I really wanted a ZX-81, and my dad ordered one not long after they came out. But typical for Sinclair, the delivery lead time was on the order of months! Not even weeks or days, and my dad gave up and brought home an assembled Acorn ATOM that one of the techs at the university has soldered up from a kit.
Great little machine, and introduced me to programming in ATOM Basic and 6502 assembly, leading to a career in computing that's still going 30+ years later.
Oddly enough, I just ordered parts from Mouser to build David Johnson Davies' Tiny Lisp Computer 2, ... DJD being the author of ATOMIC Theory and Practice and Practical Programs for the BBC Computer and ACORN ATOM.
I had a similar story with the Spectrum; they had industrial action and wound up not shipping. My dad cancelled and bought a Commodore 64. I think I dodged a bullet there (although I'm sure the Spectrum would have been interesting).
Haha, I remember that. My maths teacher DM had a mate in the factory who eventually got me a speccy out the factory door, but it was a longgg wait.
Spectrum was a fun machine. Basic was ok for very simple games. I never did learn z80 assembler.
Great little machine, and introduced me to programming in ATOM Basic and 6502 assembly, leading to a career in computing that's still going 30+ years later.
Oddly enough, I just ordered parts from Mouser to build David Johnson Davies' Tiny Lisp Computer 2, ... DJD being the author of ATOMIC Theory and Practice and Practical Programs for the BBC Computer and ACORN ATOM.