We have been spoilt for qualify Retro computing books and documentaries over the past three to four years now and this week I watched another fantastic high-quality video called “Memoirs of a Spectrum Addict” which takes a detailed look at the ZX Spectrum, its history, developers, games, and fans.
The film is a unique tribute to the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Memoirs of a Spectrum Addict has re-enactments, interviews like you’ve never seen before with major Spectrum industry figures, and features real people who grew up influenced by the Sinclair ZX Spectrum!
Growing up in Australia where the Commodore 64 was king of all home computers we didn’t see too much of the ZX Spectrum accept in reviews and advertisements which appeared in the many UK magazines. While the Spectrum was sold in Australia by local distributors it never really gained a huge following due to availability, unlike the Commodore which was sold everywhere for computer shops to large chain outlets like K-Mart.
The ZX Spectrum was very well supported by Australian companies like Melbourne House (Beam Software) and we never really got a chance to learn the in’s and out of the machine which despite its limitations like hardware scrolling, sprites and awesome sound of the Commodore SID chip managed to produced some fantastically good games.