note that the popularity of the ZX81 was "subtly different from the run-of-the-mill social fad"; although most enthusiasts were in their teens or early twenties, many were older users – often parents who had become fascinated by the ZX81s that they had bought for their children. However, the ZX81 boom was overwhelmingly male-dominated. One of the ZX81's key legacies was that it spurred large numbers of people to try programming for the first time. The ZX81 plays a significant part in the plot of William Gibson's 2003 novel Pattern Recognition. One character, an artist using old ZX81s as a sculptural medium, explains the cultural and intellectual impact that the machine had on British society: Among those whose first experience of home computing was provided by the ZX81 are Terry Pratchett (who used it for "very primitive word processing"), Edward de Bono and – perhaps proving William Gibson's point – many video game developers including Charles Cecil, Raffaele Cecco, Pete Cooke, David Perry (whose first published game, a driving game, involved "a black blob avoiding other black blobs"), Rhianna Pratchett, and Jon Ritman. Even 30 years after launch, the ZX81 has a German user forum, and one in English. New hardware and software continue to be developed for the ZX81, including a ZX81-based webserver; the ZXpand, a combined SD card interface, 32K configurable memory expansion, and optional joystick port and AY sound interface; and new games on cassette tape by Cronosoft, such as Tut-Tut, Virus, One Little Ghost, and many more, as well as releases by Revival Studios, such as Avalanche, Mayhem, Down, Stairrunner and more. References Bibliography Books News reports Other sources External links ZX81 The Archive ZX81 Software Downloads Sinclair ZX81 Teardown – a detailed look at the ZX81's hardware 1981 establishments in Scotland Computer-related introductions in 1981 Computers designed in the United Kingdom Economic history of Scotland Economy of Dundee Goods manufactured in Scotland History of Dundee Home computers Products introduced in 1981 Timex Group Z80-based home computers Products and services discontinued in 1984 ZX81