TO SET THE SCENE for the rise of ’80s micro-computers, we need
to start with 1977’s Apple II. It was available for the “cheap” price
of $1,298 (around $5,370 in today’s money), which bought you a
6502 CPU, 4K of R A M, and six colors—or 16 at ver y low resolution.
This was a great deal at the time, and was enough to seriously
bloody IBM’s nose. Although the hardware wouldn’t change
much in this period, costs had to come down drastically for home
computing to really take off. Which they did—but the US and British
approaches to this economic problem were vastly different.
The ZX Spectrum resulted from the battle of the 8-bit micro
scene in early ’80s Britain. Clive Sinclair would kick-start theBATTLE OF THE 8-BITS
In the 1980s, two home computers ruled the roost
SINCLAIR ZX SPECTRUM
SPECIFICATION
CPU: Zilog Z80 @ 3.5MHz
RAM: 16/48/128K
GRAPHICS: 256x192 resolution, eight colors
SOUND: CPU-driven single-channel onboard speaker
STORAGE: Cassette and ZX Microdrive
OS: Sinclair BASIC
RELEASED: December 1981
LAUNCH PRICE: $220 16K, $350 48K
PRODUCTION: 1982–1992
WORLDWIDE SALES: 5 millionThe Speccy. It had an awful
“dead flesh” keyboard,
visually offensive color-
clash, and truly disgusting
audio, but it was cheap—real
cheap. If you were a British kid in the
’80s, this was the machine to fight for, the blue-collared
hero that ushered in $4 gaming and earned Clive Sinclair
a knighthood.
After losing the BBC contract to Acorn, Sinclair had
to fight back, and did so by targeting the budget market,
this time with a machine that could hold its own with
videogames. Originally the “ZX82” (after the ZX80/81
predecessors), it was renamed to the ZX Spectrum to
highlight its whopping eight-color palette. The use of a
simple cassette deck for storage meant a whole new indie
development scene developed, at which anyone could try
their hand. Its list of games is utterly enormous, and it’s
impossible to do justice to the classics, but check out Ant
Attack, Head Over Heels, Skool Daze, and Manic Miner—and
it’s obligatory to play a Dizzy game at least once.
As the ’80s ploughed on, its real rival would be the
Commodore 64. Although the Commodore was in most
ways a better machine, the Spectrum still had some tricks
up its sleeve, and its dirt-cheap price meant that in Britain
it was in more grotty bedrooms of more spotty schoolboys
(many of whom went on to be software developers). The
Commodore looked and sounded better, but at least the
Spectrum had a faster CPU and quicker tape drive.COMMODORE 64
SPECIFICATION
CPU: MOS Technology 6510 @ 1MHz
RAM: 64K
GRAPHICS: 320x200 resolution, 16 colors
SOUND: SID 6581 chip
STORAGE: Cassette, 5.25-inch floppy, and ROM cartridge
OS: Commodore KERNAL/Basic 2.0
RELEASED: August 1982
LAUNCH PRICE: $595
PRODUCTION: 1982–1994
WORLDWIDE SALES: 17 millionNamed after its 64K of
RAM, the Commodore 64
was designed to be a great
games machines from
the outset, using custom
chipsets to power functions separately from the CPU.
The powerful VIC-II chip gave the Commodore 16 colors,
hardware sprites, smooth scrolling, and a high resolution.
The SID sound chip was developed by an actual musician,
and wiped the floor with the competition—it’s still used by
musicians today—see the box opposite for more.
While many micros had features that were technically
superior to the C64, Commodore’s choice of hardware for
the budget hit a sweet spot that punched well above its
weight. One of the best choices was its use of hardware
sprites; where other machines had visual tearing and color-
clash, the C64’s graphics were smooth and consistent.
Commodore’s hardware gave users graphics and sound
that were head and shoulders above the competition,
quickly establishing the C64 as the gaming computer of
choice. The Commodore would also become famous for its
public domain “demo” scene, where programmers would
show off their skills by pushing the machine to its limits,
competing for the best sound and visuals.
CEO Jack Tramiel’s aggressive price war (which brought
the C64 down to near Speccy prices) also gave it a healthy
business market. Why pay thousands for an IBM machine
when you could spend a few hundred on something that
plugs into a TV?British micro movement with the first home computer for under
$200, 1980’s groundbreaking ZX80. It had only 1K of RAM, a
horrid keyboard, and the screen jumped with every keystroke.
Nevertheless, it was enough to rouse the public’s interest in
home computing, and later resulted in the improved ZX81.
Meanwhile, a bitter rivalry was developing between Sinclair
Research and its former employee, Chris Curry, of Acorn
Computers. Things got genuinely ugly when the BBC wanted to
commission a machine for its computer literacy project and TV
series The Computer Programme. Every British manufacturer
was putting in bids—including Sinclair—but only Acorn’s designso retro
28 MAXIMUMPC JUN 2019 maximumpc.com