Happy 30th Birthday to the Sinclair ZX Spectrum

The Sinclair ZX Spectrum, arguably the first real computer for games for a lot of people my age turns 30!

The Spectrum came in two – £125 for a 16k machine and £175 for a 48k machine.

The biggest competitor to the Spectrum was the BBC Micro, but it was more expensive and had a lot less games. All this is detailed in the BBC film Micro Men, which if you haven’t seen is well worth watching.

Even Google has a nod to the Spectrum today on their page (along with a St George as it’s also St George’s day here in the UK):

I loved my Spectrum. It was the first computer I had myself. As a family we had a BBC Micro B, but the Spectrum as all mine!

I remember trying to convince my parents that it would be really useful for me for school work – yeah, that old argument! I am sure we all used the same argument to get one!

That said, it did help with my typing skills!

My first Spectrum was the 16k version, and a few months later I got the 48k ram pack. Eventually I got the “proper” 48k version.

Many, many (and I mean many) hours were spent on my Spectrum.

The BBC has a really interesting article on reuniting the two chief designers of the Spectrum. You can read it here.

Tell us your memories of the Spectrum.

Check out the once in a lifeday day at ARM celebrating the BBC Micro at 30