The ZX Spectrum was my first computer. It wasn’t very good. It was a masterpiece of industrial design, though, so it’s wonderful to see broken ones being put to good use by Customink at Etsy.
It is made from one of the geeky and bizarre keys of an old ZX Spectrum. For those of you unaware of this computer it was released in the UK in 1982 and bears similarity to the US Commodore 64. Most of the keys are covered in unusual commands and codes only really understood by the best 80s geeks.
It’s sold out, unfortunately. You’ll just have to wait for customink to destroy some more Spectrums!
ZX Spectrum ring [via Wonderland]
That’s a ZX Spectrum+, a later version of the ZX Spectrum that had a better keyboard. The original Speccy had rubber chiclet keys, further underscoring its inferiority compared to the C64 (just kidding, you had to be there, Sir Clive is cool, really).
Very cool, but you’d think they could at least clean the dust off the key! Or would that ruin the patina?
Luc, if by ‘better’ you mean one that was a) harder to game on (unless you were blessed enough to own a Competetion Pro 5000 and a Kempston joystick interface) and would eject its keys if you typed furiously on it and then turned the machine upside down and have it a tap, then yes, it was indeed better!
Still, nothing beats the Spectrum 128 with its external heatsink – good enough to keep your coffee warm and/or leave interesting marks on your hand…
Damn I miss my speccy
Where is my Head over Heels remake?
AMSTRAD, bitches.
this is about the best use of a spectrum as can possibly be conceived.
@RIKF
http://www.zxspectrum.net/ and look down the list on the right hand side… Who needs remakes when you can play the original?
Never mind Mac vs PC, the Speccy vs C64 flamewars in the pages of Crash magazine were something to behold.
(I had a ZX81, then a VIC20, then a Spectrum+)