ZX Spectrum
An issue 2 1982 ZX Spectrum
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| Developer | Sinclair Research Ltd |
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| Manufacturer | Timex Corporation |
| Type | Home computer |
| Generation | 8-bit |
| Release date | United Kingdom: 23 April 1982 |
| Retail availability | 1982–1992 |
| Discontinued | 1992 |
| Units sold | 5 million (not including clones) |
| Media | Cassette tape, 3-inch floppy disk on Spectrum +3 |
| Operating system | Sinclair BASIC |
| CPU | Z80 @ 3.5 MHz and equivalent |
| Memory | 16 KB / 48 KB / 128 KB |
| Predecessor | ZX81 |
| Successor | QL |
The ZX Spectrum (UK /zɛd ɛks ˈspɛktrəm/) is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd. It was manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, in the now closed Timex factory.
Referred to during development as the ZX81 Colour and ZX82, it was launched as the ZX Spectrum by Sinclair to highlight the machine's colour display, compared with the black and white of its predecessor, the ZX81. The Spectrum was released as eight different models, ranging from the entry level with 16 KB RAM released in 1982 to the ZX Spectrum +3 with 128 KB RAM and built in floppy disk drive in 1987; together they sold in excess of 5 million units worldwide (not counting clones).
The Spectrum was among the first mainstream-audience home computers in the UK, similar in significance to the Commodore 64 in the USA. The introduction of the ZX Spectrum led to a boom in companies producing software and hardware for the machine, the effects of which are still seen; some credit it as the machine which launched the UK IT industry. Licensing deals and clones followed, and earned Clive Sinclair a knighthood for "services to British industry".
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