OUR EXPERT
Mike Bedford hadn’t even thought he might one day own a computer by the time the MK14 appeared. That makes it no less of an interesting diversion for him, though.
The Sinclair ZX80 went on sale in 1980 at £99.95, or T £79.95 in kit form. In so doing, it was responsible, in no small part, for kick-starting the British home computing revolution of the ’80s. However, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Nor is it correct to say, as is often suggested, that the ZX80 was the first computer to be offered for less than £100. That honour goes to a much lesserknown British computer called the MK14, our subject here. It’s probably quite different in many ways from anything you’ve seen before, and it was nothing like that better-known home computer we referred to above. But it’s no less a part of our computer heritage, so we thought it would be interesting and informative to delve into its unique features. This isn’t just talk, though, so if you fancy getting some hands-on experience of the MK14, we show you how to do that via emulation.
Introducing the MK14
Launched in 1977, the MK14 cost £39.95, making it half the price of the ZX80 in kit form. This is an entirely appropriate comparison, though, because our quoted price of the MK14 is also for a self-assembly kit. In fact, the MK14 was only ever made available as a kit of 31 parts, including the circuit board, all of which had to be soldered together. The company responsible for the MK14 was Science of Cambridge who, in the fullness of time, became Sinclair Research of ZX80, ZX81 and ZX Spectrum fame.
The specifications of computers of
