On Mon, 26 Oct 2015 19:01:28 +0000, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:

> On 26/10/2015 06:27 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> On Mon, 26 Oct 2015 18:12:33 +0000, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
>>> 1. Why would anybody want this?
>>
>> Nostalga.
> 
> OK, I get nostalga. I am currently sitting next to an Amiga 1200. But at
> this price?! Jesus, you could surely buy a *real* Spectrum for less
> money!
> 
> (Now I'm curious to know what the original retail price was...)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum

Lists some original retail price.  Don't thank me, thank Google. ;)

>> Or as a teaching tool - earlier computer systems were far less complex
>> than modern ones, so starting a student off with a simpler system can
>> make learning much easier, depending on the goals of the instruction.
> 
> Isn't that what the Raspberry Pi was supposed to do?

Depends a lot on what you want to teach.

> Don't get me wrong, I think it's *way* easier to learn system-level
> programming on obsolete hardware. (It's how *I* did it!) But I doubt
> many kids these days would get out of bed to see some blocky 8-bit
> graphics.

Also depends on what you want to teach.

> Which is why they invented the Pi, with it's full-HD video and audio
> capabilities and 3D rendering support... Which thus makes it impossible
> to do system-level programming, kinda negating the point.

You certainly can do system-level programming on the RPi.  How do you 
think you get a kernel developed to run on it? ;)

> And besides, for £0 you can probably just *download* a Spectrum emulator
> onto your PC or indeed phone or tablet... You don't actually need a
> physical box. (I don't know, but I'd be surprised if this thing actually
> contains a Z80. I bet it's really just a smartphone SoC running an
> emulator!)

Not the same, and as I said, it depends on what you want to teach.

Jim
-- 
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and 
besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw

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