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ZX81 Games
The ZX81 is a home computer that was produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and designed to be a low-cost introduction to home computing for the general public. It was hugely successful; more than 1.5 million units were sold. In the United States it was initially sold as the ZX-81 under licence by Timex. Timex later produced its own versions of the ZX81: the Timex Sinclair 1000 and Timex Sinclair 1500. Unauthorized List of ZX80 and ZX81 clones, ZX81 clones were produced in several countries. The ZX81 was designed to be small, simple, and above all, inexpensive, with as few components as possible. Video output was designed for a television set rather than a dedicated computer monitor, monitor. computer program, Programs and data are Loader (computing), loaded and saved onto compact audio cassettes. It uses only four silicon chips and 1&n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinclair Research
Sinclair Research Ltd is a British consumer electronics company founded by Clive Sinclair in Cambridge in the 1970s. In 1980, the company entered the home computer market with the ZX80 at £99.95, at that time the cheapest personal computer for sale in the United Kingdom. A year later, the ZX81 became available through retailers, introducing home computing to a generation, with more that 1.5 million sold. In 1982 the ZX Spectrum was released, becoming the UK's best selling computer, and competing aggressively against Commodore and Amstrad. A combination of the failures of the Sinclair QL computer and the TV80 pocket television led to financial difficulties in 1985, and a year later Sinclair sold the rights to its computer products and brand name to Amstrad. Sinclair Research Ltd continued to exist as a one-man company, marketing Clive Sinclair's inventions. History Founding and early years On 25 July 1961, Clive Sinclair founded his first company, Sinclair Radi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computer Monitor
A computer monitor is an output device that displays information in pictorial or textual form. A discrete monitor comprises a electronic visual display, visual display, support electronics, power supply, Housing (engineering), housing, electrical connectors, and external user controls. The display in modern monitors is typically an Liquid-crystal display, LCD with LED-backlit LCD, LED backlight, having by the 2010s replaced cold-cathode fluorescent lamp, CCFL Backlight, backlit LCDs. Before the mid-2000s, most monitors used a cathode-ray tube, cathode-ray tube (CRT) as the image output technology. A monitor is typically connected to its host computer via DisplayPort, HDMI, USB-C, Digital Visual Interface, DVI, or VGA connector, VGA. Monitors sometimes use other proprietary connectors and signals to connect to a computer, which is less common. Originally computer monitors were used for data processing while television sets were used for video. From the 1980s onward, computers ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circuit Board
A printed circuit board (PCB), also called printed wiring board (PWB), is a laminated sandwich structure of conductive and insulating layers, each with a pattern of traces, planes and other features (similar to wires on a flat surface) etched from one or more sheet layers of copper laminated onto or between sheet layers of a non-conductive substrate. PCBs are used to connect or "wire" components to one another in an electronic circuit. Electrical components may be fixed to conductive pads on the outer layers, generally by soldering, which both electrically connects and mechanically fastens the components to the board. Another manufacturing process adds vias, metal-lined drilled holes that enable electrical interconnections between conductive layers, to boards with more than a single side. Printed circuit boards are used in nearly all electronic products today. Alternatives to PCBs include wire wrap and point-to-point construction, both once popular but now rarely ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinclair ZX81 PCB Revision 3 Keyboard
Sinclair may refer to: Places * Lake Sinclair, near Milledgeville, Georgia * Mount Sinclair, Canada * Sinclair, Iowa * Sinclair, West Virginia * Sinclair, Wyoming * Sinclair Mills, British Columbia * Sinclair Township, Minnesota * Sinclair, Manitoba * Sinclair, Western Australia, a locality of the Shire of Esperance People * Sinclair (surname), list of people with this surname * Clan Sinclair, Scottish family * Lord Sinclair, a title in the Peerage of Scotland * Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951), Nobel Prize–winning American writer * Sinclair (singer), stage name of French singer-songwriter Mathieu Blanc-Francard (born 1970) * Sir Clive Sinclair, an English entrepreneur and inventor, most commonly known for his work in consumer electronics in the late 1970s and early 1980s—including ZX Spectrum computers. Companies * Sinclair Broadcast Group, operator of American television stations * Sinclair Oil Corporation, American petroleum company * Sinclair Radionics Ltd, Britis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clive Sinclair
Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) was an English entrepreneur and inventor, best known for being a pioneer in the computing industry and also as the founder of several companies that developed consumer electronics in the 1970s and early 1980s. After spending several years as assistant editor of ''Instrument Practice'', Sinclair founded Sinclair Radionics Ltd in 1961. He produced the world's first slimline electronic pocket calculator (the Sinclair Executive) in 1972. Sinclair then moved into the production of home computers in 1980 with Sinclair Research Ltd, producing the Sinclair ZX80 (the UK's first mass-market home computer for less than £100) and in the early 1980s, the ZX81, ZX Spectrum and the Sinclair QL. Sinclair Research is widely recognised for its importance in the early days of the British and European home computer industry, as well as helping to give rise to the British video game industry. Sinclair also had several commercial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High Street
