Floppy Days 117 - ZX Spectrum Part 3 - History with Alessandro Grussu

Floppy Days Vintage Computing Podcast

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Welcome to Floppy Days #117 for August, 2022. And I’m your host, Randy Kindig. I hope everyone is doing well..

Thank you so much, Andy Collins, for providing your thoughts and memories about the ZX Spectrum to kick off this episode. Great work!

We are currently covering the prolific year (for home computers) of 1982. This episode is the continuation of a multi-episode arc that covers the Spectrum through all the usual topics. I don’t even know yet how many episodes we’re going to end up in this arc. There’s so much to talk about and so many knowledgeable people on the subject, that the Spectrum is probably going to set the illustrious Floppy Days records for the number of episodes about a single machine. This is the third of those, with the first having been the interview with John Grant of Nine Tiles, and the second being coverage of the history of the Spectrum through about 1984.

In this episode, I once again talk with the author of the wonderful book “Spectrumpedia”; Mr. Alessandro Grussu. In this episode, Alessandro and I continue to walk through the history of the machine, covering additional models that were produced, its competition at the time, its positives and negatives, and ultimately the impression it left in home computer history books.

As usual, I will talk a bit about a few new acquisitions that have come my way in my attempt to use up every square inch of exhibition and storage room in my home, as well as bring you news about upcoming shows.

Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the inclination. I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate. Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to talk about. Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

• A500 mini - https://www.amazon.com/Amiga-A500-Mini-Retro-Console-Commodore/dp/B09BW8N7JZ
• BlueSCSI - https://scsi.blue/

Upcoming Shows

• VCF Midwest = Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/
• Tandy Assembly = Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/
• Portland Retro Gaming Expo = Oct. 14-16, Portland, OR - https://www.retrogamingexpo.com/
• Chicago TI International Worlds Faire = Oct. 29, Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/
• World of Commodore = first weekend of Dec. - https://www.tpug.ca/category/woc-posts/ NOT YET ANNOUNCED

References

• “Spectrumpedia” by Alessandro Grussu
• https://www.alessandrogrussu.it/sp.html
• Amazon.it: Spectrumpedia - seconda edizione: volume 1 - Grussu, Alessandro - Libri
• Wikipedia