Opinion - The Speccy platform in the world from the point of view of an Italian (Stefano).

 Opinion                 
 --------               
                                        
 Speccy platform in the world         
 -------------------------       
 (C) Stefano              
 (translation into Russian - Denis Tokarczuk  
 and English-Russian dictionary :))      
                                        
 A few days ago I sent a small
sho e-mail'interview regarding Speccy'
scenes in the world and asked his friend
Yerzmyey (from Poland) send it to
Internet... Thanks everyone for the answers and
support!                              
                                        
 - - -                  
                                        
 And the questions were:              
 1) You use Speccy everyday?     
 2) Use real Spec or emu
lator? (if an emulator, then which one?)
   3) Is Spec still “ruling” in your country? :)
Is he alive or dead?                       
 4) Is there any spectrum
Moscow press?                         
 5) Are there any manufacturers of p/o?        
 6) Is there still production of any
old Spectrum clones?                    
 7) Which Spectrum clone do you have?        
 8) What do you think about the future of the Spectrum
ma?                                     
 9) Why was the Spectrum so
popular in your country?                
                                        
 - - -                  
                                        
 So... I received very different answers
new  For Western Europe, the answers seem to be
xia, were about the same as y me-
in the country (Italy):  1) Sometimes;                           
 2) Emulator - RealSpec;              
 3) Specky died in the 80-90s Commodore
64 (aka C64, CBM64) was more popular;
   4) Several magazines still make -
xia, but as fun in Austria-Germany;   
 5) It seems Cronosoft in England, Fun-
Forge Software/LCD Design in Austria;    
 6) Basically, they know Sprinter; :(   
 7) Original Specky;              
 8) Only as nostalgia;            
 9) It was cheap, there were a lot of games.        
                                        
 - - -                  
                                        
 C-Jeff asks me to answer too
til answer your questions:):                  
                                        
 1) No, I don’t use the original Spec,
because his keyboard is broken. Bla-
Thanks to the emulator, I have a powerful Spectrum
without this problem and I can use any
programs/games from the Internet;            
 2) Emulator (RealSpec);              
 3) Speck in Italy is completely dead. Ak-
tubhoctb was observed in 1982-1992.
Commodore was more popular in Italy
64. About 60% usali C64,40% - ZX Spect-
rum;                                    
 4) No.  Until 1990 there were paper
magazines with cassettes (with broken games)
shkami :)): Special Program, Special Play-
games, Run, Load'N'Run, Game2000, Roque,
SuperSinc;                              
 5) No!:(  6) Sprinter, Didaktik Kompakt       
http://www.kompaktservis.cz/didaktik.htm
And, I think, alsoKau-1024 and some
hard Scorpion:                       
http://www.scorpion.ru/spectrum/hard/  
 sc_hard.htm
 7) Original Sinclair ZX Spectrum+
and Cip03 (Romanian Speccy clone with bChkb); 
   8) I think it will just be like
nostalgia:(;                          
 9) Because there were a lot of p/o.        
                                        
 - - -                  
                                        
 I don't know if the situation is similar to
Italian scene state of affairs in others
Western European countries. CBM64 in the 80s
and the 90s sold better than Spec-
cy, but CBM64 is already dead and forgotten about
whether. And users of Spectrum are still ac-
tive. Here in Italy there is a list of active
and maybe you have heard about the emulator
RealSpec: it was made by the group RamSoft:
old Italian demo band (Stefano
Donati and Luca Bisti) and they are still working
on new releases of this emulator.    
                                        
 Also a lot of interesting things about Spectrum-
you can see the scene and clones on
Davide's website: www.zxspectrum.it
So, Spectrum is still RULEZ in Italy
lia, and CBM64is dead.                     
                                        
 - - -                  
                                        
 I was very surprised that the spectrum
The Rymov scene exists in South Africa.
ke! Reading Adrian's answers to Epacmyca:     
                                        
 1) Not every day, but more than
earlier (1991-2000). The reason is that I
I'm writing a new game for the Spectrum, which
coming out soon :);                         
                                        
