The Sinclair ZX Spectrum is 40 and Eurogamer isn’t the only one celebrating the occasion.
Kay Burley is probably taking about the rubber-keyed wonder' right now.
What impact has it had on their lives and from their perspective, the lives of others?
We got in touch with six of the original team to ask them.
He later managed the design of the Spectrum Plus 2.
John Mathiesonwas involved in the launch of the Spectrum in April 1982, having joined Sinclair four months earlier.
John wrote it initially for the ZX80 (in just 4Kb!)
and this was later expanded for the ZX81 and Spectrum by Steve Vickers.
He was heavily involved in the manufacturing side of the Spectrum.
Cliff Lawsonwas an Amstrad employee who worked on the CPC and PCW lines.
Rupert Goodwinsjoined Sinclair in early 1985 as a software engineer and developed the system software for the Spectrum 128.
Though both are no longer with us we remain greatly indebted to their contributions.
As the Spectrum celebrates its 40th anniversary, why do you feel that it’s so well remembered?
It has to be more than just nostalgia hasn’t it?
Altwasser:I feel it’s well remembered for several reasons.
It became an icon.
Plus, many businesses grew on the back of the Spectrum selling software and peripherals.
Many entrepreneurs arose out of the success.
The Spectrum was the first widespread home computer for gaming.
It changed everything for a lot of people.
We all remember the C5 don’t we?
If you mean remembered with fondness' it must be the software.
It was one of the biggest sellers mostly because there were more games available for it.
Karlin:We lived in a world where computers were inaccessible, room-sized machines owned by giant companies.
For countless thousands it was their first experience of computing and games.
Lawson:I think you had to be there at the time.
It was like nothing we’d experienced before.
But it also had that same token programmable BASIC previously used in the ZX80/81.
I learned a lot that would help me in the following 10-15 years doing Z80 assembler professionally at Amstrad.
Goodwins:For many people it is nostalgia, and none the worse for that.
It had no past, no roots in our parents' culture.
It was the gateway to the future and it was so much fun.
What impact do you feel the Spectrum has had on the UK computer and games industries?
A wealth of UK technology expertise has since grown and developed as the hardware platforms have progressed.
Mathieson:The Spectrum was a real computer.
People could write code on it, progress to writing games, and generally develop their skills.
And all this came naturally because the system was very open and very simple to learn.
Neither consoles nor computers have this quality any more.
If that doesn’t hook you as a geeky teenager, nothing will.
Lawson:The impact the Spectrum had on the home micro market was immense.
It set a level of features that any competitor would need to match.
It was a glorious time to be involved in micros as almost every month saw something new being launched.
I remember my brother getting interested in this new machine from the crap hi-fi' company Amstrad.
So he bought a CPC464 that I used for a bit during the summer of 1984.
The CPC was intended to be a UK/Euro Commodore 64 rather than trying to capture the Spectrum market.
Karlin:The Spectrum had personality.
So this isn’t a question that I’ve considered much.
And to have provided millions with hours of fun and entertainment.
Having been part of the Spectrum story fulfilled that desire in no uncertain terms.
A lot of people are very different today as a result of what we did.
I can’t ask for more.
Goodwins:Personally I can’t believe I was so lucky as to get to work at Sinclair Research.
That’s heady stuff when you’re 19.
Thank you to all of the contributors and to Colin Woodcock for supplying photography.
