Thanks for the video. I'll try not to "go off" which is too common on the interwebs. I got a TS1000 in 1982 when I was 15 and it opened my eyes to the world of a computers that would have otherwise been unaffordable. And, it was pretty life changing (I went into IT, still am). I learned to program in Basic and, because of the extremely short supply of RAM, learned some assembler as well because you had to. It's not a machine to be judged on gaming and the keyboard was in fact ridiculous. But, I think it had a great impact on many. I still keep it under glass in my office.
These are the comments I was hoping to see. I was 4 years old when it was introduced, so by the time I really got into computers, 32 or 64K of RAM and a real keyboard was more common, so the TS1000 was more of a novelty than anything else. I love hearing the stories about how these simple computers changed the course of someone's life. That's what it's all about... the personal connection.
My first computer was a Timex/Sinclair 1000. 7th grade in school i think. Loved it! Learned basic programming on it and set me up for a career in electronics.
It's great when we can trace our interests in something back to the very beginning. It was a C64 for me. I'd used other machines before that, but the C64 really sparked my interest in programming and networking.
I had a ZX81 - I think a big difference between UK and US was that early computers in the UK were something you programmed first, games were a secondary use. Easily the biggest problem was the loose 16kb pack that would reset the machine at the slightest touch, costing you any unsaved programming/data. The VIC 20 was twice the price as the ZX81 similarly the C64 that followed it was £100 more than the Speccy that followed the ZX81. God bless Sir Clive.
I am 49, and my first computer was an used Timex Sinclair 1000. My life was changed by the ownership of that machine. I just thought about how important that computer was in my life, as I was putting a pair of Bluetooth earpieces back on their case and thinking to myself why I remember that small piece of plastic so so fondly, when I am surrounded by so much technology and electronics today.
That machine is one of the reasons we are surrounded by so much technology. Many people owe their careers in electronics to a machine like the Sinclair sparking their interest.
The ZX80 and ZX81 launched the computer revolution in the UK - it was the first sub-£100 computer available to the public over this side of the Pond, and boy did they keep the costs down when they assembled them. That keyboard, though... Surely there should've been some better alternative than what they went with and then there's that badly-designed RAM pack connection. I had a couple of Spectrums myself, and the howl of the tape loading sound is still etched into my memory years down the line. Would love to play around with a ZX81.
I am in Canada. I did not buy the ZX-81 when it was new. I bought its predecessor, the ZX-80 when it was new. It had even fewer features than the ZX-81, having only a 4K ROM instead of the ZX-81's 8K ROM. But it was my first computer and it was how I learned to program in BASIC. At the time I did consider buying the Vic-20 but the ZX-80 was cheaper. I still have the ZX-80 but it doesn't work now of course. It was quite amazing what people could do with only 1K of RAM, since the 16K pack didn't come out until ZX-81. At the time there was a huge aftermarket scene with companies selling everything from full-sized keyboards, to graphics cards, and disk controllers all piggybacking onto the expansion bus. Good memories.
The ZX81 was my first computer, I still have and use it. My wife won it at a open house where she worked, I learned Sinclair basic from the manual, and how to code in Z80. The ZX81 had it's problems for sure, but as a computer it was better than most people thought it was. I did buy a TS1000 and the TS2068 computer which I still use today.
Many coders got their start on a ZX... we wouldn't be where we are today without computers such as the ZX81 getting people into computers at a reasonable cost.
The Sinclair ZX81 was powered by a Zilog Z80 microprocessor. As a result of the $100 rebate, a lot of these computers found their way into Commodore headquarters in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Bil Herd, the designer of the Commodore 128, had one as his door stop. When he was building the C-128 prototype, he ripped the Zilog Z80 out of the Sinclair and put it in the prototype. This gave the computer the capability to run CP/M.
The ZX81 catered for those who could not afford the huge cost of Commodore, Apple or other computers. If the ZX81 / Timex 1000 was not introduced, then it would have taken much longer for the price of Commodore and other machines to fall in price as they would not have had the competition.
I think the most unfortunate thing is the choice of keyboard mechanism... IDK what it would have cost then, but surely something better could have been done...
I think it went both ways. In a family situation, the parents may have bought it so the kids could learn programming, but the kids really wanted it for games. Lol. My own situation was my dad bought it for games and I was more interested in how it worked.
Nobody was probably buying an Apple II, TRS-80, Commodore PET, or really any home computer solely to play games with. -- Only the C64 and Atari computers really strike as maybe gaming oriented.
I had one of these.. Sinclair Basic was a nightmare lol. And waiting 5-7mins for a game to load and then crash at the end of loading was so frustrating!! I upgraded to the Spectrum 48k after 😃
What makes them "less popular" than what came out in the States? Timing. The Commodore 64 wasn't even out when the TS 1000 was released in the States, but more so in the UK -- they'd had this for over 1.5 years (2.5y if you count the ZX80) before the Commodore 64 came out. And why would they buy the "new thing" from Commodore that was 6-8 times the price when they could buy T/S's "new thing" -- the ZX Spectrum, which was three times cheaper than the Commodore 64, had a faster processor and better graphics -- *four months* before anyone in the world could buy a Commodore 64? Frankly, Clive Sinclair singlehandedly kept the UK at the forefront of home computing straight up until he had to sell to Amstrad. Wouldn't surprise me if there's a parallel universe out there where he held on to it, and nobody even talks about the Amiga vs Atari ST wars of the late 80s.
