You could say that this month history is repeating itself. The Raspberry Pi is finally starting to ship to users and manufacturers are struggling to keep up with demand. The tiny PC undercuts the competition on price, allows anyone to start programming out the box, and has already demonstrated its ability to play games as well as offer up the potential for a huge range of other software applications. Go back 30 years and you could be saying the exact same thing, only in 1980s the machine being talked about was called the Sincalir ZX Spectrum.
Today, April 23, 2012, marks the 30th anniversary of Sir Clive Sinclair’s follow-up to the ZX81. During its lifetime the ZX Spectrum shipped over 5 million units, had 8 different models, and formed the starting point for many a budding programmer who have since enjoyed a career in the software industry.
The success of the machine is mainly down to clever engineering. Engineer Richard Altwasser and industrial designer Rick Dickinson had to hit a very low price for the components of the machine, and so went about redesigning everything they could to save money. The end result was a computer that sold for less than half the price of the BBC Micro and significantly cheaper than the Commodore 64, instantly making it the obvious choice for parents to buy for their kids.
The ZX Spectrum remained popular as the platform was embraced by games developers, but also due to the fact anyone could create programs for it using the included BASIC language. In fact, the ZX Spectrum has a library of over 23,000 software titles, and new ones are still being produced by enthusiasts working with the hardware. The fact any programs written for the ZX81 also worked on the Spectrum helped, as did Spectrum magazines including type-in programs and tutorials on a regular basis.
The machine is credited by some as “launching the UK IT industry.” We are now facing the problem of getting kids interested in programming and software creation again. Hopefully the Raspberry Pi is the device to do that and will one day be classed in the same league as the ZX Spectrum.