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Now I'm not going to drone on about how glorious the past was, or that all games were better in the days of the Spectrum.......oh, hell, I am.
Those first days of mass media (ha!) computing, where the adverts always promised fantastic lands where you could lose yourself for days, where the magazine reviewers were fresh faced and saw limitless horizons for games ideas, where there was everything to look forward to and no cynisism in the industry. I remember them well though my rose tinted glasses.
Yes, there were bad games (there were VERY bad games), the graphics were monochrome and the sound...well...it was awful! But this was new technology, we could play games that were in the arcades and it was even fairly easy to create our own, allbeit basic, games too. Boots, Woolies and others sold that magical black box of delights for a mere £80 with a few games to get you started and a ZX Horizon tape with some interesting programs on.
It wasn't just a games machine either, people did school homework, accounts and even cross stitching on it. It revolutionised the way people saw computers, not as expensive office machines which were only used by 'techies' and people who had to use them, but as affordable tools for the house and entertainment for everyone.
My experience of the Sinclair Spectrum has led to my understanding of computing in general and led to future jobs. I have used it for school projects, to make money and even worked at Your Sinclair for a few weeks during its heyday. Learning how to create games and utilities and exploring the hardware of the machine made the experience more special.
Yes, I may be a sad old guy with a PC and far too many consoles and a wife who will never understand my hobby but its all due to that little black box called the Spectrum. Damn that fantastic machine!
Those first days of mass media (ha!) computing, where the adverts always promised fantastic lands where you could lose yourself for days, where the magazine reviewers were fresh faced and saw limitless horizons for games ideas, where there was everything to look forward to and no cynisism in the industry. I remember them well though my rose tinted glasses.
Yes, there were bad games (there were VERY bad games), the graphics were monochrome and the sound...well...it was awful! But this was new technology, we could play games that were in the arcades and it was even fairly easy to create our own, allbeit basic, games too. Boots, Woolies and others sold that magical black box of delights for a mere £80 with a few games to get you started and a ZX Horizon tape with some interesting programs on.
It wasn't just a games machine either, people did school homework, accounts and even cross stitching on it. It revolutionised the way people saw computers, not as expensive office machines which were only used by 'techies' and people who had to use them, but as affordable tools for the house and entertainment for everyone.
My experience of the Sinclair Spectrum has led to my understanding of computing in general and led to future jobs. I have used it for school projects, to make money and even worked at Your Sinclair for a few weeks during its heyday. Learning how to create games and utilities and exploring the hardware of the machine made the experience more special.
Yes, I may be a sad old guy with a PC and far too many consoles and a wife who will never understand my hobby but its all due to that little black box called the Spectrum. Damn that fantastic machine!
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Now I'm not going to drone on about how glorious the past was, or that all games were better in the days of the Spectrum.......oh, hell, I am.
Those first days of mass media (ha!) computing, where the adverts always promised fantastic lands where you could lose yourself for days, where the magazine reviewers were fresh faced and saw limitless horizons for games ideas, where there was everything to look forward to and no cynisism in the industry. I remember them well though my rose tinted glasses.
Yes, there were bad games (there were VERY bad games), the graphics were monochrome and the sound...well...it was awful! But this was new technology, we could play games that were in the arcades and it was even fairly easy to create our own, allbeit basic, games too. Boots, Woolies and others sold that magical black box of delights for a mere £80 with a few games to get you started and a ZX Horizon tape with some interesting programs on.
It wasn't just a games machine either, people did school homework, accounts and even cross stitching on it. It revolutionised the way people saw computers, not as expensive office machines which were only used by 'techies' and people who had to use them, but as affordable tools for the house and entertainment for everyone.
My experience of the Sinclair Spectrum has led to my understanding of computing in general and led to future jobs. I have used it for school projects, to make money and even worked at Your Sinclair for a few weeks during its heyday. Learning how to create games and utilities and exploring the hardware of the machine made the experience more special.
Yes, I may be a sad old guy with a PC and far too many consoles and a wife who will never understand my hobby but its all due to that little black box called the Spectrum. Damn that fantastic machine!
Those first days of mass media (ha!) computing, where the adverts always promised fantastic lands where you could lose yourself for days, where the magazine reviewers were fresh faced and saw limitless horizons for games ideas, where there was everything to look forward to and no cynisism in the industry. I remember them well though my rose tinted glasses.
Yes, there were bad games (there were VERY bad games), the graphics were monochrome and the sound...well...it was awful! But this was new technology, we could play games that were in the arcades and it was even fairly easy to create our own, allbeit basic, games too. Boots, Woolies and others sold that magical black box of delights for a mere £80 with a few games to get you started and a ZX Horizon tape with some interesting programs on.
It wasn't just a games machine either, people did school homework, accounts and even cross stitching on it. It revolutionised the way people saw computers, not as expensive office machines which were only used by 'techies' and people who had to use them, but as affordable tools for the house and entertainment for everyone.
My experience of the Sinclair Spectrum has led to my understanding of computing in general and led to future jobs. I have used it for school projects, to make money and even worked at Your Sinclair for a few weeks during its heyday. Learning how to create games and utilities and exploring the hardware of the machine made the experience more special.
Yes, I may be a sad old guy with a PC and far too many consoles and a wife who will never understand my hobby but its all due to that little black box called the Spectrum. Damn that fantastic machine!