Thanks for the video. I'll try not to "go off" which is too common on the interwebs. I got a TS1000 in 1982 when I was 15 and it opened my eyes to the world of a computers that would have otherwise been unaffordable. And, it was pretty life changing (I went into IT, still am). I learned to program in Basic and, because of the extremely short supply of RAM, learned some assembler as well because you had to. It's not a machine to be judged on gaming and the keyboard was in fact ridiculous. But, I think it had a great impact on many. I still keep it under glass in my office.
These are the comments I was hoping to see. I was 4 years old when it was introduced, so by the time I really got into computers, 32 or 64K of RAM and a real keyboard was more common, so the TS1000 was more of a novelty than anything else. I love hearing the stories about how these simple computers changed the course of someone's life. That's what it's all about... the personal connection.
My first computer was a Timex/Sinclair 1000. 7th grade in school i think. Loved it! Learned basic programming on it and set me up for a career in electronics.
It's great when we can trace our interests in something back to the very beginning. It was a C64 for me. I'd used other machines before that, but the C64 really sparked my interest in programming and networking.
I had a ZX81 - I think a big difference between UK and US was that early computers in the UK were something you programmed first, games were a secondary use. Easily the biggest problem was the loose 16kb pack that would reset the machine at the slightest touch, costing you any unsaved programming/data. The VIC 20 was twice the price as the ZX81 similarly the C64 that followed it was £100 more than the Speccy that followed the ZX81. God bless Sir Clive.
My goal is to find a ZX Spectrum. I've always wanted one and I think it would be a fun system.
I am 49, and my first computer was an used Timex Sinclair 1000. My life was changed by the ownership of that machine. I just thought about how important that computer was in my life, as I was putting a pair of Bluetooth earpieces back on their case and thinking to myself why I remember that small piece of plastic so so fondly, when I am surrounded by so much technology and electronics today.
That machine is one of the reasons we are surrounded by so much technology. Many people owe their careers in electronics to a machine like the Sinclair sparking their interest.
The ZX80 and ZX81 launched the computer revolution in the UK - it was the first sub-£100 computer available to the public over this side of the Pond, and boy did they keep the costs down when they assembled them. That keyboard, though... Surely there should've been some better alternative than what they went with and then there's that badly-designed RAM pack connection. I had a couple of Spectrums myself, and the howl of the tape loading sound is still etched into my memory years down the line. Would love to play around with a ZX81.
I am in Canada. I did not buy the ZX-81 when it was new. I bought its predecessor, the ZX-80 when it was new. It had even fewer features than the ZX-81, having only a 4K ROM instead of the ZX-81's 8K ROM. But it was my first computer and it was how I learned to program in BASIC. At the time I did consider buying the Vic-20 but the ZX-80 was cheaper. I still have the ZX-80 but it doesn't work now of course. It was quite amazing what people could do with only 1K of RAM, since the 16K pack didn't come out until ZX-81. At the time there was a huge aftermarket scene with companies selling everything from full-sized keyboards, to graphics cards, and disk controllers all piggybacking onto the expansion bus. Good memories.
The ZX81 was my first computer, I still have and use it. My wife won it at a open house where she worked, I learned Sinclair basic from the manual, and how to code in Z80. The ZX81 had it's problems for sure, but as a computer it was better than most people thought it was. I did buy a TS1000 and the TS2068 computer which I still use today.
Many coders got their start on a ZX... we wouldn't be where we are today without computers such as the ZX81 getting people into computers at a reasonable cost.
The Sinclair ZX81 was powered by a Zilog Z80 microprocessor. As a result of the $100 rebate, a lot of these computers found their way into Commodore headquarters in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Bil Herd, the designer of the Commodore 128, had one as his door stop. When he was building the C-128 prototype, he ripped the Zilog Z80 out of the Sinclair and put it in the prototype. This gave the computer the capability to run CP/M.
The ZX81 catered for those who could not afford the huge cost of Commodore, Apple or other computers. If the ZX81 / Timex 1000 was not introduced, then it would have taken much longer for the price of Commodore and other machines to fall in price as they would not have had the competition.
Sir Clive, from his watches, calculators and little EV, an absolute genius. Unfortunately he didn't have Steve Jobs' business nounse 👍🇬🇧
I think the most unfortunate thing is the choice of keyboard mechanism... IDK what it would have cost then, but surely something better could have been done...
Well said
I liked your review, very fair.
I don't think anybody bought them to play games with.
I think it went both ways. In a family situation, the parents may have bought it so the kids could learn programming, but the kids really wanted it for games. Lol. My own situation was my dad bought it for games and I was more interested in how it worked.
Nobody was probably buying an Apple II, TRS-80, Commodore PET, or really any home computer solely to play games with. -- Only the C64 and Atari computers really strike as maybe gaming oriented.
I had one of these.. Sinclair Basic was a nightmare lol. And waiting 5-7mins for a game to load and then crash at the end of loading was so frustrating!! I upgraded to the Spectrum 48k after 😃
That has to be one of the most frustrating things.... waiting and then getting a loading error.
Vintage smells good indeed.
In more ways than one!
What makes them "less popular" than what came out in the States? Timing. The Commodore 64 wasn't even out when the TS 1000 was released in the States, but more so in the UK -- they'd had this for over 1.5 years (2.5y if you count the ZX80) before the Commodore 64 came out. And why would they buy the "new thing" from Commodore that was 6-8 times the price when they could buy T/S's "new thing" -- the ZX Spectrum, which was three times cheaper than the Commodore 64, had a faster processor and better graphics -- *four months* before anyone in the world could buy a Commodore 64?
Frankly, Clive Sinclair singlehandedly kept the UK at the forefront of home computing straight up until he had to sell to Amstrad. Wouldn't surprise me if there's a parallel universe out there where he held on to it, and nobody even talks about the Amiga vs Atari ST wars of the late 80s.