The ZX81 was my first computer. I can remember losing hours of coding because the crappy card edge connector on the RAM expansion. A friend of mine and I spent weeks programming a Pacman clone (I use the term loosely. It was hackey and buggy) for it back in 1982. We gave everyone a copy of it at our ZX users croup. A few years ago, I was playing with a ZX emulator, and downloaded a ZIP file of a 100 programs. One of them was my attempt at a Pacman clone. I was thrilled to see that it was passed around and survived.

Had to come here to pay my respects, as a tech enthusiast, to Sir Clive Sinclair, who died tonight at age 81. We lost a pioneer.

My family couldn't afford much when I was young. I really wanted a computer for Christmas and the zx81 seemed the accessible choice. £50 was a shit load for my parents to pay. I opened my present on Christmas morning and was elated. Then my dad got up and opened a cupboard and pulled out another present. I instantly knew what it was. I pulled the wrapping paper off - it was a 16k ram pack. That cost them another 30 quid! I burst into tears because it was a lot of money for them.

40 years on and I've been working in software development my whole life and have developed software in a range of industries ranging from art to safety in nuclear systems

This is all because of that cheap and not very useful zx81 ☺

Like many in the U.K. I wrote my first program in basic on a Sinclair.  It was Battle Ships and took me months and months of design and hard thinking.  As a result I got my first job at 16 as a computer operator.  A career in programming analysis and management lead me to becoming a Director of Information in the NHS.  All because of a £99 investment.  Simply fantastic machine.

The ZX computers were what Ford Fiestas are to the car industry. Cheap, reliable, and often a first-time purchase. They're legendary here in the U.K.

"People realized they could buy the Sinclair unit for 50 bucks and then trade it in for a $100 credit on a Commodore"
s t o n k s

These machines made it possible for millions of children to get into computing in the UK. I was one of them. At the time I was 10 years old and made money delivering newspapers. I delivered enough newspapers to finally buy the 81 and learn basic. It's limitations meant you had to be 'creative' and not just go with the flow. I did it on my own without troubling my parents, although they did help me go to night-class to study Computer Science as it wasn't even in the school curriculum back then. I was qualified in Computer Science at the age of 12. Yes looking back they were "calculators you can plug into a TV", but at the time they were so much more than that and they helped to changed a lot of peoples paths in life.  Enjoyed the video by the way, just had to add a point of view. Thanks!!

You should remember Sinclair designed the ZX80 with introducing children from poor family`s during a bad recession to computing and it did that

8-Bit Guy: "The ZX80 is a terrible computer."
The UK: (๑°o°๑)

3:30 Putting the power jack into the wrong port will NOT fry something. The MIC and EAR port circuits each contain caps that will block DC power entirely. In fact, the actual ZX80 manual itself puts you at ease: "if you do get it in the wrong jack socket you won't damage your ZX-80 even if you switch on the power. It won't work until you get the plug in the right socket, though!)"

The ZX81 was my pathway into computers when I was 12, my father bought me one for Christmas with his redundancy money, he figured he'd give his kid a chance. Here I am approaching 50 and a computer engineer. Great move dad. I can't speak for other countries, but in the UK these are iconic computers, writ large in our childhood memories and brilliant because it meant ordinary people could finally afford a 'real' computer. Learning Z80 assembler, losing hours of work because you breathed too close to the RAM pack, listening to tapes screeching at high volume while you waited 15 minutes for a program to load, these are rights of passage into the world of computers that younger generations will never know.

These machines helped to create a generation of future programmers. Absolute educational gold dust.

Now to put all this in (a European) perspective.
Back in the 1970's and the early 1980's, computers were a new thing. Only a very limited part of the population had any idea what you could do with a computer. The idea of having something like that in your house was at first a dream to that small part of the population, and the others did not even think about it.
Then came the time that you could build you own computer, this was very expensive and required knowledge. Then came some kit computers, even more expensive. Followed by the big three (Commodore PET, TRS-80, Apple II), these were also very expensive. Followed by the Atari 400/800 with revolutionary sound and colour graphics capabilities, equally expensive. There were others, also expensive.
Then came the Sinclair ZX80/81 offering capabilities equal to earlier kit computers and with BASIC and a proper manual at 1/20th to 1/10th of the price of other contemporary computers. Now that was a REVOLUTION. Sinclair put programmable computers in to the hands of curious ordinary people who could have never dreamed of owning one otherwise.
And it set an example and brought prices down across the line by opening up a huge market. Followed by the ZX Spectrum and VIC 20 and later the Commodore 64, cheaper and price reduced Atari's, Acorn Electron, MSX, Tandy's Coco and the Amstrad/Schneider CPC.

