It all began with my attending a B.C. Teachers’ Federation conference on computer technology in 1980. I had previously been attempting to learn about microcomputers by taking courses sponsored by the school board. As a teacher, I could see the potential of these machines, but I was left with a feeling of extreme skepticism. Firstly, the software was pretty useless, unless one had access to something called an APPLE, and secondly, the cost of a single APPLE (to say nothing of a classroomful) was astronomical. It was with this background of skepticism that I reluctantly attended that 1980 computer conference.
I quickly made my rounds of all the booths, impressed only by one or two pieces of educational software with flashy color graphics and sound, and was about to exit the display area when a strange little white device with an even stranger looking keyboard caught my eye. It was called a SINCLAIR ZX80. It was being displayed by the Open Learning Institute, and was being used to teach correspondence courses in computing science to students in rural areas. Here was a computer so small it could be sent through the mail at a very low cost! Not only was the miniaturization impressive, but also the I/O system: a cheap B&W TV, and an ordinary audio cassette tape recorder. But the most impressive thing of all was the price — a mere $200!! At that price, it might be possible to have a computer in every classroom! By the time I had gone through the rigamarole of going to my principal on bended knee for some funding to purchase a ZX80, along came the new and improved ZX81. This was too good to be true! I could get a kit to build a ZX81 for only $179 from a Canadian electronics dealer in Toronto called GLADSTONE.
After two long evenings of breathing resin vapors eminating from a little pc board on the kitchen table, I hooked it up to my TV and the damn thing worked! It was sort of weird pressing a key and getting a whole command spelled out on the screen, but boy, did it ever speed up programming for kids!
Someone at a school board computer meeting told me about a Sinclair Computer Club meeting at Vancouver Vocational Institute, so off I trundled to VVI. There was this great master of ceremonies named Karl Brown who seemed to run things, and quite a few others who seemed to know something about computers, and then there was I, who knew that I knew zilch. The neat thing was, however, that there were several members of the group who appeared to be as ignorant of the workings of computers as I! The other neat thing was that Karl and the others continually explained things and answered questions in a way that eventually helped the concepts to begin to sink in. Even with a science background and a lot more computer experience, I still marvel at the fantastic design and capabilities of the lowly ZX81!
I am presently translating one of my old ZX81 GRADEBOOK programs into APPLESOFT BASIC. Yes, it’s nice to have READ/DATA statements, but it’s much nicer to use SINCLAIR BASIC. E.g.– after some agonizing over why my Class Average and my Class Percent results were all screwed up, I finally discovered that the computer only looks at the first two letters of APPLESOFT variables. The variables that I happened to be using on the ZX81 were CLAV and CLPC. That little 8K Sinclair ROM has the APPLE 32K ROM beat all to hell as far as friendliness & sophistication!
To make a long story short, the little black box made a real impact on my entry into the understanding and the use of microcomputers. I was able to talk the principal into buying enough ZX81s to place one in every classroom in the school and was cursed by school board officials who would not admit that ZX81s were true computers that were much more user friendly to kids than the ‘real’ computers. I also have letters stating that they would not stand up under student use (I’m still using them). I credit the ZX with saving our school thousands of dollars that other schools poured down the drain on PET hardware and software that really didn’t accomplish any more than our little ZXs.
I have since attended club meetings of ‘real’ computer users, and have yet to find the kind of participation, availability of help, and the educational quality that has always been a part of the Sinclair Club membership. The length of time this group has held together after the extinction of its reason for being, is truly a phenomenon that is a unique achievement.