Designed by Rick Dickinson of Sinclair Research Ltd, the ZX Spectrum was first sold in April 1982. It had a colour display that was designed to be used with contemporary televisions.
The “Speccy” led to a boom in software and hardware production and many people have fond memories of playing their first computer games on it, such as ‘Head Over Heels’, ‘Jet Set Willy’ and ‘Skool Daze’.
Financial difficulties arose when Sinclair failed to crack the American market and in April 1986, the computer range and brand name were sold to Amstrad. The Spectrum was discontinued in 1992.