| sinclairvoyance |
No other personal computer has had the sales that the ZX-81 has had - and none has come close. The sales of the pocket-book sized computer are rapidly approaching 400,000. Looking back to last month's Sinclairvoyance, we speculated about the arrival of the ZX-82 computer. A machine with a better specification than the BBC Micro, and built by Clive Sinclair, is enough to whet any Sinclair user's appetite.
The ZX-82 is coming very soon! Many potential ZX-81 owners are put off this marvellous little computer by the fact that it does not have a full-size keyboard or colour graphics or sound output. The Spectrum, as the ZX-82 is likely to be called, will have all these features plus more. With its own matching ZX Microfloppy, and retailing for approximately £140, this unit will be available through mail-order only, until a suitable distributor can be found. The new computer is likely to have 32K RAM fitted as standard.
The ZX-81 succeeded the ZX-80 in February 1981 when the ZX-80 users found that the machine was not quite powerful enough. The ZX-80 owners upgraded to the ZX-81 specification by inserting a new 8K ROM with floating-point arithmetic, to replace the old integer-only 4K ROM. Unfortunately, ZX-81 owners will not be so lucky - it will not be possible to interface the ZX Microfloppy to the ZX-81, and there are going to be no new ROMs for the ZX-80 or '81. This is because of the technical difficulties of trying to get the other features of the ZX-82 on the ZX-81.
The Prestel adaptor which was due to be launched at the Computer Fair will have to be one of two possible types. It will either use the ZX-81's own 32x24 black and white screen for its output, or it will have a standard 40x25 teletext format. If it has the former, it will only be able to pick up Telsoftware, whereas if it has the latter, it would also be able to pick up Prestel pages of information.
What I am leading up to, is that if the ZX-82's ROM could be copied and used in conjunction with a suitable colour Prestel adaptor, it might be possible to implement some of the ZX-82's capability on the ZX-81.
When the BBC computer was announced, Clive Sinclair said that he could meet the specification laid down for about half the price. It now appears as though he has done it. A working prototype of the ZX Microfloppy is due for completion about now, and it will probably be very soon that more details of the ZX-82 will appear. Meanwhile, work is still continuing between ICL and Sinclair Research on the new digital terminal using Sinclair's flat-screen technology.
One thing that is certain about the ZX-82 is that it will use a similar language to the ZX-81. Back in December, Clive Sinclair was quoted as saying " ... we believe our language (Sinclair Basic) now merits serious consideration ... as the 'standard' ...". Does it use the same cassette format? Can I use my ZX-81 add-ons with the ZX-82?
Only one man knows the answers to these questions, and he is keeping his mouth firmly shut at the moment.
Let's now look into our crystal ball to see if Clive has anything planned on the software front.
Clive at one time sold his software in Smiths but because of a 'high proportion of returns' Smiths did not re-stock after Christmas. That rebuff certainly stung Clive, as he is as aware as anyone that there is gold in that-there software.
There seem to be two main options open to him. Either to develop the software within his organization or 'get into bed with' an established software company. He does not appear to have the resources available to develop his own software and a thorough examination of our crystal ball shows Clive in deep conversation with more than one software company and that a deal could be imminent for new ZX software.
There are, however, two stumbling blocks. One is the name under which the product would be marketed. Respected companies which have been or are about to be given the Smiths seal of approval would want to cash in on their success and continue to market under their own names. Clive would probably want the products to carry only the Sinclair tag.
Second, the software companies might well be afraid that Sinclair has once and for all blotted his copybook with Smiths as a result of his not-very-successful first attempt, thereby preventing any chance of rich pickings in the high-street stores.
Neither of those problems is insurmountable, however, so we would not be in the least surprised if we hear an announcement from Clive in the not-too-distant future that he is to start selling some new software.