Andys Retro Computers

ZX Spectrum’s chief designers reunited 30 years on

1
3 weeks ago
by Andy in

The ZX Spectrum is 30 years old. The successor to Sir Clive Sinclair’s ZX81 – at the time the world’s best selling consumer computer – it introduced colour “high resolution” graphics and sound.

It also offered an extended version of Sinclair Basic, a computer language with which hundreds of thousands of users were already familiar.

The thin Bauhaus-inspired design was sleeker than anything else on the market, but what was more impressive was its price: £125 for the basic model with 16 kilobytes of RAM, or £175 for the 48k model.

That allowed adverts at the time to boast: “Less than half the price of its nearest competitor- and more powerful”.

You can read the rest of this article at the BBC - ZX Spectrum’s chief designers reunited 30 years on

Raspberry Pi running the Fuse ZX Spectrum Emulator

2
1 month ago
by Andy in

As seen at the Horizons event at the BFI, London in May 2012!

Finally, I have got the Fuse ZX Spectrum emulator running on Raspberry Pi #7. Here is a video of it in action.

Getting the emulator to work was relatively simple. I just has to ‘apt-get’ in a few additional packages from the Debian repository. I didn’t need to modify any C code.

I tried to compile the code under the virtual machine set-up detailed on Russell Davis’s blog http://russelldavis.org, but it would not compile. So in the end, I compiled the code directly on the Pi. This did take about 20 minutes.

You should have seen my face once I got Manic Miner loaded :)

I will be taking more photos and video of the Raspberry Pi at the Beeb@30 event this weekend.

This Pi (Number 7) belongs to http://www.computinghistory.org.uk

 

Beeb@30 – Thirty years of the BBC Micro and Computer Literacy Project

3
1 month ago
by Andy in

BBC Model A - CaseThe Computer Literacy Project was a BBC-led initiative to improve computing education in Britain. A new series entitled The Computer Programme was planned for 1982, and the corporation wanted their own machine to accompany it.

A number of British computing firms were approached to produce a machine to the BBC’s own specification. The contract was awarded to Acorn Computers, whose own Atom replacement machine, the Proton, was adapted to satisfy the criteria.

The resulting BBC Micro became the machine of choice for schools up and down the country, backed by the then Conservative government’s own desire to make Britain lead the world in computer education.

Thirty years on, the BBC Micro is fondly remembered as being the computer that started a generation of careers in IT. It also begs the question – what did the Computer Literacy Project achieve, and how does it compare to how computing is taught now?

Beeb@30 will be a celebration with a twist, with the people who made it happen just over thirty years ago.

For more information and how to order tickets, please visit this page.

Trilobyte Games Releases The 7th Guest for Mac App Store

0
2 months ago
by Andy in

I loved this game on the PC way back in the early 90s! Still have the boxed game (somewhere…)

Medford, Oregon – Trilobyte Games, LLC today is pleased to announce that The 7th Guest is now available in the Mac App Store. The classic game sells for $9.99 in all Mac App Store supported countries and runs on Snow Leopard and Lion. First released in 1993 on the PC and Mac, and in 2010 on the iPhone, The 7th Guest is a challenging game that withstands the test of time. This release is built for Mac OS X and brings the game to a modern platform while maintaining its original appeal.
The 7th Guest is also available for PC from Dotemu and GOG and for iPhone/iPad in the iTunes App Store. The sequel, The 11th Hour is available from Dotemu and GOG for PC only.

Source & more info at Trilobyte Games Releases The 7th Guest for Mac App Store

My Raspberry Pi delivery delayed until 14th May!!! (UPDATED!)

0
2 months ago
by Andy in

The following has been ordered to the Raspberry Pi FAQ on the Farnell website.

Raspberry Pi Delivery Dates

 

Q: I got an email from Farnell element14 stating that my delivery date for the Raspberry Pi I ordered is now into May or June, is this correct?

 

 

A: Sorry! We updated the data in our system so that new customers placing their pre-order would be advised of the delivery date at the end of May or beginning of June.  If you originally had an estimated delivery date in March or April, your delivery estimate is still as per the original communication.

Not a happy bunny this morning. Got another email from Farnell saying my Pi will not be shipped until the week commencing 14th May.

Guess I will keep using my BeagleBoard for now then. Need to pick up a USB keyboard first – I cant believe I don’t own any!

Raspberry Pi model B now available to buy (If you are lucky!)

4
2 months ago
by Andy in

At 6am on the 29th of February 2012, the Raspberry Pi finally went on sale. These awesome single board computers are/were available to buy from either Farnell or RS Components.

I was up at 6am this morning – was I successful at getting a Pi? … No

However, I have registered my interest at RS Components. I wonder if I will get a call or email back from them today? Fingers cross.

If you were successful at getting your mits on one of these, please drop me a comment below.

The BBC have the following to say about the Raspberry Pi

A credit-card sized computer designed to help teach children to code goes on general sale for the first time today.

The Raspberry Pi is a bare-bones, low-cost computer created by volunteers mostly drawn from academia and the UK tech industry. Sold uncased without keyboard or monitor, the Pi has drawn interest from educators and enthusiasts. Supporters hope the machines could help reverse a lack of programming skills in the UK.

“It has been six years in the making; the number of things that had to go right for this to happen is enormous. I couldn’t be more pleased,” said Eben Upton of the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

You can read the rest of the BBC article at : The Raspberry Pi computer goes on general sale

Go to Top