Quick! What are three ways you can tell you’re at a ZX Microfair in England? Give Up? Well, for one, you will be seeing a lot of Sinclair Spectrums as well as ZX81s; two, you find yourself saying “ZEDEX” instead of “ZEE-EX”; and three, there is kidney pie and ale to be found in the exhibition hall cafeteria.
Had you been in London’s Westminster Exhibition Centre on August 21, 1982, you might have seen, said, and tasted as I did. Sydney Rogers (Director of Marketing for Ahl Computing), Hazel Gordon (Creative Computing’s U.K. representative), and I were at the Microfair representing SYNC, and happily succumbed to it all.
Touted as the “largest single display of ZX products under one roof anywhere,” this 4th ZX Microfair more than lived up to its reputation. Organized by a rather jolly, beared Mike Johnston, the fair offered 80 tables worth of hardware, software, peripherals, books, etc. for the ZX81 and Sinclair Spectrum. Enough, in fact, to make one wish the fair were two days long instead of one.
If there were a lot of exhibitors at the fair, there were at least twenty times that many Sinclair owners. By 10 a.m. the line to get inside was two city blocks long, and by 11 a.m. getting through the aisles was like a game of MAZOGS (see below).
None of this, however, could stop me from feeling absolutely amazed at the sheer number of products available for this little $99 microcomputer, and how many of those seemed to be creative technical achievements comparable to the Sinclair computers themselves. Wherever someone has found a limitation in the ZX81, someone else has been bound and determined to find an antidote.
For example, loading a 16K program takes a few minutes. Right? Wrong! A company called Personal Software Services in Coventry has invented QSAVE, which allows you to LOAD or SAVE 16K in 29 seconds. Making sounds and music with your ZX81 is almost impossible. Right? Wrong again! David Ward at BI-PAK has the ZON X-81 sound unit which can make a multitude of sound effects and gives eight full octaves of tones. A company called Macronics has an interface for a disk drive, Kayde, Fuller Micro, and DK’Tronics have full keyboards that the ZX81 fits inside, the Kempston Electronics has KLIK-KEYBOARD that fits on the top of the membrane. JRS Software has a tripped down 16K rampack for $39.95, and Sir Computers has an interface card that lets your ZX81 run a robotic arm. You can turn your ZX81 into a business computer with the Cobra 1000 business system, and Dean Electronics has a brand new ZX81 compatible printer. Memotech continues to add to its growing line of powerful MEMOPAKS and also displays its own RS-232 Interface.
If there were a lot of new hardware add-ons to be found at the Microfair, there were just as many new software packages. Mr. Wolfkamp from the Netherlands had a book/tape package full of high level programming techniques, including a graphics routine of a bicyclist that was marvelous. BUG-BYTE from Liverpool had a game called MAZOGS that drew not only a crowd, but a very challenging maze as well. Fair-goers also had a “blast” watching Panda Software’s new game SEA WARS.
Add to all of these products for the ZX81 another raft of goodies for the Sinclair Spectrum. QuickSilva had some outstanding full color games for the Spectrum, SYNC’s own Martin Wren-Hilton had a book entitled Games to Play on Your ZX Spectrum published by Shiva. Almost every other exhibitor with ZX81 products had something available or “in the works” for the Spectrum. The combination of color, sound, and low price have made the Spectrum the hottest microcomputer in England, and certainly we will be looking forward to its coming to the U.S.
Perhaps the nicest part of the fair was getting to know some of the exhibitors and fair-goers themselves. In general, enthusiasts are a fun bunch, if only for the fact that they are, well, enthusiastic, but Sinclair enthusiasts are special. Somehow the feeling of “they say it can’t be done so let’s do it” type of ingenuity runs rampant throughout this group. Also, there seemed to be a lot of parents and children in attendance, and both groups seemed equally captivated by the goings-on.
The fair finally wound down about 6 p.m., and the exhibitors started packing up the televisions, the Sinclairs, the rampacks, hardware, software, books, etc. until the next ZX Microfair.
Then it dawned on me: there are something like 300,000 Sinclair Computer owners in the United States, more than in any other country. And there are close to as many manufacturers of Sinclair related products in the U.S. as there are in England. Why doesn’t somebody organize a Sinclair Microfair for the United States owners? How about a show on the East coast, the Midwest, and the West Coast? Anyone out there up to the challenge? Well, it’s a thought, and judging from the good time I had in London, a fun thought at that!