5? WTF were you thinking man, a 3 wheeled lay-back scooter made from a washing machine motor?
Yea, it was 24 something years ago, and i remember (Score:2)
(http://www.webgeekworld.com/ | Last Journal: Thursday April 27 2006, @07:47AM)
Homage post (Score:3, Interesting)
(http://www.dina.kvl.dk/~abraham/religion/)
My very first computer was a ZX Spectrum 48k. I still remember the beautiful banner: "(c) 1982 Sinclair Research, Ltd. Chuckie Egg II was my very first game, and BASIC the very first programming language I tried. The ZX Spectrum and the Timex had an almost monopoly here in Portugal in the '80's, to the extent that I never really saw a C64. The Timex plant in Portugal continued making them after the main branch closed its doors, and exported the machine to several countries (Poland was one of the main markets IIRC).
To Sir Clive: Hip! Hip! Hurrah!
Nostalgia time (Score:3, Interesting)
(http://scandal.org/)
Damn I can still hear the staticky 'eeeeeee-ktsch' of the tape drive now.
Modern computing seems so flat, routine and devoid of character by comparison. What happened?
Memories (Score:3, Interesting)
Hail Sir Clive (Score:1)
(Last Journal: Monday September 03 2001, @07:35AM)
The Spectrum made me who I am today. All hail the bald git, Clive!
Not so much a game, more a way of life (Score:1)
(http://www.paullee.com/)
ZX Spectrum book. (Score:2, Interesting)
(http://zxgoldenyears.com/)
SAM Coupé (Score:1)
(Last Journal: Wednesday February 15 2006, @02:54PM)
The logical evolution of the Spectrum, it could even emulate it perfectly (in 1989!).
Abject commercial failure, but it is the reason I am in this business at all
I have two, still fully working, and it has what is still my favourite keyboard of any machine ever.
I can't condense my feelings for this box of chips into a
Alan Miles and Bruce Gordon are hugely important figures in my childhood.
My ZX (Score:1)
I set the thing up (it was the week before Christmas, and I wrap fast) on my parents' kitchen counter using a 9 inch B&W TV they had. I made a display of 3 linked rotating rings (they each had a gap that made the "rotation" visible) that completely blew my father's mind -- the idea that something like that was possible. Compared to the punched cards and half day delays I was used to at college, it was a darned nice system.
It was popular in Eastern Europe too (Score:5, Interesting)
When I was 7, my father built a 48K Spectrum from scratch using smuggled components (the Z80 processor, the EEPROMs), parts from other computers (the case and keyboard); he made the PCB by himself as well as copying and programming the ROMs. I still remember the hardware debugging sessions.
Later we managed to make the Interface II (I think that was its name) addon board and get a floppy drive to work. It was an East-German Robotron 5.25" drive; we were using 360Kb Bulgarian floppies (sorry, can't remember the brand).
It was a wonderful machine and it's the way I got into computers and learn assembler (Zeus ruled). At 12 I was busy cracking the games' copy protection to be able to copy them from tape to disks. Oh, btw, games had to be smuggled in too - one network used airline pilots, some of the few kind of people who could travel outside the country with ease. Don't get me started with books, it was hard even to photocopy one, as access to photocopiers was restricted.
Healthy retro scene (Score:1)
(http://intyos.free.fr/)
(The link [worldofspectrum.org] mentionned in the article seems to be slashdotted, btw.)
Sinclair story (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah, he didn't get it. Actually, I imagine he's a lot more into computers these days. Finally got what he wanted, twenty years later.
Anyone fancy a game? (Score:1)
Speccy Memories (Score:1)
(Last Journal: Thursday November 13 2003, @08:39PM)
Have to disagree with the comment about it having the best BASIC. BBC BASIC was the best.
First Computer (Score:2)
(http://phill.kenoyer.com/)
It was the host of one of the greatest games ever! (Score:2)
...which is none other than:
Jet Set Willy! [wikipedia.org]
ZX, commodore vic20 and logo (Score:1)
(http://oblonski.wordpress.com/ | Last Journal: Friday November 02, @12:44PM)
Speccys in the US (Score:3, Informative)
There were 3 big barriers (at the time) to stop British machines taking off in the US:
I typed "LOAD article", ... (Score:2)
(Last Journal: Monday July 14 2003, @12:37PM)
"R Tape Load Error"
New BASIC Interpreter (Score:1)
(http://zzo38computer.cjb.net/)
Family's first computer was a ZX81 (Score:2)
My father was always trying to turn it into something 'useful' and kept purchasing Spectrum magazines to for code. I remember when he actually tried writing up a report for work and printing it off on the "receipt" thermal printer that went with the computer.
I was always pouring over the THICK manual that came with the computer, and even brought it to school to 'explain' AND and OR conditions in 3rd grade.
My first "cheat code" was hacking a game called "Red Alert" so I would never run out of lives. I wanted to see if the 'map' actually had an end, like the story that came with the game implied. It seemed amazing to me, as previously all I had ever gotten to play with were cartridge games for an Atari 2600, that I was actually 'allowed' to mess with the game like that.
Eventually, my father lost interest in the computer and passed it on to me when he got an Atari ST (Dad didn't have the best of luck when it came to picking computers that would survive in the marketplace).
I can't remember how many days I wasted playing with that thing, making simple XP and gold accumulators/dividers for imaginary D&D sessions, using a basic DB program to create a record for all the lands in my campaign world, trying to type in those effing 100 page programs for games (only to have a typo around line 270 cause it to never run).
Then one day, it just died. I spent a whole month trying the mojo a 6th grader might try to convince the ZX81 to come back to life. I was "good' for a week, I left it unplugged for days, I even pulled apart its shell to see if something had come loose. But it was essentially a door stop.
By then, I had also gotten an Atari ST. Not my dad's this time. My own, it was cheap even since this was near the end of the ST life cycle (STe I think it was), but it wasn't the same. Basic in it was crappy. You could buy 'nice' versions like STOS, basically pimped up version of Basic designed to make small games, but even then it was so much more difficult to get the ST do to anything that amazed me half as much as the ZX did.
If I were a better person, I'd buy one of those kits they still sell to make a ZX81. But like my dad before me, I'm sure it'd just sit on a table for months before I realized that I wasn't going to do anything with it.
I never got to see the Speccy in person. As a kid I was slightly jealous of the computer itself (kid logic) since it had more than the ZX81, but I'm glad to wish it a happy Anniversary all the same. If it was half the machine its ancestor was, it deserves the remembrance.
LONG LIVE THE ZX SPECTRUM! LONG LIVE SPECCY!
Nothing to add (Score:2)
(http://people.debian.org/~rganesan)
Tape loading was a bit finicky; I bought a Philips variable speed player/recorder where I could slightly increase the speed for faster loading. Oh those were the days! I learnt my assembly programming on the spectrum; manually poking in hex opcodes before I managed to buy an assembler. This was in high school. 2 years later in my CS Engineering course, I had a course on 8080 assembly programming and remember thinking wow, they actually teach stuff what I did for fun.
I can't say the Spectrum was very popular in India. It was released quite late and was still out of reach of most people. While I didn't have access to user clubs or other ways to talk to other owners, what I did have was access to very cheap Spectrum related books from the UK available in book sales. I still have most of them somewhere in the attic
Happy birthsday from Poland! (Score:1)
(http://bartsnews.blogspot.com/ | Last Journal: Tuesday November 21 2006, @07:38AM)
That's when I got infatuated with computers, programming and, above all, games. That's where my fascination with insides, outsides and the logical part of electronic devices stems. That was the beginning for me.
Imagine how many possibilities this gave, how many doors to visionary worlds opened