Amstrads and Ataris: UK Home Computers in the 1980s

The 1980s was the era when affordable computers came to UK homes. They were known as microcomputers as their ‘brain’ was a microprocessor chip.

Before then, computers were either found in the IT centres of big companies, taking up a whole room, or were large desktop machines with a price tag that put them out of reach for most people.

But in February 1980, a company called Sinclair Computers launched their first home computer costing less than £100 – the ZX80. It began a very exciting time for all those with an interest in technology, and the UK home computer market was born.

The first Sinclair ZX80s were soon joined by a host of competition in the early years of the 1980s as machines were released from companies such as Acorn, Dragon, Tangerine and Commodore. They all wanted a share of a market that would soon be worth millions of pounds.