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Um, not really, with the Sinclair machines, the UK had more computers per capita than anywhere else at the time. They were very very limited, and ultimately the

Um, not really, with the Sinclair machines, the UK had more computers per capita than anywhere else at the time. They were very very limited, and ultimately the bet on ubiquity over capability didn’t pay off, but pretty much every kid I knew had one. I was a docker’s brat in a run-down Northern city, we didn’t have much, growing up, but my parents bought me the zx81 components kit (£49) and a second-hand black&white TV (£20) for Xmas when I was 11, and that year at school, computers were the thing. Like, everyone had one.

jen20 6y ago
I’d suggest the number of British expats in Silicon Valley who started programming on a BBC Micro or Spectrum suggests that it very much did pay off, just not in the way anticipated.
- spacedcowboy 6y ago
  [grin] like me. That’s a good point. I originally meant that the PC took over the world, but if you take a step back and look at the influence of that ubiquity, yeah. That’s a good point :)
  - jen20 6y ago
    Yup, and me ;-) I probably encounter at least one or two more expats I wasn't aware of per week at the FAANG I work for, and always make a point of asking them about this - certainly seems that the ubiquitous small machines that someone could completely understand have made their mark!
    - qz2 6y ago
      Annoying because over here in the UK everyone shrugs if you mention it now.
      - stevekemp 6y ago
        I think it depends upon the relative age of the people you're talking to. I started playing with a ZX Spectrum back in the early eighties, as a youngster, and directly credit it with my IT-career. I only wish I'd tried writing computer games at the time, instead of hacking existing ones for infinite lives!
        smartscience 6y ago
        Did you have a Multiface? Not all that cheap, but probably ended up teaching me more about low-level programming than anything else, short of writing a Spectrum 128 emulator for Risc OS :)
        stevekemp 6y ago
        Sadly not, that would have made things a hell of a lot easier!
Razengan 6y ago
> ultimately the bet on ubiquity over capability didn’t pay off Because they didn't know where to go from there. Instead of capitalizing on their existing userbase by making better machines that were also compatible with the currently popular model, they alienated their fans by making incompatible or barely-improved crap that nobody asked for: the ZX Spectrum 128, with just slightly more memory and a music chip but still using horrible graphics and tape storage, the QL, the Commodore 128... The masters of both Sinclair and Commodore were tone deaf suit-zombies with no clue about the zeitgeist, no idea what gamers, the majority of their users, really wanted. Most of them were people who couldn't afford to run multiple computers (only having 1 TV or computer desk to spare) or part with their existing software library for minimal benefits. On the other hand you had consoles like the NES and SNES, which offered enough new features and came after a long enough time for people to not mind the incompatibility.

jen20 6y ago

I’d suggest the number of British expats in Silicon Valley who started programming on a BBC Micro or Spectrum suggests that it very much did pay off, just not in the way anticipated.

spacedcowboy 6y ago
[grin] like me. That’s a good point. I originally meant that the PC took over the world, but if you take a step back and look at the influence of that ubiquity, yeah. That’s a good point :)
- jen20 6y ago
  Yup, and me ;-) I probably encounter at least one or two more expats I wasn't aware of per week at the FAANG I work for, and always make a point of asking them about this - certainly seems that the ubiquitous small machines that someone could completely understand have made their mark!
  - qz2 6y ago
    Annoying because over here in the UK everyone shrugs if you mention it now.
    - stevekemp 6y ago
      I think it depends upon the relative age of the people you're talking to. I started playing with a ZX Spectrum back in the early eighties, as a youngster, and directly credit it with my IT-career. I only wish I'd tried writing computer games at the time, instead of hacking existing ones for infinite lives!
      - smartscience 6y ago
        Did you have a Multiface? Not all that cheap, but probably ended up teaching me more about low-level programming than anything else, short of writing a Spectrum 128 emulator for Risc OS :)
        stevekemp 6y ago
        Sadly not, that would have made things a hell of a lot easier!

Razengan 6y ago

> ultimately the bet on ubiquity over capability didn’t pay off Because they didn't know where to go from there. Instead of capitalizing on their existing userbase by making better machines that were also compatible with the currently popular model, they alienated their fans by making incompatible or barely-improved crap that nobody asked for: the ZX Spectrum 128, with just slightly more memory and a music chip but still using horrible graphics and tape storage, the QL, the Commodore 128... The masters of both Sinclair and Commodore were tone deaf suit-zombies with no clue about the zeitgeist, no idea what gamers, the majority of their users, really wanted. Most of them were people who couldn't afford to run multiple computers (only having 1 TV or computer desk to spare) or part with their existing software library for minimal benefits. On the other hand you had consoles like the NES and SNES, which offered enough new features and came after a long enough time for people to not mind the incompatibility.