I think it would be pretty safe to say that computer magazines were never all that popular until the Spectrum arrived. Of course many people suddenly got interested in computing and wanted to learn a little more about how they work, so the first magazines released contained lots of type-in program listing.

Normally once you type the coding in to your computer and type the immortal words "RUN" followed by return you should be presented by something like a game or utility - but if you have ever tried doing this yourself you will probably know that this was rarely the case. Later great magazines such as Sinclair User (which arrived in 1982) and Crash Magazine (1984) were born and brought many new treats to thousands of Spectrum users. These treats include a cover moutned cassette containing the latest game demos, pokes and user type-ins, inside the magazine we could expect to see great things such as cheats, reviews, low priced hardware and much more.

By this time the compter industry had hit a massive boom, with the advent of newer Sinclair models, the Amstrad CPC and the great Commodore 64 computers were in use all over the globe and for the first time in history people could afford them.

Now more and more Spectrum magazines are coming on-line and re-producing the classics in web format for you all to read, these include Your Sinclair and Crash Magazine so if you haven't already read a Spectrum magazine and would like to know how they were then please pay a visit to the OFFICIAL web sites and get reading.

Here is a list of magazines, the format they supported and how long they were published: