On: ZX81 Webserver

If you are over 47 and from the UK then this joke is extremely funny. Laugh out loud funny. I don't believe anyone outside this niche truly gets it. Brilliant.

Meh, I'd say anyone who remembers Turbo mode on PCs would understand the spirit, at least.

FAST mode disabled the screen raster output to allow more cycles for user code. The TV monitor was free to improvise its output, which for me was alarming rolling garbage and an audible whine.

Turbo mode changed the clock speed, which was a less hectic experience.

Turbo mode actually lowered the clock speed.

It sold well also outside the UK and I remember fast mode. But I might miss the joke. Was FAST something / somebody in the UK back in the 80s?

As robotresearcher says in a parallel comment chain, FAST mode was without the screen running. Normally the ZX81 only did anything during the vertical blanking, most of the time it was drawing the screen. If you enabled FAST mode then it could go ten times quicker or more.

Sure the ZX81 sold internationally but it was so much more successful in the home market than overseas.

Not just the UK -- the North American variant Timex Sinclair 1000 was fairly popular too (relatively speaking)

It may have sold in some numbers in North America, but remember that Commodore had a trade-in offer and some chains like Fast Eddie's offered the T/S 1000 at a bargain price solely to allow people to get the discount. Commodore reportedly used some of them as doorstops!

Not just the UK. the ZX-81 sold well in most of Europe. I'm from Denmark and i got the joke :D

Australian owner checking in