In the UK, you have to remember that not everyone could afford a computer - the ZX81 made it possible for almost every one to have one. It moved computing from a niche nerd activity, to an household pastime. They were sold in Boots and WHSmith! They introduced an entire generation to computers, and their impact cannot be overstated.

While you're not wrong about the criticism of their failings, I think it should be pointed out this is the context of their competitor products in the same price range. Of which there were none.  You simply couldn't buy a computer as cheap as this.  So, regardless of the limitations - these were absolutely the best machines in their class - and did help kick-start the home computer revolution in the UK.

BTW _ I really do hope you manage to do a thorough look at the BBC micro range of computers - these were, perhaps, the UK equivalent of the Apple II - and were ubiquitous in UK schools throughout the eighties. - they're amazing machines in terms of their capabilities and expansion potential and deserve much recognition.

I think the best way to sum up the ZX80 and its kin is 'proof of concept'. They served as demonstrations that computing could be brought down to a level where any old family could afford one. They handily showed that whilst the technology and fabrication wasn't there yet it wouldn't be long before cheap computers could be making their way in to the homes of people who wanted but couldn't afford one or could afford one but wouldn't try at their current price point. The result was enormous too, they basically started the huge microcomputer boom in the UK and Europe and created an entire generation of coders and gamers. As I recall in the mid to late 80s more households in the UK owned computers than any other country, though the competitors it attracted were global. The battle was fought between Amstrad, Acorn, Sinclair, Coleco, Commodore, BBC, Oric, Dragon, Orange, Tandy, TI, etc. and was so fierce that giants like Apple, Atari, IBM and Nintendo barely got a mention. Granted, Sinclair Research drowned in the very wave they created not long afterwards and Microsoft, Intel and the Big Blue eventually came around to affordable, gamer-friendly computing and took over...

Well, this video is now in a whole different perspective.

R.I.P. Sir Clive Sinclair (1940 - 2021).

The ZX81 was my first computer. I was 13 and dream't of having the 16k RAM expansion as all the cool games required it. Traveled alone down to Brighton some 50 miles by train to search the only computer shop in my area that stocked games for it. Unfortunately all required 16k. Needless to say I came home empty handed. :(

Clones of these were the most popular home computer in Brazil. They where made by a company called "Microdigital Eletrônica". They where the "TK" family. There were many models, most of them were the same computer, but with a different case, keyboard, or more ram...

It would be easy to underestimate the impact these had in the UK, especially the ZX81. Disposable income was lower than in the USA at the time and the increased costs of the Commodore, Tandy and Apple computers were prohibitive even for "middle class" families. With the ZX81 most families could afford to buy one not only because it was cheap, but it hooked up to the regular TV and a standard cassette recorder which many households already had - or could buy much cheaper than the Commodore Datasette dedicated units. There were over 1.5 million sold, and the ZX81 was the beginning for a lot of programmers who would become important figures in the industry. The ZX81 in the UK came with a full manual and tutorial for Sinclair BASIC with the intention that owners would learn to program. Try programming a VIC-20 without investing in extra tutorial material! And even then the Commodore BASIC was full of pokes just to place a character at a specific point on the screen whereas SInclair basic had recognisable commands. The average 8 year old could knock up a simple game themselves with the '81. Everyone had a RAM pack after a few months too. For kids it was common to get the '81 for Christmas and a RAM pack for their birthday. Though there was even a full implementation of chess for the 1K machine! And 1K Breakout. Those after market keyboards and centronics interfaces for business printers were very popular in the UK and there were probably thousands of software titles available. There's still new software and hardware being made today in 2020. My original ZX81 is approaching it's 40th birthday (March 2021)...and now sports a modern 32K RAM pack with SD card slot.