 The machine also had a widespread and lasting social impact in the United Kingdom . According to Clive Sinclair , purchasers of the ZX81 came from " a reasonably broad spectrum " that ranged from readers of the upmarket Observer and Sunday Times newspapers to the more downmarket but numerous Sun readers . The largest age group was around 30 years old . The Financial Times reported in March 1982 that most Sinclair computers were being bought for educational purposes , both for adults and children , though the children were usually able to learn much more quickly . Ian Adamson and Richard Kennedy 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 . 
