People make fun of the ZX81/Time Sinclair 1000. It was a super cheap computer which had some questionable corners cut. Let’s see if these three machines work, fix them if they don’t and then see if these computers are worthy of praise or live up to their bad expectations.
“People make fun…”
Do they? They were massively popular in the UK and are generally remembered quite fondly by people who used them as kids.
Learning basic, playing games.
Sure, we griped about stuff, but folk gripe about everything.
This sort of retro-focussed content that makes weird assertions about how people felt and feel gets recycled way too often.
I still remember to this day when I bought my ZX81 for 999SKR at the local bookshop Quidings. My father wanted us kids to do motocross, but I hated it sold mine to my bigger brother and had the funds for the computer.
The 1KB RAM was a little bit on the low end but with an expansion card you could do and learn a lot.
Went on with the C64 and so on …
That’s a superb trajectory.
I went on to the +2A and then an Amiga 500. Loved that machine, but always the fondest memories for me were typing in code out of magazines on my ZX.
I “knew” the C64 was better but I always was in awe of the ZX Spectrum.
Sigh, good times!
Yes. I like his work, but this is rather glib - and as you point out, not at all representative of how people felt and feel about the Zx81.