High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym for the retail sector. While many streets, such as Camden High Street (in London), bear this name, streets with similar function but different names are often referred to as "high street". With the rapid increase in consumer expenditure, the number of High Streets in England grew from the 17th century and reached a peak in Victorian Britain, where, drawn to growing towns and cities spurred on by the Industrial Revolution, the rate of urbanisation was unprecedented. Since the latter half of the 20th century, the prosperity of High Streets has been in decline due to the growth of out-of-town shopping centres, and, since the early 21st century, the growth of online retailing, forcing many shop closures and prompting the UK government to cons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Design Council
The Design Council, formerly the Council of Industrial Design, is a United Kingdom Charitable trust, charity incorporated by royal charter. Its stated mission is "to champion great design that improves lives and makes things better". It was instrumental in the promotion of the concept of inclusive design. The Design Council's archive is located at the University of Brighton Design Archives. The Design Council operates two subsidiaries, the Design Council Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (Design Council CABE) and Design Council Enterprises Limited. The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment The Design Council Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (DC CABE, alternatively Design Council CABE, CABE at the Design Council, or simply CABE), is one of Design Council's two subsidiaries. It supports communities, local authorities and developers involved in built environment projects by providing services in three areas: design review, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rick Dickinson
Rick Dickinson (11 August 1955 – 24 April 2018) was a British industrial designer who developed pioneering computer designs in the 1980s. Notable examples of his design work include the ZX81 case and touch-sensitive keyboard and the ZX Spectrum's rubber keyboard. Early life Dickinson graduated from Newcastle Polytechnic in 1979 with a First Class Bachelor of Arts honours degree in Design for Industry. The "Design for Industry" degree was the first of its kind, formerly a three-year "Industrial Design" degree. The new course, with two additional terms for industrial placements, extended the degree to four years and popularised the term "sandwich course". Sinclair Dickinson joined Sir Clive Sinclair's Sinclair Research Ltd in December 1979, replacing John Pemberton who was leaving Sinclair to head up a new design centre for ITT in Harlow. Sinclair Research offices were at 6 Kings Parade, Cambridge. Dickinson was the in-house industrial designer of Sinclair Research Ltd. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Membrane Keyboard
A membrane keyboard is a computer keyboard whose keys are not separate, moving parts, as with the majority of other keyboards, but rather are pressure pads that have only outlines and symbols printed on a flat, flexible surface. Very little tactile feedback is felt when using such a keyboard. History Membrane keyboards work by electrical contact between the keyboard surface and the underlying circuits when keytop areas are pressed. These models were used with some early 1980s home computers which lead to greater adoption of the design. The keyboards are inexpensive to produce, and are more resistant against dirt and liquids than some other keyboard types. However, due to a low or non-existent tactile feedback, some people have reported difficulty typing with them, especially when larger numbers of characters are being typed. Chiclet keyboards are a variation of the design. Usage Aside from early hobbyist/kit/home computers and some video game consoles, membrane-based QWERTY ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computer Memory
Computer memory stores information, such as data and programs, for immediate use in the computer. The term ''memory'' is often synonymous with the terms ''RAM,'' ''main memory,'' or ''primary storage.'' Archaic synonyms for main memory include ''core'' (for magnetic core memory) and ''store''. Main memory operates at a high speed compared to mass storage which is slower but less expensive per bit and higher in capacity. Besides storing opened programs and data being actively processed, computer memory serves as a Page cache, mass storage cache and write buffer to improve both reading and writing performance. Operating systems borrow RAM capacity for caching so long as it is not needed by running software. If needed, contents of the computer memory can be transferred to storage; a common way of doing this is through a memory management technique called ''virtual memory''. Modern computer memory is implemented as semiconductor memory, where data is stored within memory cell (com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silicon Chips
An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components are etched onto a small, flat piece ("chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Integrated circuits are used in a wide range of electronic devices, including computers, smartphones, and televisions, to perform various functions such as processing and storing information. They have greatly impacted the field of electronics by enabling device miniaturization and enhanced functionality. Integrated circuits are orders of magnitude smaller, faster, and less expensive than those constructed of discrete components, allowing a large transistor count. The IC's mass production capability, reliability, and building-block approach to integrated circuit design have ensured the rapid adoption of standardized ICs in place of designs using discre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