 2) Speccy and emulator. Y me twoSpecial
ka: 48kb (rubber keyboard) &  +2 Gray sa-
se.   The most used emulators:
Spectaculator, RealSpectrum and SPIN. Emu-
lators that I use less often - R80,
SpecEmu, XZX (Unix) and Warajevo;         
                                        
 3) I'm sure I'll launch a website about spec-
the trump scene here in South Africa and it's
will quickly gain popularity.  A lot
people (friends and colleagues), I asked
still love Spectrum games and
real cars.  You would be surprised -
how many people hold speccy on-
boxes, in boxes;                       
                                        
 4) No, as far as I know. It's a pity;                                   
                                        
 5) There are many groups that
people do something for their own pleasure
freedom.  Manufacturers of commercial
p/o no;                                
                                        
 6) Yes, it's called Sprinter          
 http://www.petersplus.com
                                        
 7) I have already answered this question. But
I wouldn't refuse the opportunity to have
all kinds ofSpectrumsand/or clones, what-
to add to my small collection;  
                                        
 8) I think that the future of Spectrum
very light, with new OS and new hardware
military capabilities that make life
easier for us - real hackers!
 9) I remember the time when my father
bought the first one for me and my brother
Speccy.  South Africa was then experiencing
difficult times with the old regime when
there were prohibitions. The new computers were difficult
bottom available.  If anything was possible
to buy a new one, it was very worth it
expensive. Therefore, a more detailed
The best alternative is Spectrum.  He was
well supported in the media,
through magazines likeSinclair User and
Crash magazines (which no longer exist-
exists). In such a situation (poverty), we
had to do the work themselves and were useful
calling functioning groups 10-
15 years ago.                           
                                        
 - - -                  
                                        
 Specchi in Russia still RULEZ and
this is the best place to find people,
working on it. There are active demos
groups and demo parties; more than any
another place in the world! But in Russia no longer
everything is as good as a few years ago.
II think because RS is more powerful, and
also, because for Spectrum no longer
produced in such large quantities
p/o as before.                         
                                        
 Spectrum  is scattered throughout Russia like this
how it was cheap and easy to assemble
home conditions, it was also easy to write
new p/o for him. I also think that
Internet connection for Specky could
increase user interest. Other
the reason for the spread of Speccy is you can-
you can learn more than the clique
in PC Windows.  The Spectrum is excellent at
programming (BASIC and of course
assembler).                             
                                        
Most people use RS, but
Speccy for many - an underground car-
in and in Russia has a different distribution
tion: in some places (for example, in
St. Petersburg) there are at least 30
real users! Emulators prefer UnrealSpeccy and
RealSpec.  There are several non-commercial
printed publications: Paragraph, Birdie, ZaRu-
lem.  PO manufacturers (commercial)
no longer.  The most common clones:
Pentagon, Scorpion andKau.               
                                        
 In Russia there are many active people
deys who develop software and new
models Speccy: for example, Maxim Timonin
is developing ATM-Turbo - a new system
with the following characteristics (this is
just an idea), the project is called "My
ideal computer": ATM-turbo 3 (21
(possibly 33)MHz), 16Mb RAM, HDD, Gene-
ral sound (as part of the board), MP3-deco-
der, new GFX modes and more). But for now
this is only a theoretical project, but there is
chance that it will become reality!
For information: http://atmturbo.narod.ru
mailto:max_timonin@mail.ru.            
                                        
 That's all!                             
                                        
ideal computer": ATM-turbo 3 (21
(possibly 33)MHz), 16Mb RAM, HDD, Gene-
ral sound (as part of the board), MP3-deco-
der, new GFX modes and more). But for now
this is only a theoretical project, but there is
chance that it will become reality!
For information: http://atmturbo.narod.ru
mailto: max_timonin@mail.ru.            
                                        
 That's all!                             
                                        
 Stefano (from Italy)
                       flydream@jumpy.it
                                        
 Speccy rulez - Speccy for ever -   
 Speccy never die           
                                        
 - - -  From DWT: I apologize for the possible
inaccurate or completely incorrect translation :)