Effective 1k Programming

Schools and colleges could find the ZX81 very useful indeed. The small machine does not suffer from the inconveniences which so often put teachers off using other computers in their lessons. The ZX8l is very portable, easy to set up and use. The price means that schools can afford a lot of them. The more computers that are available, the less difficult it is to find one when you need it. As soon as the RAM pack is plugged in, however, the convenience of the ZX81 drops considerably. If the RAM pack is needed for a program then it will take longer than the fifteen seconds that lK programs take to load. When dropped on the floor, a IK ZX8l will be still running its program, in most cases, whereas eager studen knocking into the table may be enough to crash a 16K computer. The RAM pack almost doubles the cost of the computer and so reduces the number that will be available. The less convenient an educational resource is to use, the more likely it is that it will turn into a dust-gathering white elephant. There is a need for effective programs which will fit into the lK ZX8l.