National Institute of the Republic of Serbia
ὅδε οἶκος, ὦ ἑταῖρε, μνημεῖον ἐστιν ζωῶν τῶν σοφῶν ἀνδρῶν, καὶ τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν
The ZX81, often incorrectly referred to as "ZX Spectrum 81", was created by Sinclair Research, led by Sir Clive Sinclair, and released in 1981. It was designed as an affordable home computer to bring computing into households at a time when computers were expensive and inaccessible to most people. The ZX81 was a compact, low-cost machine with just 1 KB of RAM, using a membrane keyboard and connecting to a standard TV as a display. Programs were loaded via cassette tapes, and it primarily ran simple games, educational software, and BASIC programming code. It was widely used by hobbyists, students, and budding programmers as an entry point into computing. The significance of the ZX81 lies in its role as a pioneer of affordable computing, making technology accessible to a broader audience and inspiring a generation of programmers and engineers. It laid the foundation for Sinclair's success with the ZX Spectrum series, which followed soon after.
Creator: Sinclair Research Ltd., 1981
Source: Gift of Radoš Bakić
Text prepared by Marija Šegan-Radonjić, Maja Novaković
Photo by Dragan Aćimović
